Oso 9780199488414
Oso 9780199488414
Oso 9780199488414
of Resistance
The University as a Site
of Resistance
Identity and Student Politics
Gaurav J. Pathania
1
1
Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford.
It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship,
and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trademark of
Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries.
Published in India by
Oxford University Press
2/11 Ground Floor, Ansari Road, Daryaganj, New Delhi 110 002, India
TABLES
1.1 Political and Cultural Version of New Social
Movement Theories 37
1.2 Migration from Coastal Andhra to Hyderabad
District (1961, 1971) 43
1.3 Understanding the Telangana Movement as
a New Social Movement 50
MAPS
1.1 Hyderabad State before Its Merger with
Indian State in 1948 41
1.2 United Andhra Pradesh 45
were sipping tea and discussing the incident as if it was routine for
them. As I approached Arts College where students were protesting,
I saw that they had blocked the main road and burned an effigy of the
chief minister. Approximately 25 student leaders took turns addressing
the gathering and each renewed their demand for a separate Telangana
state, chanting, ‘abhi nahi to kabhi nahi!’ [(Telangana,) now or never!].
After a few hours of protest, police warned the crowd to disperse
but the students were determined to stay. In the meantime, a govern-
ment minister arrived and met student leaders. I noticed that from all
the student leaders speaking to the crowd, only one of them could
speak fluent English. As a result, he had been nominated to serve as
the national spokesperson of Osmania University-Student Joint Action
Committee (OU-JAC). He told the media that it was an unfortunate
fact that thousands of students had lost their lives in the 50-year long
struggle for separate statehood, while the government continues to
‘play its dirty politics’. Amidst this rally, I was curious to understand
how an ‘outsider’ could leave his college to commit suicide near the
Arts College building. ‘This is a sacred place for Telangana activists’,
one leader told me. While chatting with him, I came to know that he
faced more than 100 criminal charges since he led the biggest student
agitation in 2009 for the same cause. It shocked me even more when
he told me,‘There are 50 other student activists who are facing a similar
number of charges and need to appear in court almost every week’. He
expressed himself in broken English with the help of his friend. Once
he left, I enquired about his age and was told that he was the senior
most student leader of Arts College, more than 40 years old, and had
gained tremendous respect among students since he took an oath to
remain unmarried to serve the people of Telangana. There were other
activists who had made the same promise. During the protest rally,
I met a much older man, an alumnus of the campus who had written
80 novels and stories, and had publicly vowed to produce a book on
Telangana every month until it became a state. Such was their passion
that some students even used ‘Telangana’ as their surname. This piqued
my interest in such an intense movement for statehood that I felt the
need to explore this university as a site of resistance.
This book is the outcome of nearly a year of fieldwork in Hyderabad
and presents an ethnography of activists’ everyday life on campus. How
did their activism deal with the issues and problems of the Telangana
Preface xiii
region? How did their demand for Telangana statehood succeed? The
volume also provides a theoretical debate on old and new social move-
ments and argues that the Telangana movement should be viewed as
new social movement. This book attempts to establish the Telangana
movement as a cultural movement, rather than merely a political one,
as many scholars argue.
Social movement is a process of consciousness and representation
that requires material and cultural resources for its existence. But con-
sciousness of cultural resources has largely been given an industrial
answer. Culture1 cannot be reduced to mere economic or political
factors, it cannot be understood, either, without understanding the
economic context that surrounds and shapes it. What Telangana stu-
dent activists gained after joining an institution of higher education is
access to cultural capital and consciousness of cultural resources unique
to their identity. That is why cultural identities, whether custom or
costume, food or festivals, language or life-world, caste or region, are
instrumental to the functioning of Indian politics.
Without the help of my activist-friends from Arts College, Osmania
University, Hyderabad, and the English Foreign Language University,
this research would not possible. I would like to thank Dr Kolluri
Chiranjeevi, Dr Sujatha Surepally, Kota Rajesh, Mohan Dharawath,
Mothe Sammiaha, P. Mukhesh, Panthukala Srinivas, Shankar Sampangi,
Stalin, Sunil Shetty, and Srinivas Gellu for their unwavering support.
Similarly, several discussions with the late Professor G. Krishna Reddy
of Arts College compelled me to reflect on the importance of the
concept of Joint Action Committee ( JACs) in the Telangana move-
ment. His sudden demise in 2016 was a huge loss for scholars working
on Telangana issues. Several interactions with Professor Keshav Rao
Jadhav, one of the key figures of Telangana movement, shaped my
understanding of a mass movement.
During my fieldwork at Osmania, I also spent some time in the
library of Hyderabad Central University. I also benefitted from the
discussions with Dr Nagaraju Gundimeda, Dr Silveru Harinath, and
my friends Anthony Raj, Dickens, Kishor Aleti, and Prem.
At my alma mater, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), I am grateful
to my supervisor Dr S. Srinivasa Rao for his guidance and insightful
comments. I also valued inputs from Professor Debal Singharoy (Indira
Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi), Professor N. Sukumar
xiv Preface
NOTE
1. Culture is ontologically super-organic only in the sense that it is not
transmitted genetically and in the Boasian sense that cultural variation among
population is not a function of their biological variation (Schwartz 1992: 327).
Abbreviations
Over the past few years, Indian universities have made headlines that
have sparked widespread debate among intellectuals about the uni-
versity autonomy, academic freedom, and freedom of expression. At
the start of 2016, the administration of the University of Hyderabad
(UoH) rusticated five members of the Ambedkar Student Association
(ASA). Two weeks later, on 17 January 2016, one of those students,
a lower-caste PhD student named Rohith Vemula, ended his life by
hanging himself in a hostel room. His death led to intense protests
at UoH which gradually turned into a massive student movement
in India known as the post-Rohith Vemula agitations. Uproar from
Rohith’s suicide burst out through protests, marches, and hunger
strikes. From Hyderabad to New Delhi, the incident spawned numer-
ous media analyses and parliamentary debates. Rohith’s suicide note
was a searing attack on the casteist and hierarchical society where, in
his words, ‘the value of a man was reduced to his immediate identity
and nearest possibility, to a vote, to a number, to a thing’, and where he
described his birth as a ‘fatal accident’.1
Meanwhile, another incident occurred suddenly after Rohith’s
suicide, and being in the nation’s capital at one of the country’s most
liberal institutions, it attracted rampant media attention. On 9 February
2016, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) gained notoriety for allega-
tions of being an ‘anti-national’ campus. A group of JNU students were
allegedly opposing the death penalty while commemorating the death
anniversary of Muhammad Afzal Guru (a Kashmiri who was executed
in 2013 for involvement in a terrorist attack on Parliament). Some
students in the group were filmed sloganeering for a free Kashmir and
The University as a Site of Resistance: Identity and Student Politics. Gaurav J. Pathania,
Oxford University Press (2018). © Oxford University Press.
DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780199488414.003.0001
2 The University as a Site of Resistance
criticizing the Indian state. The media was called in and filmed the
event which became national news overnight. After right-wing stu-
dent body, Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), complained to
the police, the JNU Student Union ( JNUSU) president, Mr Kanhaiya
Kumar, and two others were arrested on 12 February on charges of
sedition and criminal conspiracy for organizing a programme wherein
anti-India slogans were raised. The media seized upon the nationalist
vs. anti-nationalist binary, and soon, public actions and behaviours were
interpreted in these inverse categories. Kanhaiya’s time in jail triggered
a wave of student activism in India.
Across universities, thousands of students and teachers participated
in protests. They argued against the government, voicing that dissent is
a vital right, not a crime.2 For weeks, media vans camped outside the
campus gates. After 20 days of imprisonment, Kanhaiya was released
on 2 March on interim bail. The entire movement became known
as the Azadi Campaign or Campaign for Freedom. Kanhaiya Kumar
then spoke to a huge crowd gathered in front of JNU’s administrative
building and raised the slogans: ‘We want freedom not from India, but
within India. We want freedom from hunger, freedom from poverty,
and freedom from caste system’.
Numerous video messages were posted on social media by army
personnel, discrediting the university and advising for its closure. JNU3
was tagged as ‘anti-national’, ‘a den of drugs, terrorism, and Naxalism’;
its students were labelled as ‘traitors’ and ‘sex-workers’ by the mass
media. These narratives by army and media created an image of JNU
students as social misfits in a ‘moral’ society, and overshadowed past
contributions JNU4 has made to the county through its scientific
research and democracy building by questioning the university’s very
existence. In its defence, the JNU community decided to engage
civil society and educate the country about nationalism, which they
felt was grossly misrepresented by corporate media and the ruling
government. The faculty of JNU, in association with several public
intellectuals, delivered a series of lectures on nationalism and created
a public debate. The lectures were filmed and made available online.
