Hyderabad University union condemns FIR against students

Hyderabad: The Student's Union of the University of Hyderabad on Sunday condemned the registration of FIRs against 14 students for taking part in protests against the CAA and the NCR in February this year.

Terming the First Information Reports (FIR) "witch-hunting" of student activists by Telangana Police, the union on Sunday staged a protest on the campus.

Telangana Police slapped an FIR on student activists of the university on arbitrary charges for being part of a peaceful protest march organised by HCU Coordination Committee (HCC) in February against the anti-constitutional Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC), the union said.

The march was organised in February from University of Hyderabad to Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU) and members of various student political organisations were collectively leading the rally.

The union reacted strongly to Cyberabad Police registering an FIR against students belonging to Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi and Bihar.

According to police, the students illegally gathered and marched to the MANUU. It alleged that the students tried to disturb the peaceful atmosphere on the campus through their speeches.

The union, however, said: "This is not the first time that the Telangana Police has intervened in lawful and peaceful protests and rallies taken out by Hyderabad University students. Several protest marches by the Students' Union were forcefully stopped by the police. They even detained an entire group of students to stop them from joining a massive protest that took place outside the university."

On January 26, the Telangana Police booked the Students' Union members along with 22 student activists on fake charges for organising a 'Save Constitution' rally to the Ambedkar Statue at Masjid Banda, it said.