The Beef Festival organized at the Osmania University campus in Hyderabad on Sunday evening led to pitched battles with those conducting the function and those opposing the event coming to blows.
The event was organized by Dalit student organizations, which has now become an annual feature. The Dalit student leaders claim that beef eating was part of the Dalit culture but was refused a place of pride in the hostels due to the ‘food fascism’ imposed by the students belonging to the upper castes.
The Beef Festival went off well with the several professors including Prof Bhangya Bhookya and PL Vishweshwar Rao and hundreds of students participating and consuming food made of beef. However, towards the end of the event, students, allegedly belonging to ABVP, stormed the venue leading to tension.
Even as the police tried to disperse the crowds, the ABVP students broke the street lights plunging the area into darkness. There was lot of stone throwing and police had to use tear gas shells. In the melee, several media vehicles were also attacked with a van belonging to Gemini TV getting scorched.
Some students were injured in the incident and had to be rushed to hospital.
The Dalit students have been insisting that beef eating was an assertion of their cultural practices, which was denied by the upper castes for centuries. They demand that beef should be part of menus in the hostels across the country. They have the support of several Dalit leaders, professors and intellectuals such Kancha Ilaiah for their demand.