People immediately started commenting on these videos on social
media. JNU professor, Gopal Guru (2017), whose lecture initiated the
series, questioned if government’s ‘nationalism’ was territorial national-
ism. The space where these protests and speeches were held—in front
Introduction 3
the general intellectual ambience’ (Guha 2008: 9).30 Thus, with such
problems and changes in policies, higher education has become an
inaccessible and expensive ‘commodity’. This shift from being a public
good to private good has deeply impacted the society.
Thus, according to Dalit activists at IIT Mumbai, this ‘food diktat is try-
ing to dictate the agenda for the remaining 95 per cent’.36 Pant (2008)
writes that ‘Indian higher education has ended up becoming another
instrument for serving myriad socio-political goals and has lost sight
of its true purpose, relinquishing any vision of the role of education
in a liberal democracy’ (2008: 173). Professor Sukumar of University
of Delhi writes about the discrimination and animosity he and other
Dalits faced, while he was as a student at University of Hyderabad:
The university hostel, therefore, serves as a site for both the putative
national culture and unrepresented food cultures. Persistently ignoring
such food diversity symbolizes hegemony of a specific culture over
others (Pathania 2016: 265).
Another example of student resistance against the establishment
occurred at the English and Foreign Language University (EFLU) in
Hyderabad. For the first time in the history of Indian student activism,
the harvest festival of Onam was boycotted in 2012 by marginalized
students. A pamphlet37 issued by a number of student organizations
argued: ‘Dalits and Adivasis work from dawn till dusk to fill your gra-
nary. Why should we celebrate your harvest festivals when it always
left us landless, poor and deprived?’ Such examples point to a palpable
change in the nature of student activism in India.Whereas earlier it had
ideological roots, identity-based activism is the new norm (Pathania
2012). Rather than idolizing Gandhi, marginalized students hailed
Jyotiba Phule as the ‘Father of Nation’. B.R. Ambedkar, Periyar, and
Birsa Munda became the most powerful icon of campus politics.
Leftist parties in Kerala, who rejected the role of caste organizations
in the process of social formation, are now using caste icons such as
Sree Narayana Guru, Ayyankaali, and Chattambi Swamy in their party
conventions.38 Both OU and EFLU celebrated Savtiri Bai Phule’s
birthday on 3 January as National Teachers’ Day. Professor-activist
16 The University as a Site of Resistance
can one be recognized not for being included but for being accepted as
different, not for increasing the amount of exchanges, but the affirming
another kind of exchange?’ (Melucci 1985: 810).
converts seminar halls into a hostile structure that very often inflicts
humiliation on the Dalits, who then feel too nervous or intimidated to
enter such structure ...’ (Guru 2012: 20).
Language appears to be one of the most significant factors through
which Dalit identity represents itself. Most Dalit students come from
illiterate families and attend state schools where the language of instruc-
tion is a local regional language. Once at university, where English is
the dominant language, and by extension, a symbol of higher-caste/
upper-class status, Dalits face severe difficulties in dealing with language
barriers. Even after Dalits master some English, not infrequently their
pronunciation and way of expression exacerbates their difference to
students from English-medium private school backgrounds. Due to their
limited exposure to English, Dalits and other subaltern students do not
feel confident enough to express themselves publicly in English. As a result,
public speaking becomes dominated by students from upper-caste/class
backgrounds who are at ease in English. In the classroom, the English
language along with sophisticated intellectual jargon becomes a major
obstacle for Dalits to articulate themselves (Harinath 2013; Kumar
2005; Paik 2016; Pathania and Tierney 2018; Sukumar 2008: 15).
than rejecting the language of politics, critical pedagogy must link pub-
lic education to the imperatives of a critical democracy (Dewey 1961;
Giroux 1989). Giroux (1989: 32) refers to teachers as ‘transformative’
and schools as public places ‘to reproduce the idea of critical democ-
racy as a social movement that supports individual freedom and social
justice’. By viewing schooling as a form of cultural politics, educators
can bring the concepts of culture and differences together to create a
borderland where multiple subjectivities and identities exist as part of a
pedagogical practice that provides the potential to expand the politics
of democratic community and solidarity (Giroux 1991: 516).
The past decade of student activism shows a cultural deconstruction
of power. Dalit students demanded space and equality for self-
representation and the right to the availability of beef in the university
mess or at least the right to eat beef in public during the ‘Beef Festival’.
The beef debate reached a broader public when Dalit groups started
writing about it (Chandran 2012; Gundimeda 2009; Shyamala 2013) and
launching cultural programmes, including singing and poetry readings
to express the significance of beef in the lives of the untouchables.
As Dalit student activists acquire cultural capital through university
education, they revive their historical identity that emerged from the
tradition of struggle and sacrifice to devise a new language of resistance
against the dominant tradition.
Urban India is experiencing new forms of identity assertion, and
the geographical location of universities plays a crucial role in changing
the social landscape of the city. In December 2012, a brutal gang rape
in Delhi led to country-wide protests, largely led by female univer-
sity students. These protests made the public aware of power structure
of the traditional ‘malestream’ mind rooted in culture and tradition.
Activists raged against patriarchy: ‘Respect the sex which gives you
birth’; ‘I live in a country where a girl is neither safe inside the womb
nor outside it’; and ‘Don’t harass women, they are your lovely mothers,
sisters and daughters’.There was distress and pity for women, and anger
and shame for the state. Some other posters read: ‘Black Day—I am
ashamed to call myself Indian’; and ‘You can get raped but not protest
against rape: #WorldsLargestDemocracy’. Protesters carried candles
and wore black, their mouths bound with black cloth. This display
was a challenge to the traditional and patriarchal argument that girls’
short and tight attire provokes sexual urges among boys. Slogans such
24 The University as a Site of Resistance
as ‘Kapde chhote nahi, tumhari soch chhoti hai (our clothes are not short,
your thinking is)’ asserted women’s rights to live freely. One very
contentious slogan, ‘Better to chop “it” off than to rape’, shows the
intensity of public anger. Referring to the victim of the 16 December
rape, one poster read, ‘She is not dead, she has gone to the place
where there is no rape’.48 What is new in these slogans is the radical
tone. Unlike previous protests against rape, these slogans challenged
male and masculine notions of a patriarchal society (Pathania 2015:
286). In the preceding year in Delhi, hundreds of female university
students started a campaign called ‘Pinjra Tod’ to fight against gen-
dered hostel rules.49 For the past few years, activists are also organiz-
ing Gay Pride parades in Delhi. There are many women’s groups in
many cities across the country, which closely work with university
students and are trying to create a counter-discourse to patriarchy.
In September 2017, women led protests against an incident of sexual
assault at Banaras Hindu University (BHU), a central university in
Uttar Pradesh.50 The uniqueness of these protests was their diversity,
as they, in Butalia’s (2012) view, were not merely ‘women’s issues’, but
a symbol of the deep-seated violence that women and other mar-
ginalized people experience every day in society. With the continu-
ous expansion of higher education and access through reservation
policies, the class, caste, and gender profiles of universities has been
changing significantly but not without tension. For example, Richa
Singh, the first female president of the Allahabad University Student
Union ‘battled the entrenched patriarchy of the Hindi-belt campuses’
(Menon 2016), to become an inspiration for students who come from
socially and economically marginalized families.
These events question the ‘hegemonic oppressive Brahmanical
nationalist Hindu culture’ and seek publicity for the ‘counter culture
of ex-untouchables usually through the means of oppositional symbol-
ism’ (Hardtmann 2009: 236–7). In their social movement, Dalits have
created a broad counter-public sphere ‘where the politics of difference
can articulate itself, and caste can emerge as a legitimate category of
democratic politics’ (Pandian 2002: 25). Similarly, when Dalit literature
became a legitimate and popular category in the recent past, it started
with a never-ending debate that ‘literature cannot be Dalit’. Yet, as
literature is the mirror of society, if society is characterized by caste
inequality, then it is obvious that corresponding literature would
Introduction 25
evolve. But the emergence of Dalit literature was not limited to criti-
cizing caste but its origin as well, and it found Hinduism to be a system
based on structural hierarchy. It not only challenged the religion but
questioned the existence of caste. It has been argued that that since
Hindu culture is dominated by religion, the intellectual entrapment of
the Dalit cannot be eased unless a large-scale rewriting of the Hindu
holy texts takes place (Ilaiah 2001: 57).
