Hyderabad:
A plan by some students to organise a ‘beef festival’ on the Osmania University campus here next week has kicked up a row with a BJP MLA demanding that if this event is permitted, another one to worship the cow should also be allowed.
The festival is being planned on December 10, coinciding with International Human Rights Day, as a means to “save democratic principles” in the wake of alleged attempts to curb dietary habits of certain groups, Shankar, one of the organisers of the proposed event, said here today.
The university has a history of reflecting on “anti-democratic and hegemonistic” incidents in the world, said Shankar, who claimed to be a member of the All India Students Federation (AISF), affiliated to Communist Party of India.
Leaders of different political parties are being invited for the festival, which he said, is not intended to target anybody.
Meanwhile, BJP MLA from Goshamahal here Raja Singh vowed to stop the festival, saying cow is a sacred animal for crores of people in the country.
Some other outfits are opposing the event.
A memorandum has been submitted to the university Vice
Chancellor, arguing that if “beef festival” is permitted, an event to worship the cow should also be allowed to be held in the campus, Singh said.
There is a political conspiracy behind the proposed event, he alleged.
Saying that Telangana BJP President G Kishan Reddy “spoke in favour of not stopping the beef festival”, Singh hit out at his party leader.
Reddy should step down from his post, he added. BJP MLA Raja Singh was booked today over his alleged provocative statements pertaining to the Beef Festival that is proposed to be held at Osmania University (OU) campus on December 10.
“Some representatives of Leftist student organisations had lodged a complaint against the Goshamahal MLA Raja Singh alleging that he had been giving hate speeches and trying to disrupt public peace by instigating one community against another” Osmania University Police Station Inspector V Ashok Reddy said.
Following the complaint, a case under section 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the IPC has been registered against the MLA, the Inspector said, adding, “We have to inquire into the complaint and record the statements of those who gave the complaint.”
The Leftist students organisations had declared that they would hold a ‘Beef Festival’ on December 10 on the OU campus.
