Hyderabad university students announce indefinite protest, to boycott classes over land dispute

HYDERABAD: The University of Hyderabad Students’ Union (UoHSU) has announced an indefinite protest and boycott of classes from Tuesday, demanding the removal of police personnel and earth-moving machinery from the campus. UoHSU Vice President Akash said students and teachers were urged to join the protest on campus and boycott classes.

In a joint statement, the UoHSU and other students' associations accused the university administration of "betraying" students by facilitating land clearing activities for the state government on 400 acres at Kancha Gachibowli abutting the university.

They also condemned the "brutal police crackdown" on peaceful demonstrators. The protesting students demanded a written assurance that the land would be formally registered under the university. Additionally, they called for the public release of minutes of the Executive Committee meeting held on the issue by the university and greater transparency in land-related documents.

A BJP legislators delegation led by its Legislature party floor leader Alleti Maheshwar Reddy and leaders are scheduled to visit the site on Tuesday. A large number of police personnel have been deployed near the MLAs quarters here. Maheshwar Reddy told PTI that he was not permitted to step out of his residence by the police. Also, the police did not issue any notice to him as to why he was being prevented.

According to Reddy, other saffron party MLAs and leaders were also prevented by the police from coming out of their residences. The Telangana government's plans to develop IT infrastructure and others on 400 acres of land over which student groups of UoH held protests intensified on Monday with the government maintaining that the land parcel belonged to it and not the varsity. However, the UoH Registrar issued a statement asserting that the boundary of the disputed land in question was finalised, contradicting the government's claim.

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'Students are being mislead'

In a detailed note on the land issue, the government alleged that students are being misled by some political leaders and realty groups. The student groups and environmental activists have voiced opposition to the proposal to undertake development work at the site, citing environmental conservation concerns.

The union had staged a protest on Sunday after noticing deployment of police and earthmovers at the land following which over 50 students were detained and released later. According to police, when the TGIIC initiated development work at the site on March 30, as per a Government Order, a group of people from UoH and also others gathered at the site and tried to stop the work "forcibly".

They "attacked" the officials and workers with sticks and stones and two persons were arrested in this connection. The TGIIC (Telangana Industrial Infrastructure Corporation) on Monday said it has proved its ownership of the land in court and that the UoH (a Central university) does not own any land in the land parcel in question. Disputes, if any, created on the ownership of land, will be a contempt of the court, it said.

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No survey was conducted in July 2024, claims UoH

The state government led by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy is giving top priority to the sustainable development of any local area and conservation of the environment in every plan, it said. The revenue records clearly state that the land is not forest land, it said. With the consent of the University of Hyderabad Registrar, a survey of the land was conducted in July 2024 in the presence of the university officials for identification of boundaries.

"The officials finalised the boundaries on the same day," it said. However, the UoH on Monday said no survey was conducted in July 2024 by the revenue authorities in the campus to demarcate the 400 acres of land resumed by the state government in 2006.

The only action taken thus far has been a preliminary inspection of the land's topography, UoH Registrar Devesh Nigam said in a statement. The university also denied the government statement that it has agreed for such demarcation of the land. Countering the university's claims, official sources pointed out that there are documents which show that the land in question in Kancha Gachibowli has been handed over to the state government in 2004.