India’s university-educated class51 lives in a paradox. While it proj-
ects itself as anti-caste, anti-patriarchy, progressive, and so on, it still
takes pride in using caste surnames for introductions and marrying
along caste lines. One can experience this paradox while reading the
morning newspaper from any corner of India. Matrimonial advertise-
ments highlight caste, sub-caste, region, and religion. This hints that
we need to look at higher education critically. How does the univer-
sity inculcate this parochial thinking among its students? According
to Beteille (2007: 447), ‘If caste has dug its roots deeper into the
university today, the main responsibility for that lies in the way in
which politics has come to be organized’. Therefore, the challenge
of the twenty-first century is to realize the cultural potential of those
who have remained at the margins of society for ages. It is possible by
diversifying our classrooms through inclusion of every caste, tribe, and
language in the classroom. Democracy ‘has to be judged not just by
the institutions that formally exist but by the extent to which differ-
ent voices from diverse sections of the people can actually be heard’
(Touraine 1997: 190). Its raison d’être is the recognition of the other.
It has been observed, with much justice, that ‘the relationship between
identity and inequality lies at the heart of secularism and democracy
in India’ (Tejani 2007: 265).
As more of India’s university student population has grown to
reflect the diversity in society, so have the issues of debate and conten-
tion. The university is a ‘futuristic institution that makes innovative use
of the past’ (Visvanathan 1999: 50). If the past is characterized by social
contradiction and animosity, one should expect from these institutions
to correct the historical wrongs. Various reports and committees have
suggested several measures to handle discriminations in universities
but there is no measurement of indirect discrimination. David Mosse
(2012) concludes that caste has turned inward and now resides as a
‘feeling inside the mind/heart’. Thus, the existence and persistence of
26 The University as a Site of Resistance
NOTES
1. Available at http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/dalit-
student-suicide-full-text-of-suicide-letter-hyderabad/, accessed 24 November
2016.
2. The Home Minister of India stated in the media: ‘If anyone raises anti-
India slogans and tries to raise question on the nation’s unity and integrity,
they will not be spared’.
3. As a liberal campus, JNU has been popular for its joint struggle (teacher–
student–employees). In 2017, for the first time in the history of any Indian
university, the teachers’ union of JNUTA called for a public enquiry against
its own VC, Professor M. Jagadeesh Kumar, for allegedly violating various
conventions of the university.
4. In their study of 39 central universities in India, Marisha, Banshal, and
Singh (2017: 2205) found that DU and JNU as the best performers in social
sciences research.
5. Available at http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/caste-is-anti-
national-as-it-divides-india-says-amartya-sen/story-Hbk4R-PLejo0XEgpM-
bEO4rN.html, accessed 5 January 2017.
6. Available at https://www.telegraphindia.com/1160213/jsp/frontpage/
story_69079.jsp#.WIMWWFN97IU, accessed 5 August 2016.
7. Available at https://scroll.in/latest/803722/top-academics-including-noam-
chomsky-judith-butler-condemn-centres-action-at-jnu, accessed 5 August 2017.
8. UGC Gazette Notification: Death of the Idea of an Inclusive University,
organized by the Committee of Suspended Students for Social Justice.
15 February 2017 at the Freedom Square, JNU. 4:30–6:30 pm.
Introduction 29
9. JNU students who were associated with the controversial Afzal Guru
march that landed Kanhaiya Kumar and Umar Khalid in jail.
10. Available at https://thewire.in/111181/delhi-university-ramjas-abvp/,
accessed 5 April 2017.
11. Available at https://thewire.in/68869/abvp-central-university-haryana-
draupadi/, accessed 27 November 2016.
12. The mob killing of a Muslim man who was suspected of consuming beef
on 28 September 2015 in Dadri, Uttar Pradesh.
13. See https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/13/indian-
conservatives-penguin-hindus-book.
14. See https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/nov/05/arundhati-
roy-returns-award-protest-religious-intolerance-india-bollywood-modi-
government-violence.
15. Available at http://www.sify.com/news/hyderabad-varsity-students-
not-satisfied-with-new-protest-rules-news-national-rhpdJohig-baec.html.
16. Available at http://sanhati.com/articles/15951/.
17. Dilip Menon questions the ‘structure of administration, pedagogy and
structure of scholarship’ that are highly dis-criminatory in Indian higher
education. Available at https://theacademiccitizen.org/2016/07/06/12-the-
state-of-higher-education-in-india/, accessed 9 October 2017.
18. Explaining his experiences of the 1960s, American educationist Peter
McLaren comments that the ‘youth counter-culture of the sixties served as the
ideological loam that fertilized my pedagogy. I had learned the rudiments of
a middle-class radicalism that was preoccupied with the politics of expressive
life and avoided examining in a minded and a critical manner the structural
inequalities within the social order’ (McLaren 2015: 11).
19. Self-immolation by a university student in Czechoslovakia in 1968 led
to a massive agitation known as the Prague Spring. Neighbouring Poland
experienced revolt where students challenged Communist party control
over universities and cultural production (Bischof, Karner, and Ruggenthaler
2010). See Zubok,V. 2010. ‘Soviet Society in 1960s’, in The Prague Spring and
the Warsaw Pact Invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, ed. G. Bischof, S. Karner, and
P. Ruggenthaler, pp. 76–101. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
20. See http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=
20160510173152311 and https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/
2015/05/the-renaissance-of-student-activism/393749/.
21. Available at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/30/-sp-
hong-kong-umbrella-revolution-pro-democracy-protests.
22. ‘I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change, I am changing
the things I cannot accept’ was the slogan students adopted against university
authority and government’s unfulfilled promises.
30 The University as a Site of Resistance
Hostel Food’. After this, IIT Delhi decided to play safe by only serving vegetar-
ian food in campus.
36. Available at http://www.firstpost.com/living/shuddh-vegetarian-in-
iit-delhi-rss-activists-spur-smriti-irani-to-dictate-hostel-food-1825509.html,
accessed 4 December 2014.
37. Cited from a pamphlet jointly published by the Dalit Adivasi Bahujan
Minority Student Association (DABMSA), the Telangana Student Association
(TSA), the Progressive Democratic Student Union (PDSU), Bahujan Student
Forum (BSF), and Telangana Vidyarthi Vedika (TVV) at EFLU on 15 August
2012.
38. Available at http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/09/16/confrontations-
and-scope-of-identity-politics-observations-on-left-politics-of-jnu-and-
kerala/, accessed 26 September 2016.
39. ‘The original inhabitant’ refers to a group of students who consider
themselves as part of Dravidian civilization, not the ‘outsiders’ Aryans.
40. Available at http://www.hindustantimes.com/delhi-news/5-hurt-in-
jnu-clash-over-ram-s-existence/story-wDxFUeqNuL5suteYo-PDMpM.
html, accessed 30 March 2016.
41. Available at http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-
nation/what-is-wrong-in-manusmriti-burning-jnu-students-to-varsity/
articleshow/51499704.cms, accessed 30 March 2016.
42. Popularized by Dalit students in agitations after Rohith Vemula’s suicide
and also from speeches by Kanhaiya Kumar. Available at https://thewire.in/
25435/from-lal-salaam-to-jai-bhim-lal-salaam/, accessed on 27 December 2017.
43. Available at https://drambedkarbooks.com/2016/03/02/2nd-march-
1930-in-dalit-history-nashik-kalaram-temple-satyagraha-started/, accessed 20
October 2016.
44. The Naga Hoho, the apex civil society body of the Nagas, strives for a
unified Naga identity. Several factions of Naga militias divided along tribal
lines or factional loyalties that override ethnicity.
45. Available at https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/United-against-
quota-Students-hold-countrywide-protests/articleshow/1512585.cms?
referral=PM, accessed 30 October 2016.
46. Interview, Jones, L. 2012. ‘Noam Chomsky Spells out the Purpose of
Education’. Open Culture. Accessed 4 June 2017. http://www.openculture.
com/2012/11/noam_chomsky_spells_out_the_purpose_of_education.html.
