Ban on protests in Osmania University attack on democracy, says KTR

Hyderabad, March 16 (IANS) Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president K. Taraka Rama Rao has strongly condemned the Telangana Congress government’s decision to ban protests at Osmania University, calling it a direct attack on democracy.

He questioned whether this was the “spirit of democracy” that Rahul Gandhi and the Congress had repeatedly spoken about while advocating for the right to protest.

“Is this the democratic right of protest that Rahul Gandhi and the Congress claimed to uphold? If Congress truly believed in democracy, why is it resorting to authoritarian measures to silence student voices?” he asked while reacting to an Osmania University circular prohibiting agitations and dharnas.

Slamming Congress’ double standards, the BRS leader reminded the public that the party, during its election campaign, had promised the right to protest as part of its ‘Seventh Guarantee'. However, in just over a year, the same Congress government had betrayed that promise by imposing restrictions on student protests.

KTR, as the BRS leader is popularly known, also pointed out the repeated instances of the BJP-led Union and state governments cracking down on student movements in universities across the country. He accused the Congress of following the same dictatorial approach in Telangana, proving that it was no different from the BJP when it came to suppressing dissent.

“Suppressing student voices is a clear symbol of dictatorship. The Congress government in Telangana is now revealing its true colors by curbing students’ fundamental right to protest. Osmania University, which played a crucial role in the Telangana movement, is now being turned into a prison under this oppressive rule,” he said.

He further criticized the government’s misplaced priorities, highlighting that instead of addressing serious issues like contaminated food in university hostels, where students recently found insects and even razor blades in their meals, the Congress government was focused on crushing student dissent.

KTR warned that the Congress government’s undemocratic actions would not go unchallenged and that students and people of Telangana would soon give a fitting response to its betrayal. He reaffirmed that BRS would stand by students and fight against any attempt to suppress their voices.

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