EFLU students protest in support of JNU, police intervened

Hyderabad: As many as 200 students at the English and Foreign Languages University(EFLU) held a protest on Saturday at the main gate of their campus in solidarity with students of Jawaharlal Nehru University(JNU). Earlier, the EFLU Joint Action Committee(JAC) had planned to form a human chain outside their campus extending their support to the JNU protests. However, they could not form a human chain as police barged inside the campus even before they started the protest.

The students had planned this protest in the form of human chain against the forces that disrupt and destroy public education institutions, free spaces of thoughts and students' movements across the country.

EFLU JAC alleged that even though they planned a silent protest with prior permission of concerned police authorities, the police entered the university and blocked the protest. The students sat for a peaceful protest at the main gate of the university after police blocked them from making a human chain.

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Members of the EFLU Joint Action Committee(JAC) told the Newsmeter, "The march was planned today in the form of a human chain outside the campus. The JAC has spoken with the ACP and an oral confirmation has been given for the same. Sloganeering was also been allowed as long as no slogans are used to hurt the sentiments of any community. The police had agreed to this with the condition that there should be no obstruction to the flow of traffic or public movement and that we should not create a law and order situation".

"This was the actual plan, but later the administration called police to cancel the permission for both protesting outside and inside the campus. The police entered the campus, interfered and tried to block the protest with the permission from the admin. Now the students peacefully are sitting at the main gate and sloganeering. SFI state committee people also have come to the university in support of the protest and gathered outside as they were denied the permission to enter the campus. Media people also were blocked to enter the campus and the admin even threatened the students by saying they will give showcause notices for those who are protesting", JAC members added.

The students demands to remove police from the campus and the guards should not be called upon peaceful students gatherings. The students also demands that prior intimation should be given to the council in written format of police is called inside the campus. Updated ordinances, rules and regulations be made available online and a copy must be given to the council, the students demanded.

Apart from speaking for JNU, we had gathered to protest to raise their voice for every campus that is raising its voice right now, for Fathima Latheef, for Public Education, for the 120 schools in Telangana that were shut down, and for every institutional injustice that students across the country are fighting at the moment", the students added.

Station House Officer(SHO) S Rajashekhar Reddy, Osamania University police station told Newsmeter, "There's is nothing called oral permission. For any kind of protests a written permission should be taken from the concerned police stations. We got a letter from the university that students were not allowed to do any kind of protests in the university campus".