Students clash with police at Kakatiya University

WARANGAL: Tempers got frayed at the Kakatiya University campus when the members of the varsity's Joint Action Committee (JAC) protested against university officials denying permission for a meeting in front of the University Library in Hanamkonda on Wednesday.

For the past few days, the members of JAC have been lobbying with the office of the Vice-Chancellor seeking permission to conduct the meeting — billed as ‘Vidhyarti and Udyamakarulu Sangarshana Sabha’ — which sought draw scrores of students and unemployed, who participated in the Telangana state agitation.

Having failed to get any positive response from the officials, they decided to conduct the meeting on April 3 and staged a silent protest in front of the library beside the administration building in the university with hundreds of students and unemployed youth.

When no reply was forthcoming the university officials in spite of protests, the members of JAC tried to lay seige on the office of Vice-Chancellor T. Ramesh and raising slogans against the state government.

Police personnel, who were deployed in large numbers at the campus, however intervened and prevented the students from entering into the administrative building. A heated argument took place between the police personnel and students which led to clashes between them.

When the police officials dragged some of the students to prevent untoward incidents, the students broke glass panes and flower pots placed in front of the administration building, while some protested by climbing on top of the building. To bring the situation under control, the police officials arrested the students and shifted them to the university police station at Bheemaram.

Student union leaders condemned the police action. They said when the students were staging dharna in a peaceful manner and sought due permission for conducting a meeting to draw the state government's attention to student issues, Chief Minister K.Chandrasekhar Rao is behaving a like monarch is stiffing the voice of the students and leaders of opposition.

They also alleged that TSPSC officials have done great injustice to three lakh unemployed youth by letting recruitment exam question papers leak out to a selected few.

“The state government must pay Rs.1 lakh to each unemployed youth who appeared for the examinations along with implementing the unemployment dole immediately,” they demanded.

If the government behaves stubbornly in resolving various student issues, then the movement will be intensified and will teach a fitting lesson to the state government in coming days, they warned.