The brutal attacks on Osmania University students, between February 14th and 15th, 2010 are a reminder of the oppression that Telangana student movement has faced from state and central governments.
While the whole world was celebrating Valentines Day, the students of OU were fighting for the liberty of their motherland.
On that fateful day, armed police personnel attacked students indiscriminately when they tried to take out a protest rally. This was a coordinated attack involving the state government’s elite anti-naxal commando force called Grey Hounds, Central Reserve Police Force, Central Industrial Security Force, Border Security Force and Andhra Pradesh Special Police.
The fact that the police forces have broken all street lights, switched off power in the university premises and severely beat up both male and female students shows the lawlessness of these forces. About 40 students suffered severe bleeding injuries in these attacks. The police have entered the hostels and even manhandled some girl students there. The police then attacked media cameramen and journalists who were covering this atrocity. Exhibiting the most inhuman behavior, police forces have not allowed even the 108 emergency ambulances to rescue the injured students and journalists.
The injured students told that the police and paramilitary forces abused them saying that “you are receiving this ‘treatment’ because you are agitating for Telangana”.
6 media persons were severely injured in this incident. The injured journalists and cameramen belong to Telugu (regional language) Television channels.
The Grey Hounds police forces bashed up the correspondent of a TV channel and then went on a rampage. They smashed the vehicles of journalists and also urinated on the vehicles. They started dancing around the burning vehicles in ‘celebration’. The police forces have cut the cables of the media OB (Outside Broadcasting) vans to prevent the tv channels from telecasting police brutality images.
The heights of police brutality can be understood by the fact that they did not allow even Ambulances to carry the injured students to hospitals.
The whole world watched the visuals of police brutality in horror. A complaint was lodged in the state High Court by some journalists against this atrocity and the state High Court severely reprimanded the illegal actions of the police and ordered the Director General of Police to pull out forces from the university.
Please see some media clips of the police brutality here:
https://plus.google.com/photos/105674548184441598470/albums/5438326848972840273
https://plus.google.com/photos/105674548184441598470/albums/5438697093625531105