UoH students stage day-long protest against the proposed auction at Kancha Gachibowli

Verdant expanse of Kancha Gachibowli, together with its hundreds of floral and faunal species will be history if the government goes ahead with its plan of auction of 400 acres of land.

Students from the University of Hyderabad led a day-long protest opposing the proposed auction of 400 acres of land at Kancha Gachibowli which once belonged to the university.

A large number of student gathered at the Mushroom Rock, part of the site for the proposed auction, and raised slogans opposing the move by the government. Banners were displayed with the caption, ‘Resist the land grab – Reclaim our university’.

A huge rally was taken out to the location, with participation from faculty members, non-teaching staff, and workers too who joined responding to the protest call given by the UoH Students’ Union. Presence of police in large numbers prevented participation from outsiders, who were denied permission to enter the campus.

“We also planted saplings at the location between East Campus and ISB, where bulldozers had flattened the land to make way for the auction. We oppose the move by the government which is against public education and environment,” said Umesh Ambedkar, the president of the UoH-SU.

The students leaders crawled atop the mushroom rock to address the gathering, and tied the banner to the rock marking their protest.

Students’ Federation of India, which is part of the students’ union, and its parent organisation Communist Party of India (Marxist) demanded that the State government withdraw the auction. A statement from the CPI(M) said the land has ecological, educational and cultural importance, and its auction would benefit selfish ends of private and corporate forces.

Another statement from SFI alleged attempts by the previous BRS government too to allot the land to private individuals, which was opposed by the students, and said Congress government should refrain from snatching the land that belonged to the university where students from economically poor back grounds obtained education.