47. The notion of critical pedagogy as a recognized concept is a relatively
new phenomenon that emerged particularly from the thought of Paulo Freire
and others (Kincheloe 2008; McLaren 2000). Critical pedagogy is an empow-
ering way of thinking and acting fostering decisive agency that does not take
a position of neutrality in its contextual examination of the various forces that
impact the human condition (Kirylo 2013: xxi).
32 The University as a Site of Resistance
The University as a Site of Resistance: Identity and Student Politics. Gaurav J. Pathania,
Oxford University Press (2018). © Oxford University Press.
DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780199488414.003.0002
34 The University as a Site of Resistance
Meyer 1999; Morris and Mueller 1992; Polletta 1999). NSMs arise
within the sphere of ‘cultural reproduction of social relations, symbols
and identities’ (Melucci 1980) and are ‘specific to history and social
structure’ (2001: 40). According to NSM theorists, identity movements
seek to transform dominant cultural patterns or gain recognition for
new social identities by employing ‘expressive’ strategies (Cohen 1985;
Melucci 1985, 1989; Touraine 1981). According to Kriesi and Giugni
(1995: xxi) the development of NSMs is ‘ultimately rooted in structural
and cultural transformation that characterize all Western and European
countries’.
Identity has an ontological and epistemological status (Somers
1994: 606). Cultural identities—religious, national, regional, and ethnic
identities—are more fluid and may be either public or private depending
upon historical context. Duncombe3 (2002: 5) explains, ‘culture is
used, consciously or unconsciously, effectively or not, to resist and/or
change the dominant political, economic, and/or social structure.’
He points out that some forms of cultural resistance can be dismissed
as an ‘escape from politics and a way to release discontent that might
otherwise be expressed through political activity’ (2002: 6). However,
there is an emphasis on both macro and micro historical elements.
Resistance based on culture explains the use of such categories.4
Political process theorists are increasingly coming to realize that
cultural dynamics are central to the origin and development of social
movements.5 Culture, ideas, belief systems, rituals, oratory, emotions,
and grievance interpretation are central to social movements. Social
movement scholars analysed cultural processes as elements of politi-
cal opportunity (Ferree et al. 2002; Meyer et al. 2002; Gamson and
Meyer 1996; Steinberg 1999). Polletta (2004) also theorizes the role
of culture in mobilization. Like Goodwin and Jasper (2003), Polletta
(2004: 97) believes that we can usually adopt a ‘less anaemic concep-
tion of culture than some political process analysis has done without
making actors, interests, strategies, and resources simply figments of a
culturalist imagination’. For example, scholars raised questions about
who we are, how we live, and who is accountable, rather than demand-
ing fair remuneration and improved working conditions (Habermas
1981; Klandermans, Kriese, and Tarrow 1988; Melucci 1985). In short,
the core characteristics of NSMs are derived out of lived experiences,
which are very much rooted in the culture of everyday life. In their
36 The University as a Site of Resistance
TABLE 1.1 Political and Cultural Version of New Social Movement Theories
Issue Political Version Cultural Version
General orientation Pro-Marxist Post-Marxist
Representative Manuel Castells Alberto Melucci
Theorist
Societal Totality Advanced capitalism Information society
Image of Power Systemic centralized Diffuse, decentralized
Level of Analysis Macro, Meso-level, Meso-, micro level, civil
State-oriented society, everyday life
Movement Activity Retains role for Eschews strategic
instrumental action concerns in favours of
symbolic expressions
First Debate: Recognizing their role Regards new
View of New without rejecting the movements as having
Movements role of working class displaced working-class
movements movements
Second Debate: Potential for Sees NSMs as defensive
Movement progressive orientations or rejects category of
Orientation if allied with working ‘progressive’
class movements
Third Debate: Sees political Sees cultural movements
Evaluation of movements as most as most radical,
Movements radical, cultural political movements as
movements as political co-optable
Fourth Debate: Analyses in class term Analyses in terms of
Social Base of via contradictory non-class constituencies
Movements locations, new class or or issues and ideologies
middle class
(Melucci 1996: 27). They are linked to the survival and reproduction
of culture, social relations, symbols, and identities. Scholars (Calhoun
1993; Castells 1978; Edward 2009; Habermas 1984, 1987; Melucci
1980; Scott 1990; Singh 2001; Tarrow 1991; Touraine 1985) claim that
NSMs’ engagements are less about material reproduction and more
about cultural reproduction, social integration, and socialization.
Following Western scholarship, the Indian debate on NSMs began
almost three decades later. Omvedt (1993, 1994), Oommen (2010),
38 The University as a Site of Resistance
Shah (2004), and Singh (2001) have debated a conceptual shift in social
movement literature. They all agree that NSMs question the relevance
of both the functionalist as well as the dialectical Marxist models and
‘reflect the cultural and democratic representational crisis of society’
(Singh 2001). Oommen (2010) takes a clue from movement scholars
(Cohen 1985; Klandermans, Kriesi, and Tarrow 1988; McAdam 1988;
Melucci 1989; Offe 1985), and highlights some major points to explain
NSMs—that (a) they cannot be characterized in terms of ideology
as they represent a variety of ideas and value; (b) their participants
have structurally diverse backgrounds; (c) they breed new identities or
reinvent old ones; (d ) they often represent counter cultures; (e) they
struggle to reclaim their past through the intimate aspects of human
life such as dietary practices, dress patterns, sexuality, and the like; and
(f ) they interrogate the legitimacy and style of the functioning of tradi-
tional political parties and may give birth to new types of political par-
ties. In a comparative study of Egypt and Tunisia, Beissinger, Jamal, and
Mazur (2012) found that corruption and unemployment motivated
protests that kicked off uprisings across the region known as the ‘Arab
Spring’. Pathania (2015), Sitapati (2011), and Thakur and Rai (2013)
see a similar case in India in 2010 when the ‘India Against Corruption’
movement led to countrywide agitations.
The NSM framework offers a fresh way to analyse the Telangana
movement. Functionalist and dialectical Marxist frameworks assume
the identity of individuals and their action and subjectivities in favour
of a formalized non-human structural image of society (Singh 2001:
157). The subnational movement in Assam and the demand for
Jharkhand are examples of NSMs, according to Singh (2001: 206).
Three major themes emerge which help us understand the regional
movement for a separate Telangana state. One theme is identity, sec-
ond is culture, and third is the decentralized nature of the movement
with the emergence of civil society. These themes are appropriate to
understand the Telangana movement as a cultural movement. Scholars
(Pingle 2014; Rao 1997; Reddy and Sharma 1979; Simhadri and Rao
1997;Thirumali 2013), who studied Andhra–Telangana problems, cen-
tre their arguments primarily on ‘social and economic backwardness’
of Telangana. According to them, this is an important reason behind
the emergence of the movement. These scholars have adopted the
term ‘internal colonialism’,9 which was first used by the first State
Telangana Movement 39
HYDERABAD STATE
Soegaon M A TELANGANA REGION
D H Y A P R A
an
Sillod
MARATHWARA REGION
ard
Kannad Jafrabad D E
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ok
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ath
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NANDED
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NIZAMABAD KARIMNAGAR
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har
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Gu
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HYDERABAD NALGONDA
ita
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arg Gangawati
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OR
MAP 1.1 Hyderabad State before Its Merger with Indian State in 1948
Source: Chaturvedi, 1956, A Descriptive Atlas of Hyderabad State, p. 6.
Note: This map is not to scale and does not represent authentic national and
international boundaries. It is provided for illustrative purposes only.
42 The University as a Site of Resistance
MAHARASHTRA CHHATTISGARH
ODISHA
TELANGANA
HYDERABAD
KARNATAKA
ANDHRA
RAYALASEEMA
TAMIL NADU
towards the local population’. Alam and Khan (1972: 142) describe
a similar state of affairs: ‘After 1956, with the formation of the state
of Andhra Pradesh, thousands of jobs explicitly meant for Telangana
youth were given to Andhras. Among the 8,000 Reserve Police of
Hyderabad, ‘the majority were non-locals’.25
Many ‘safeguards’ to ensure equal development to Telangana region
were never implemented (Rao 1969). Thus, the Gentlemen’s Agreement
remained ‘a rhetoric flourish’ (Welch 1980: 319), leaving Telangana
economically backward. Gradually, Andhra politicians and their culture
started dominating the social, political, and economic life of the state.
