University of Hyderabad: Internet, messes dysfunctional

When Rohith Vemula committed suicide in January in the University of Hyderabad (UoH), the news literally took the Internet and social media by storm.

But Tuesday’s violence and lathi-charge by the police on the students on the campus was barely registered on social media, reason: the UoH administration shut down the Internet, disabling students from making any noise about it on the net.

To make matters worse, the non-teaching staff of UoH also went on a strike, shutting down messes on the campus. While there were some reports of water supply also being cut off, university officials said that they were not aware of what was happening.

“It is a big campus, we don’t know what is going on where until we get the details. All we know is that the non-teaching staff are on strike,” said an official.

“A university official had threatened us that he would switch off electricity as well, if students continue their protests,” said Sailo, a student from the communication department. Another student said that she was manhandled by the cops, and had managed to escape from them. “We were just protesting, and not doing anything more,” she said, unwilling to identify herself.

By night, students said, while the electricity had not been cut off, many of the hostellers who were dependent on the mess facilities were suffering due to the strike by the non-teaching staff of UoH. Speaking over the phone from New Delhi, Shehla Rashid Shora, vice-president, Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU), termed the incident ‘JNU model’, and censured the varsity’s administration for taking the drastic step.