Acharya Nagarjuna University Students Too Plan Beef Festival
The beef festival culture in TS universities is now gradually spreading to AP with Dalit students planning to a similar festival in the Acharya Nagarjuna University. However, Hindu organizations are strongly protesting the plans. Hindu Dharma Samrakshana Samanyava Samiti (HDRSS) has asked ANU officials not to allow beef festival on the ANU campus. The National Dalit Students Federation meanwhile has supported the proposed beef festival scheduled on December 10 at Osmania University.
Some say choice of food is a right, others say ‘provocation
NDSF president M. Gopalakrishna and secretary Anand Babu said that the Constitution gives every citizen the right to eat any type of food. They said that the saffron brigade and its associated organisations were snatching the privileges of citizens regarding consumption of food of their choice. They announced that they would conduct a beeffestival if the saffron organisations continued to protest the beef festival at Osmania University. Meanwhile, HDRSS activists, led by its district president D. Srinivas, met ANU in-charge ViceChancellor Prof. V.S.S. Kumar and appealed action to stop the beeffestival.
They said that there was no culture of eating beef in the university campuses in AP and this new “culture” would create differences among the students belonging to various castes and religions.
Mr.Srinivas said that they would stage protests if the beef festival proposals continued in the ANU campus. They also submitted a memorandum to Mr Kumar over their demand.