According to Telangana activists and scholars, ‘non-implementation of
these “safeguards” resulted in the dominance of Andhra people in jobs,
industry, and politics, which set the basis for the demand of separate
statehood.’ Mr K.R. Amos, who was one of the first Telanganaites to
get a job in Hyderabad in 1952, explains:26 ‘Andhra employees occupied
crucial positions in the administration, particularly in the secretariat,
judiciary and education. This widened the gulf further, given what the
“Andhra administration” was doing for Telangana. Equally competent
candidates from Telangana were given low ranks’.
Studies highlight how different pay scales for Andhra and Telangana
employees set by the Pay Commission under the leadership of
K. Brahmananda Reddy created permanent grievances (Bhushan
and N. Venugopal 2009; Hyderabad Forum for Telangana 2009, 2010;
Ramulu 2007; Simhadri and Rao 1997; Thirumali 2013). Gradually,
through government policies, Telangana’s culture and people became
systematically disenfranchised. Government offices became sites of cultural
contentions as public sector Telangana employees were disregarded or
ridiculed by their Andhra counterparts. Mr Amos shares his experiences
of exclusion and humiliation:
Our presence had no meaning in our own offices. High positions were
given to Andhra people. The behaviour of the Andhra employees
working in the secretariat and the daily humiliation forced us to
come together in one platform and form an association called
Telangana Non-Gazetted Officers’ Association.
Source: Author.
Telangana Movement 51
Food
Similarly, food habits are also an important element of a culture and
an individual’s identity. Generally, when two cultures confront each
other, food (after language) becomes a major issue. Migration to a
new place or culture often forces an individual to adopt alterna-
tive food practices, which, in many ways, challenges one’s individual
identity. Yet, studies have shown that food habits are one of the last
cultural traits to change in the context of migration and ethnic
minority cultures (Charon 2004; Spiro 1955). Bhushan (2009: 58)
adds that ‘there has been little acknowledgement of the fact that the
Telangana movement advanced not only by means of cultural asser-
tion but also through cultural rejection of the other as evidenced in
slogan such as ‘idli sambhar ve-nakki po’ (idli sambhar go back), refer-
ring to Tamil and Coastal Andhra people, and ‘Gongura pachadi41 go
back’. During student protests of city colleges and Nizam College
at Hyderabad, ‘Jobs to Telangana people only’ and ‘Hyderabad for
Hyderabadis’ were popular slogans focussing on the rejection of the
culture of Andhras. Feelings of humiliation and discrimination were
channelled through opposing the cultural symbols of ‘idli-sambhar’,
‘gongura pachadi’, and others.
During the 2011 agitations, Kalvakuntala Chandrashekhar Rao
(henceforth KCR) used the cosmopolitan culture of Hyderabad to
criticize Andhra culture and to gain support of the Muslim popula-
tion concentrated in Hyderabad. On 31 January 2011, KCR remarked
that ‘the biryani prepared by people in Andhra Pradesh tasted like
cow dung’.42 He further mentioned that ‘[p]eople from Andhra who
came here without even footwear are claiming that they have taught
Telangana Movement 57
satisfy one’s existing set of beliefs. The Telugu film industry, popularly
known as Tollywood,46 is one of the largest in India. According to
Professor Jadhav (1997; Elavarthi and Vamierddy 2015), the arrival of
local film making marked the dawn of yet another avenue to generate
callous stereotypes: ‘The regional discrimination which Telangana was
facing since the 1950s on the basis of language now started appearing
on the big screen. There was no representation of Telangana people in
Tollywood. Heroes would speak only “Andhra dialect” as de facto stan-
dard and villains and comedians would be speaking in the Telangana
accent.’
At this stage, the Telangana dialect ceased to be a question of mere
language, and became an issue of identity and representation.47 The
ubiquitous presence of Andhras in films, print, and electronic media led
to a kind of cultural domination ( Janardhan and Raghavendra 2013:
555). Government media (that is, Doordarshan and All India Radio)
were used as vehicles to ridicule the language and culture of the people
of Telangana. Professor Jayashanker, an ideologue of Telangana Rashta
Samiti, asserted that the demand for a separate state was to protect
the self-respect of the people of Telangana. ‘Although we respect the
culture and dialect of other regions, our dialect and culture is being
ridiculed, particularly in mass media. We can preserve it only through
self-governance’.48
Professor Jadhav highlights another example with the 2013 movie
Mondi Mogudu Penki Pellam, whose main characters are a police officer
and his wife. Prakash and Vemmireddy (2015) comment that ‘the film is
suggestive of the strange relationship between the two regions, where
one region is ashamed of being with the other and wants to reform it
to meet its standards’. They further explain:
Except her character, no major character speaks her dialect in the film.
Her behaviour and language are ridiculed and used to generate comedy.
Even though he loves her, her police officer husband is always ashamed
of her language and makes sure that she does not speak in front of his
colleagues and friends. When she speaks before a colleague in the first
scene, he feels embarrassed and covers it up by saying, ‘she is doing
research in Telangana dialect’. Even a few months before the bifurcation,
Andhra politicians and supporters of unified state were using the anal-
ogy of wife and husband to suggest that the dispute is internal and does
not require outside intervention.
Telangana Movement 59
connect with each other. All of this was possible because they were
living in Hyderabad, the cosmopolitan state capital.
The government’s plan of rebuilding Hyderabad was occurring
more at an economic level.The Gachibowli area soon became Hi-tech
City. Multinational companies (MNCs) and major software compa-
nies including Microsoft, Computer Associates, Infosys, and Wipro set
up their branches there. Naidu wanted to compete with the nearby
‘Silicon Valley’, Bangalore. As Hyderabad attracted the global market,
thousands of new jobs were created.Yet, the ‘native people’ of Telangana
could not easily access the new opportunities. In the words of Suresh,
an Osmania activist:
When I shifted to Hyderabad from Jagityal, I was in urgent need of a
job. Those days there were plenty of jobs. After 15 interviews, I realised
that they will not take me because I am from Telangana. They recognise
it through my accent. I started practising more of Andhra accent and
words. But even then, I could not get any chance because then they
reject me because my certificate shows my Telangana identity.
well. One can see the erection of statues of Andhra dominance in the
city of Hyderabad (Rao, Reddy, and Rao 2014). Though the city had
a legacy of the Nizam and Telangana martyr, there was little to show
for it. Amar expresses an activist’s predicament: ‘Isn’t it ironic that many
times we had to go to Andhra businessman to publish our pamphlet
and poster for our anti-Andhra protest, because he has big printing
establishment.This is a question to ask why we [natives] were not given
equal representation in business by the government. Are we lazy or are
they afraid of us?’
Such issues are discussed among Telangana activists. During their
meetings, they sadly joke, ‘After this meeting, we have to eat in an
Andhra hotel’, ‘Where are Telangana people in Hyderabad?’. This kind
of questions provokes Telangana activists to debate and spread aware-
ness on the ownership of resources.
During agitations in 2011, a programme called the Million March
was organized by Osmania University-Joint Action Committee
(OU-JAC). This march is a prime example of cultural resistance.
