Osmania University students rally against CAA

Hyderabad: Students from state and central universities across Telangana state attended a meeting on a chilly Monday evening in front of the historic Arts College on the Osmania University campus to demand that the Centre revoke the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

The students were also demanding that Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao not implement the CAA in the state. They appealed to him to take a stand against the Act. Earlier in the day, reports said AP Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy had joined a slew of Chief Ministers who have said they would not implement the CAA and the National Register of Citizens.

The meeting at Osmania University was organised entirely by student leaders, and featured students, research scholars and professors as spakers. Some student leaders recalled George Reddy, who was shot dead in 1972 and the subject of a recent film, and said they were inspired by him to continue the fight until the Centre revoked the CAA.

The students chanted the slogan, ‘Jeena hai toh marna seekho, kadam kadam ladna seekho’, among others.

Many people in the audience waited for the two Jamia Millia students Ayesha Renna and Ladeeda Farzana, who have become the face of the struggle against the CAA and the NRC after they stopped Delhi police personnel from beating up a male colleague.

They said the protest against the legislation had become the struggle of the decade. Many countries were facing a crisis due to their leaders, they said.

Ms Renna said that the protests that were taking place at educational institutions was the result of the pressure that was put on the students for the last six years.

“Minorities had to face lynching, fake encounters and riots, now the government is  trying to convert them into illegal immigrants as well,” she said.

Prof. P.L. Vishweshwar Rao, a former teacher at the university, who has filed a petition against the CAA in the Supreme Court said that the struggle was for the future of the country and to protect its plurality and diversity.

“Osmania University is a historic place and any protest here will lead to victory,” Prof. Rao said.

“This is a civil war going on in India, and people are spreading hatred against each other. There are about 65 petitions on the Citizenship Amendment Act with the Supreme Court, the court should give a fitting reply to Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he said.

The invitees spoke from the grand entrance of the Arts College.

A poster against the CAA was tied to the staircase leading to the entrance. The sudents carried several posters condemning the CAA and the NRC.

Several students have managed to enter the campus despite the police restricting the entry of outsiders from all sides.

Several women students who were heading for the protest were stopped at the entry from the Osmania police station side for a while till the organisers put out a public appeal on the microphone to verify their credentials and allow them to attend the meeting.