OU students demand Nov 1 be celebrated as Betrayal Day

Around 50 members of the Osmania University Students Joint Action Committee on Tuesday attempted to storm the Secretariat, demanding that the government cancel the official Andhra Pradesh Formation Day celebrations in Telangana region.

The OUSJAC members raised slogans against the government and tried to brush aside the security at the Secretariat gates, attempting to make their way inside.

The storming attempt took the comparatively sparse security presence by surprise and before they could get their bearings, the OUSJAC members managed to reach the main gates of the Secretariat and some even climbed half-way up.

The police however, managed to regain their bearings and stop the protestors before they could scale the gate and jump inside.

Meanwhile, the additional security personnel inside the premises itself rushed to their outnumbered colleagues’ aid and further bolstered their presence.

Central Zone Deputy Commissioner of Police Akun Sabharwal was informed and he rushed to the spot, even as the jostling between the security personnel and the OUSJAC members continued.

Dr Sabharwal and his men bundled off the protestors to vehicles and shifted them to the Saifabad police station.

City Police Commissioner AK Khan had on Monday announced the imposition of Section 144 in the Saifabad police station limits, after an attempt by DSC-2008 candidates had breached security at the state Assembly on Saturday.

The students’ demand is an echo of the demands by various political and non-political outfights fighting for a separate Telangana state. These outfits, apart from the students JACs, demand that the Andhra Pradesh State Formation Day be observed as the ‘Betrayal Day’, and argue that the aspirations of the people from Telangana were crushed after the integrated Andhra Pradesh was formed.

The OUSJAC members said they have decided to observe AP Formation Day as `Betrayal Day’ in all Telangana districts. The students also asked all Telangana Ministers, MPs, and MLAs to boycott AP Formation Day celebrations.

The students demanded that the Government issue orders not to celebrate AP Formation Day in Telangana region.