During the march, activists damaged an ATM of Andhra Bank as it was
associated with Andhra.They dismantled many of the statues of famous
Andhra personalities (freedom fighters, politicians, and artists) situated
on the main road, Tank Bund, by Hussain Sagar Lake. Armed with
nylon ropes, sickles, and other instruments, the activists demolished 12
of the 33 statues and threw 11 of them into the lake. Even the statue
of Sri Sri, a revered Andhra poet of earlier generations of students, was
not spared. While dismantling the statues, student leaders stated to the
media: ‘Today, we made it clear. This is our capital.Your statues are not
welcome here anymore.You cannot impose them onto us. Sooner you
realize the better it is for all of us. A movement becomes violent only as
a reaction to oppressive methods used by the ruling regimes’.53
This echoes the sentiments of students who defined the destruction
of statues as ‘cultural renaissance of Telangana’ or ‘de-Andhraization of
Telangana’. A group of Telangana Rashtra Samithi Vidyarthi Vibhagam
(TRSV) activists said, ‘We are in the middle of a revolution—maybe
we can call it Pink Revolution because we see pink flags every-
where’.54 A popular slogan of students’ march was: Telangana Jago,
Andhra Bhago (Telangana wake up, Andhra go!). It raised a kind of
consciousness which could be understood as symbolic of the identity
politics between the two groups. Social movements are specific to
culture, history, and social structure (Singh 2001: 40).This, according to
62 The University as a Site of Resistance
DISCUSSION
At every social front, Telangana cultural manifested itself by rejecting
and boycotting ‘Andhra’ culture. From ‘idli sambhar go back’ to
boycotting Andhra Tiffins and Andhra movies, the Telangana movement
gained a cultural consciousness which is reflected in the literature
produced by its activists. This chapter highlighted the emergence of
the Telangana movement, outlining a brief history and the political
consequences in both regions of Telangana and Andhra. A vast migra-
tion from Andhra to Hyderabad for government jobs diminished the
scope for employment among Telangana youth. Using their influence,
Andhras acquired ‘mulki’ status to own land and resources. Gradually,
this spawned a cultural hegemony of Andhra culture over local
Hyderabadi and Telangana culture. Cultural humiliation of Telangana
government employees was rampant. Excessive unemployment and
cultural humiliation collectively created resentment among youth led
to a year-long agitation in 1969 and culminated in the formation of a
political party that produced many revolutionary leaders. By the end
of 2000, activism spilled across India and the rest of the world through
the Telangana diaspora. During this phase, cultural symbols, ethos and
identities, food, festivals, and films were instrumental in creating a
contentious politics and asserting Telangana identity and its history. In
2009, students reignited the movement with the help of other activists
to reach out to the masses. In this phase, the assertion of Telangana
64 The University as a Site of Resistance
NOTES
1. Scholars have different views on defining the category of student.
According to Pinner (1972: 83), ‘Students share certain characteristics with
intellectuals or others in academic settings but their position sets them apart’.
Other scholars (Aspinall 2005; Emmerson 1968; Lee 2005) have also debated
student identity as workers, military leaders, and so on. In Marism, students do
not constitute a class (Weinberg and Walker 1969: 82).
2. Although there is no consensus on the question of class in NSMs, this
debate offers some important insights.
3. He characterizes the trajectory of cultural resistance as moving along
three spectra (political consciousness, social unit, and results) that begin at the
level of unconsciousness, the individual, and survival, and end at consciousness,
the entire society, and complete revolution, respectively. In such a framing,
theories of cultural resistance may also subscribe to teleological conjectures of
change, according to Duncombe (2002: 7–8).
4. It describes a state of being as well as a category of social knowledge and
classification. In an ideal universe, political identities merge emotional attach-
ment and institutional categories. ‘I am Indian’ and ‘we are Indians’ would be
both ontological and epistemological statements.
5. Much of the recent theorizing on culture and movements was actually
formulated by critics (Fantasia 1988; Goodwin and Jasper 1999; Jasper, 1997;
Johnston and Klandermans 1995; Morris and Mueller 1991; Snow et al. 1986)
or in response to challenges raised by critics.
Telangana Movement 67
M.K. Vellodi, a senior civil servant, was made the chief minister of the state
and the Nizam was designated ‘Raj Pramukh’.
15. Mr M.K. Vellodi, a civil servant, was appointed as the chief minister of
the Telangana state from September 1948 to 1952. His period is known as
Vellodi rule. He was appointed by the central government in Telangana state
before forming democratic government by people through elections.
16. The history of the anti-mulki protest can be traced back to 1910 when
Maharaja Sir Kishan Prasad took up the struggle of Mulkis. Mulkis fought
against the Non Mulkis’ domination and suppression. In 1919, The seventh
Nizam, Mir Osman Ali Khan, passed an order (Firman) that Mulkis were
exclusively eligible for government employment.
17. In addition to job opportunities in Hyderabad, the arrival of the Green
Revolution accentuated the migration process.Though the Green Revolution
created surplus in coastal Andhra, the region ‘could not ploughed back into
agriculture as capital absorption by agriculture, unlike industry, is inelastic’. As
Haragopal (2010a: 53) argues, ‘The coastal capital in search of greener pastures
started moving to those areas of Telangana region wherever there were sources
of irrigation, particularly tanks or river water’.
18. From an interview with Professor Harinath on 31 May 2013.
19. The slogan was given by Ramchari who had earlier worked in the
Nizam’s administration. He also formed the Hyderabad Hitha Rakshana Samithi
in August 1952.
20. Available at https://www.telegraphindia.com/1130804/jsp/7days/
17193418.jsp.
21. Indian Express, 2 October 1953.
22. In agreement with national leaders G.B. Pant and Jawaharlal Nerhu,
Andhra leaders like B. Gopala Reddy (CM), N. Sanjeeva Reddy, Gothy Lachanna,
A. Satyanarayana Raju, and leaders from Telangana like B. Ramakrishna
Rao (CM), Dr M. Chenna Reddy, J.V. Narasinga Rao, K.V. Ranga Reddy,
and J.V. Narasinga Rao were signatories.
23. Chief Minister N. Sanjeeva Reddy denied the post of deputy chief
minister to Telangana person as was agreed in the Gentlemen’s Agreement.
This movement lay on the foundations of the failure of implementation of
Gentlemen’s Agreement and lack of employment opportunities to the people
of Telangana.
24. Interviewed on 19 September 2013.
25. Also see Adiraju (1969).
26. He was interviewed on 23 June 2013 at the Congress Bhawan, Hyderabad.
27. However, when we speak of diversity in the region, one can find around
30 different dialects of Telugu in the state of Andhra Pradesh and almost half
of them are present in the Telangana region.
Telangana Movement 69
46. During N.T. Rama Rao’s period, Tollywood was shifted from Madras to
Hyderabad in 1994.
47. Available at http://www.anveshi.org.in/telangana-and-language-politics-
of-telugu-cinema/.
48. For detailed interview, see Rajiv 2009.
49. In a seminar held on 10 September 2014.
50. To the grossly under-explored field of Telugu cinema, S.V. Srinivas’s
Politics as Performance: A Social History of the Telugu Cinema is a significant
contribution. As one of the first works on the topic, it is likely to gain histori-
cal value and become a reference book.
51. He lists Angrez (2005), Ankur (1974), Baazaar (1982), Hyderabad Blues
(1998), Hyderabad Nawabs (2006), Mandi (1983), Nishant (1975), Susman
(1987), and how despite being made in non-Telugu languages, they reflect the
region, its uniqueness and flavour.
52. However, when we talk about diversity in the region than one can find
around 30 different dialects of Telugu in the state of Andhra Pradesh and
almost half of them exist in the Telangana region itself.
53. Available at http://missiontelangana.com/toppling-our-masters-and-
statues/.
54. From a meeting among activists and Telangana intellectuals over the
movement’s goal at Arts College on 25 October 2013.
55. Since 2009, Kapus had high hopes in politics under the leadership of
Chiranjeevi, the popular Telugu Star. Chiranjeevi had no clear political stand
on the separate Telangana demand.
56. BSF pamphlets on 14 November 2007, 14 April 2008, 17 September
2009, and many other pamphlets of each year where date is not mentioned.
2 Osmania University
Academics, Culture, and Politics
For the past five decades, Osmania University (OU) has regularly
made headlines due to the robust participation of its students in the
movement for Telangana statehood. The university has produced
several activists who later became part of mainstream politics and
university faculty. Due to its constant student activism, OU has
popularly been referred to as ‘Telangana University’. The widespread
notion that the ‘movement is the business of Osmania’ is explained
here, highlighting Osmania’s role throughout the various phases of the
movement. The Srikrishna Commission Report (SCR) on the ques-
tion of bifurcation notes that OU and Kakatiya University became
‘trouble spots’ and ‘trouble creators’ during agitations (Srikrishna
Commission 2010: 51–2). OU has been the nerve centre for every
agitation, strike, meeting, or debate for a separate Telangana. Lipset
(1968) argues that ‘intellectuals and students have a major potential
mass base for new revolutionary movements, and they remained a
source of radical leadership and mass support while other elements
of society have not’. Here, the word ‘intellectual’ has a wide con-
notation and this chapter explains how, due to the movement for
separate Telangana, intellectuals established organic linkages with the
poor working classes through their art, music, writings, and speeches.
This chapter illustrates how a culture of resistance was created by
intellectuals (students, alumni, and teachers) and how their activism
made the campus the epicentre of a mass movement. Focussing pri-
marily on out-of-the-classroom ethnographic material, this chapter
The University as a Site of Resistance: Identity and Student Politics. Gaurav J. Pathania,
Oxford University Press (2018). © Oxford University Press.
DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780199488414.003.0003
72 The University as a Site of Resistance
BASTI
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STATION
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of instruction ‘as it was the official language of the state’. Yet, this
contrasted with the supremacy of the English language that ruled
India. Nevertheless, it became the first Indian university to use an
Indian language, Urdu, as the medium of instruction (Geiger 2009:
154–5; Elliot 1972: 274). In his letter to the Nizam, Nobel laureate
74 The University as a Site of Resistance
I have been long waiting for the day when, freed from the shackles of a
foreign language, our education becomes naturally accessible to all our
people. It is a problem for the solution of which we look to our native
States, and it gives me great joy to know that your State proposes to
found a University in which instructions are to be given through the
medium of Urdu. It is needless to say that your scheme has my fullest
appreciation.1
from the hostels and they have been suspended from attending the col-
leges. Scholarships and free-ships granted to them have been cancelled.
They were asked to settle their accounts with the hostel wardens and to
be ready for eviction.
Being an Osmanian, I learnt ten times more than what I learnt in the
classroom. My outlook had become much wider, broader and I cer-
tainly gained from my stay on the campus. Comrade Aziz Pasha and
Sadanand were student leaders of other colleges then but later joined
the OU campus. ‘We used to organise study circles at YMCA all at
Narayanaguda and Young Men’s Club at Sultan Bazar. Comrade Rohit
Sen was a popular speaker in our meetings. (Reddy 2017)
Teachers not only supported the students but also advised them how
to counter the Andhra student lobby on campus. ‘It was because of our
teachers’ guidance we could understand the political agenda and strate-
gies of Andhra students’,15 claims Krishna, a 1969 activist. Two of the
popular founding fathers of the movement—Professor Jaishankar and
Professor Keshav Rao Jadhav16—had been the guiding force behind
the student movement. Similarly, Sri Sri’s poetry influenced the youth
and students in 1969. Students formed poetry and theatre clubs and
various other platforms for mobilizing students. Each event and group
added strength to the fibres of Telangana activism.
Students served as frontrunners, while professors and alumni served
as the movement’s guiding force. University employees were mobi-
lized as well.The OU community decided to commemorate 1 May 1969
as ‘Telangana Demand Day’. Thousands of students and employees
gathered in Hyderabad holding a banner that read, ‘Telangana Demand
Day’. As the communist movement remained popular since the 1940s,
the intelligentsia’s perspective of the movement was influenced thus.
They related to the history of Telangana as part of the peasant revolt
against the landlords.Therefore, they chose 1 May, International Labour
Day, to commemorate the day they made their historic appeal.
Some radical Left ideologues such as Gaddar, Andhesri, Goranta,
Narayan Rao, Sri Sri, Varavara Rao, and many others formed Virasam
(Vipalava Rachayitala Sangham [Revolutionary Writers Association])17
Osmania University 81
Many OU youth were inspired by him and joined full-time art and
cultural activities. A lot of them went on to become singers, poets, and
writers. Commenting on sustaining the movement, Gaddar states that
‘intellectuals burn like paper but activists are like coal that burns with
the ideological spirit and keeps the movement charged’.
In 1990s, dozens of new groups emerged on campus supporting
the separate Telangana movement. There were groups who explored
the history of Telangana and boycotted everything related to Andhra
Pradesh. In 1999, to oppose the AP formation day on 1 November,
a student activist Sanghishetty Srinivas, climbed up the Arts College
building and hoisted a handmade Telangana flag. He recalls:
Like all other government offices in the state, our university admin-
istration was also full of Andhra people. It used to celebrate all the
state sponsored festivals. Andhra Pradesh State formation day had
become the part of the official state cultural festivals therefore to
oppose the existing State Day was not just opposing the state but
rejecting all the historical and cultural celebrations glorified by the
state. It was a shame for us to celebrate Andhra Pradesh formation day
in the premises of Arts College whose hundreds of students were killed
by the same Andhra state.21
been the most important phase in the history of Andhra Pradesh. This
decade was also rife with caste violence in the Andhra region where the
‘Red’ and ‘Green’ revolution was strong.
Srinivasulu (2002: 33) argues that ‘if caste violence is symptomatic
of the rising aspirations of the downtrodden and disadvantaged strata of
our society and their challenge to the historically inherited and estab-
lished structure of socio-economic, cultural and political dominance,
then the violence is also an expression of resistance to these aspirations
by the dominant power-that-be.
According to both Srinivasulu’s (2002: 2) and Damodaran’s (2008:
94–5) studies of caste relations in Andhra Pradesh, the Andhra
region has been economically and politically dominated by two
land-owning castes, the Kammas and the Reddys, who formed
just 6.5 per cent and 4.8 per cent of the population, respectively.
Caste has largely defined both political power and entrepreneurial
dominance, as the Reddys dominated the political space and the
Kammas the entrepreneurial space (Srinivasulu 2002: 7). The class-
oriented struggles of the communists did help Dalits, according to
Srinivasulu. It helped in providing or increasing their daily wage
and also in their acquisition of land. They received education and
had a social space to articulate their grievances. Dalits were certainly
closer to the Naxalite party than any other political party. Therefore,
there was no contention between Naxalites and Dalits (Patil 1992: 30).
Naxalites established sangams (associations) in the name of caste in
some parts of Telangana. In Nizamabad and some parts of Medak
district, Chillara Kulhala Sangam or Ambedkar Yuvajana Sangam were
organized (see Laxamaiah 2007).
Lower-caste politics began to rise to the surface in late 1980s.
Marginal communities like Chakalis (dhobhis), Nayibrahmins (barbers),
Kummhari (pot makers), Katikaparlu (a caste that buries the dead),
and Dalits (particularly Madigas) have not only participated in the
movement but in fact formed many organizations and protested.
‘Caste-Based Telangana’ (Kula Sanghala Telanganam) became ubiqui-
tous headlines of the local newspapers. The decade witnessed the
mushrooming of caste-based organizations. The decade witnessed
the mushrooming of caste-based organizations such as Telanganalo
Samajika Prajarajyam and caste organizations like Madiga Dandora,
Kuramgolla Doludebba, Democratic Forum for Dalits and Minorities
84 The University as a Site of Resistance
Among Leftist parties, there was also a contention over the question
of private property accumulation, as historically, Dalits were denied the
right to property in the Hindu social order. Hence, they have right-
ful claims over the resources. However, according to Dalit activists, a
lot of speeches and debates took place, but they brought about little
practical change. After serving in these radical group, Telangana student
activists became disillusioned. ‘We were struggling against issues like
capitalism, imperialism, feudalism etc. and we worked against the state.
But after decades we realised that Telangana has never become the
primary agenda of all these radical groups.We again felt cheated,’ Gogu
Shyamala, a renowned poet, expresses.‘We were told not to accumulate
private property. I gave up my house and everything I had to the party.
After working for years with them, we found out that our leaders
have flat in metro cities, their children are studying abroad. We were
betrayed’. In fact, radical left intellectuals like Ilaiah (cited in Simhadri
and Rao 1997: 25) mentioned that ‘the real hegemony of Andhratwam
(Andhraness) got established with the communist school of thought
headed by Kammas and Reddys of Andhra, propagating formation
of Vishalandhra but not a Telugu-centred linguistic state (Telugu)’.
Disillusioned, many activists decided to return to their families, took
up jobs, and started living a normal life. Nevertheless, the vision of a
separate Telangana never wavered in the minds of the leading activists.
Dr Chiranjeevi shares, ‘I spend almost two decades running from police,
hiding from the government and becoming so called radical but it was
all illusion. When I hear first time in 1988, a slogan from BSP founder
Kanshi Ram that “Ballet is more powerful than Bullet”, it gave me
hope that through democratic way, our dream of separate Telangana is
possible’.
However, crucial to an understanding of Dalit mobilization and
politicization is the organized attack launched against them by the
Kammas of Karamchedu in Prakasham district in July 1985. Since
1980s, the advanced Green Revolution belt of coastal Andhra has wit-
nessed intense caste-based polarization and mobilization on both sides
of the social spectrum, that is, among landowning as well as labouring
communities (Srinivasulu 2002: 29).
With the formation of hundreds of organizations publishing a
saga of literature showing discrimination and humiliation, Telangana
intellectuals started spreading cultural consciousness among masses.
86 The University as a Site of Resistance
media.To counter this, many activists from abroad shared their status as
‘I am from Telangana and I am not a Naxalite’ (see E.S. Rao 2010: 118).
The researcher had the opportunity to meet a group of activists in the
United States of America with Telangana NRI Association (TeNA).29
They formed Telangana Cultural Society30 in Singapore and Canada as
well, which celebrates social and cultural festivals such as Bathukamma.
