Protests, sloganeering, political and public meetings are no longer the mainstay at the University (OU), which was once the epicenter of Telangana statehood movement. Students are a disgruntled lot as they claim that the Telangana Rashtra Samithi-led government has stifled their voices by clamping down on political and public meetings.
Minutes after Rajya Sabha passed the Telangana Bill in February 2014, OU students rushed out of their hostels to burst crackers and distribute sweets. Supporters of TRS were seen beating drums and holding aloft pictures of their leader K Chandrasekhar Rao.
Chief minister Rao, who promised “Neelu, Nidhulu and Niyamakalu” (water, funds and employment) to those fighting for the statehood movement, has now turned into a pantomime villain for the same lot owing to the government’s attempts to silence the cry of Osmania.
“TRS government silenced our voices of dissent by not allowing us to hold protests, effigy burning events, public and political meetings on campus. The varsity, which once played an big role in bringing change through such events, is silenced in the name of academic discipline,” said D Naresh, state president of Dalit Minority Students Association in OU.
Slogans of “Jai Telangana and Jai KCR” which once resonated the OU have now converted to “KCR down down”. “We supported KCR as he promised to release 1.07 lakh jobs. However, the government has miserably failed to fulfil promises of providing employment and free and quality education in Telangana. While the government provided water, it failed to provide jobs and funds,” said Manavtha Roy, chairman of Nirudyoga Vidyarthi Joint Action Committee (Telangana Unemployed Students JAC).
The OU students are seething with rage over the unfulfilled promises of the TRS government in filling up vacancies in the government sector. “While the government issued notifications for constable, horticulture and sub-engineer posts, notifications for major posts into teaching were not released. Till date, the government has not issued the notification for recruitment of Group 1 officers,” said Shilpa, a student leader.
The TRS-led government’s failure in providing employment to OU students has forced many students to now support other parties such as Congress, Communist Party of India, Bahujan Samaj Party etc. #KhabarLive
