Hyderabad: The Osmania University police arrested some Osmania University student leaders when they tried to hold a rally from the OU Arts College to the NCC gate on Monday. The protesters were demanding the Telangana government to increase job postings in Group I, II and III cadres, in addition to seven more demands raised by OU Student named Motilal Naik, who has been on an indefinite hunger-strike since eight days.
Naik was taken into custody and shifted to Gandhi Hospital, where he has been continuing his hunger-strike. Moreover, a student leader who had spoken to the media on the issue was detained by the police immediately after he finished. At least 10 police constables faced a tough time in apprehending him, as he was a fast runner and almost managed to give them the slip. The police did capture him, and every student leader who spoke to the media.
The job aspirants from the Osmania University have been agitating by forming a pressure group, demanding the Congress government to fulfil its election promise of releasing a job calendar. The job aspirants who have been waiting for notifications for a decade have been demanding more job notifications and swift action by the Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) and other recruitment agencies, to expedite the recruitment process swiftly.
Motilal Naik, who began his indefinite hunger-strike with eight demands, was arrested by police when he began his indefinite hunger-strike at the Arts College eight days ago.
His demands included the immediate release of the job calendar as promised by both Congress and BJP before the assembly elections. He, along with many students demanded more posts in the district service commission (DSC-2024).
Interestingly, Siddipet MLA T Harish Rao paid a visit to Motilal Naik at Gandhi Hospital on Sunday, extending his support for the agitation. Ironically, it was during the second term of BRS, when former OU vice-chancellor Prof Ravinder had issued a circular (order), that no protests could be allowed near the Arts College.
Coincidentally, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy was to attend a get-together of people from the Lambada/Banjara tribal community at Ravindra Bharathi on Monday.
Who is Motilal Naik?
According to Hanumanth Naik, a friend of Motilal Naik, the latter who hails from the Nalgonda district, is a first-year student of Journalism and Mass Communication from OU. He was one of the youngsters who had been deeply affected by the unemployment crisis in the state since the time of the united Andhra Pradesh. Motilal was delighted with the promise of the Congress Party to fill job vacancies in the state public services on coming to power.
Rahul Gandhi, in his public speech at the Ashok Nagar Central Library Hall, had addressed the youth of Telangana and had echoed the same promise. Initially, Motilal and his friends Hanumanth Naik and Vinod Naik, both students of the first-year in library and information science, had submitted representations to various ministers and MLAs, hoping for a positive response from their side.
The three, under the leadership of a Joint Action Committee for the job aspirants, had called for a press meeting on June 21, demanding immediate action from the government. In the absence of a government response, Motilal and his friends declared their indefinite hunger strike near the university library. However, on being denied permission to hold the strike there, they later relocated to the art college premises. Soon the protesters were detained by the police, and Motilal was shifted to Gandhi Hospital by the night, from where he continues his hunger strike.
Protests intensify across Hyderabad
On Monday, students, job aspirants and several opposition leaders gathered across different parts of the city to support Naik’s ongoing hunger strike demanding jobs. Job aspirants continued their protests across the state including at the concourses of Gandhi Hospital, Indira Park, and in different places in Mahabubnagar district.
The OU students protesting at the Arts College warned that Telangana will erupt “into a volcano” if anything happened to Motilal’s health adversely.
The NCC gates locked
Even before the rally could start, the OU administration informed the newly recruited private security to lock the OU NCC Gate during the rush hour, around 10:30 am.
People who were going to work, and students, professors going to classes were the most affected due to the closure of the NCC gate. Those going from Nallakunta to Tarnaka had to be stuck in traffic, as a result of OU campus road being closed for the traffic.
“Thokkalo college. How can we attend classes if they keep closing the main entrance,” said a female student who was driving a scooter to her school inside the campus. she bumped her vehicle into the median in anger, parked it right there and went walking to attend her class.
The traffic police, who were well informed about the possibility of a rally and the disturbance it could cause for common people, managed to regulate the traffic, despite the disruptions.
