Court Prohibits Beef and Pork Festivals on OU Campus

8 Dec, 2015 11:06 IST|Sakshi
Court Prohibits Beef and Pork Festivals on OU Campus

Hyderabad: Putting an end to the ongoing controversy over the proposed beef festival and pork festival on the Osmania University campus, a city court on Monday issued a status quo order till December 21.Hearing a petition filed by a law research scholar Sunkari Janardhan Goud, the principal junior civil judge G. Ravinder issued the order prohibiting any festivals on the campus till further proceedings. The petitioner contended that the proposed festivals by some student groups are in violation of Cruelty Towards Animals Act and Cow Slaughter Act. He stated that the university is an educational institution and that no politics should enter into its sphere and that sentiments of different communities will be hurt if the proposed 'beef and pork festivals' are held.

With the court's order, all doors have been closed for the student organizations that proposed to conduct the festivals to assert their rights on December 10. Earlier on Monday, the police foiled a run by activists in support of the beed festival and reiterated that no festival would be permitted on the campus. The university administration has also made it clear that any activity unrelated to academics and research will not be allowed on the campus.

The student groups are now blaming central and state governments for the obstructions to their festivals.

Meanwhile, BJP MLA Raja Singh had vowed to stop the 'beef festival', saying cow is a sacred animal for crores of people in the country. He demanded that an event to worship the cow should also be allowed if a 'beef festival' is permitted.

Amid the stand-off, the university, one of the country's oldest institutions of higher learning, made it clear that no festival would be permitted on the campus. To maintain peace and harmony on the university campus, no festivity is allowed, Hyderabad East Zone DCP E Ravinder said.

The 'beef festival' was proposed by a group of students on December 10 coinciding with the International Human Rights Day in protest against the attempts to curb dietary habits of certain groups in the country.

Another group of students has come up with the idea of conducting a 'pork festival' on the same day, saying that pork is more nutritious and that its consumption provided livelihood to certain communities.

 

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