| Author | Message | ||
Iamim Side Hero Username: Iamim Post Number: 3311 Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 119.235.54.170 Rating: N/A |
OU calm as students turn to studies TNN, 14 February 2010, 04:50am IST HYDERABAD: Students of Osmania University seem to have chosen academics over agitation as the campus which in the last two months repeatedly erupted into violence at the slightest provocation remained silent on Saturday. With most students leaving the campus to prepare for their semester exams and other competitive tests, OU remained calm on Saturday even as police and paramilitary personnel remained stationed on the deserted campus lawns. University authorities had earlier declared that the Ist and IIIrd semester examinations which were postponed indefinitely owing to unrest on campus would now be held from February 15. The authorities announced on February 11 that examinations will be held every Monday as per the timetable put up on OU official website. Since Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (Gate) for admissions to M Tech courses in the country is also scheduled to be held on Sunday, the students seemed busy with their studies and kept their distance from the Telangana agitation. University authorities view the calm on campus as a welcome sign to go ahead with their academic plans. âNow we are confident of going ahead with the academic schedule and feel that there will be no more hindrances. We are glad that the agitators are not disrupting the academic schedule,â said B S Rao, spokesperson, OU. Most students did not bother to even venture out of their hostels on Saturday morning in spite of several calls to hold rallies. The OU Joint Action Committee (OUJAC), Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and Telangana Universities Students Joint Action Committee tried to conduct rallies on campus to add vigour to the bandh call. But there was no response. The scene remained mostly dull on Saturday with only a handful of students holding protest meetings, in which less than 20 students participated. However, by 1 pm even those few students who had gathered before Arts College which was once the hub of the âTâ protests dispersed with no plans of coming back. Interestingly, with a long weekend at hand most students from the campus were found to have left for their native places. Even the usual song and dance sessions were not held as most campus balladeers left campus to prepare for exams. Even Osmania JACâs plan to hold a rally to the OU police station became a non starter as no student turned up in support. Ironically, OUJAC had even come up with a nine point protest plan on Friday evening which asked the students to target public representatives on the bandh day. Even the once active OU professors were missing from action. When asked about the lull, OUJAC leaders said that most of the students had gone to the districts to hold protest meetings there. âStudents left the campus to hold protests in Telangana districts and the bandh is complete outside Hyderabad,â claimed an OUJAC representative. Some attributed the lull to the arrest of their leaders by the police. Meanwhile, ABVP and OU JAC decided to disrupt the assembly session which is scheduled to start on Feb 15. |