During the Telangana movement, they organized various seminars and
conferences, published literature, and invited activists and intellectuals
from Telangana as guest speakers.
The 1990–2000 period was crucial for intellectual activism. It
was because of intellectuals’ effort that Telangana issue was back in
the limelight. A plethora of literature in the form of oral and written
traditions—books, poetry, and folk songs—was produced by univer-
sity professors. The Telangana debate was also reframed in the wake
of Mandal agitation. The Andhra region had experienced heinous
caste violence in Karamchedu (17 July 1985 in Prakasham district),
Tsunduru (6 August 1991 in Tenali Mandal, Guntur district), and
later in Vempentta (16 July 1998 in Kurnool district of Rayalaseem).
Even for activists, the caste issue was taking a central focus among the
Telangana activists. It led to a caste-based grouping among Telangana
activists. Many caste groups emerged and Leftist groups started waning
on campus. In 1991, OU alumnus and ‘son of the soil’, P.V. Narasimha
Rao became the country’s prime minister. Although the Telangana
issue was not broached officially during his tenure, his contribution in
introducing neo-liberal policies of globalization brought some struc-
tural changes to the state economy and strengthened the Telangana
diaspora. It was during this time that networks between Telangana
activists and diasporas were forged. Non-resident Indians (NRIs)
helped academicians and activists financially in promoting Telangana
folk, art, and activism for separate statehood.
Another example of successful portrayal of intellectuals’ contri-
bution was the preparation of the Statement of Agenda for People’s
Telangana. The organization that bought out this agenda was the
People’s Telangana Foundation. This document set the base for a
concept which is known as ‘Social Justice Telangana’. The same group
formed ‘Telangana Intellectual Forum’, which became instrumental in
devising strategies for mass mobilization for the movement. Another
milestone intellectuals achieved was Suryapet Declaration31 in 2012,
90 The University as a Site of Resistance
It was the victory of Mallikarjuna which gave students a hope that a sep-
arate Telangana is possible. The demand for safeguards implementation
was supported by the government itself; therefore, the group was given
92 The University as a Site of Resistance
Showing this schedule, Reddy, now in his sixties, recalls: ‘In those
two months, we did not leave any stone unturned for our goal’.
Agitations, protests, strikes, conferences, meetings, and negotiations
with politicians were planned by student activists.
Beginning on 14 January 1969, their agitation lasted for almost nine
months. This went down in history as the longest period for any stu-
dent agitation in the world. To control the growing student agitations,
police opted for violent means. The police’s aggressive way of dealing
with student agitation created more solidarity among activists. Jacob,
an activist in 1969 who lost his best friend in police violence, emo-
tionally recounts scenes from the agitation: ‘As students protested, the
police became aggressive with the agitators. This was one of the rare
experiences in the history of agitations, that Andhra police, violating
all the laws, shot directly in the head and chest of the peaceful student
agitators. This action led to violent agitations.’
94 The University as a Site of Resistance
According to police rules, the use of tear gas is not allowed until
the situation becomes critical. Moreover, the rule does not allow the
police to shoot above the waist. However,‘the police not only used tear
gas and lathi charge but also used real bullets instead of rubber ones’,
Stalin states. Dr Sanjeev, a medical student during the 1969 agitation,
expressed his anger towards the media:
Official data shows only 370 students were killed. Believe it or not, but
according to our estimation more than 1000 students lost their lives.
You can imagine a scene when I went to the Gandhi hospital to inquire
about one of my friends who was killed in police firing and doctor took
me to the room and it bodies were piled up on the top of each other
as there was no space to keep bodies. They were kept in the rows and
line by putting some wooden board to make lines. It was a genocide my
dear. But Andhra politicians managed everything as it was their media
and their government. But OU students know their realities.
The agitations in 1969 shook the people’s spirit for the separate
Telangana. Student unity became a symbol of trust and masses lost
trust in politicians. The empirical data shows example of their strong
campus solidarity as one of the reasons that they could sustain their
Osmania University 95
agitation for one year. Ramdas, a postgraduate student at the law col-
lege in 1969, expresses the solidarity among Osmania students:
On January 24th, the firing occurred in Sadashivapeta in which
14 students were injured. A person name Shankar, 17 years old, was
the first person who died in 1969 Telangana movement. Around 3000
people attended his funeral in Sadashivapeta. On the very Next day
i.e. 25th January students were holding a meeting in front of Engi-
neering College, during that meeting news reached that students who
got injured in yesterday’s firing admitted in Gandhi Hospital, need
urgent blood for treatment. After listening that news, hundreds of stu-
dents sitting in the meeting, started running towards Gandhi Hospital
to donate their blood and saved lives of their fellow students. In those
days, the students didn’t have scooters and cycle motors. The spirit to
go reach as soon as possible from University to Secunderabad Gandhi
Hospital was a wonderful (apoorva) scence (drushyam or sunnivesham).
Their sacrifice and deep concern for the life of their fellow activist
was praised by many newspapers.39
student activists are told that there was no law followed by the police.
According to the activists, ‘dealing with tear gas was a routine for activ-
ists. Police shot the real bullets openly at the students and hundreds of
students lost their lives. It made us angry, if we had weapon we could
also answer them back.’ Recalling those days, one of the main activists
of 1969, Dr Chianjeevi, explains the strategy their group planned to
deal with tear gas shell:
Collectively, we all top activists used to make strategies how to handle
police attacks. We used to carry two handkerchiefs and two onions in
our pocket.We were munching on our strong onion to stop the smell of
the gas shell. The minute police used to throw the tear gas shell; it takes
15–20 second to burst. After 20 second, gas start coming out and make
it boiling hot which is impossible to touch. Within those 20 second, we
used to catch hold of one handkerchief to pick-up the shell and throw
back on police. Then police used to run away. This way, we used to
make use of our handkerchief.
The victory of the idea of separate Telangana in campus elections
justified the demand for separate Telangana and strengthened the unity
among students. This victory was followed by a series of protests,
planned by the students. Janardhana (author of Telangana Udyamamu,
Prarambham-Vishtruti),42 a pre-university student, participated in the
movement and witnessed the hunger strike of Sri Ravindranath
Khammam. He noticed large-scale participation of the Social Welfare
hostel students. Non-teaching Osmania staff also joined the protest
in large numbers. This event was published in the newspapers titled,
‘Non-domiciles in Telangana to Quit before February End’.43 Thus,
terminology such as non-domicile or non-mulki, as defined by the
state, was used by activists to unite the people of Telangana against Andhra.
On 23 January, the then-education minister of the state of Andhra
Pradesh, P.V. Narasimha Rao (who himself was from Telangana region)
met with Osmania students and VC and appealed to suspend the
agitation.44 However, the negotiations did not lead to a positive result
for the government. University students boycotted their classes. By
June 1969, a mass satyagraha was organized in all districts of Telangana.
‘For the entire academic year, students protested on the road denou-
ncing police atrocities. Jails were overpopulated with students and
schools in Telangana were used as detention centres. For 10 months, the
government came to a standstill, with ‘the only functioning department
Osmania University 97
being the police’, recalls Professor Keshav Rao Jadhav, one of the
founding fathers of the movement. He claims that ‘no policemen died
or injured in these agitations’, indicating that students were not armed
but police told the media that students attacked them. Tadakamalla
et al. (2009: 38) claim that ‘the credit of raising mass consciousness
about the movement and spreading awareness about the injustice goes
to Osmania students’. Thus, the 1969 agitation cannot be imagined
without the contribution of OU and its students.
A student of Arts College, Sriram45 (president of an independent
group which supported separate Telangana), who fought separately,
explains his experience.
During the agitation, I was arrested and jailed for nearly two and half
months at Rajahmundry and Chanchalguda jails.There I met Mr Amos,
and we used to discuss about Telangana. But once upon time, I was there
for 15 days underground in a very severe atmosphere, where I had to
live in a dark place without food. I was treated like a criminal.
Sriram, going against his family’s will, left his studies after this expe-
rience and became a full time activist. He returned to the university to
finish his PhD in 1978 and his thesis explains the 1969 student revolt
that he had experienced. Like him, many students lost years of studies,
but they continued their struggle to achieve an official identity of the
separate statehood for Telangana.
Keeping their ideology aside, every political ideology from Left to
Right responded to the agitations. Most of the organizations, though
political in nature, focussed on culture in their mobilization strate-
gies. They highlighted the cultural politics of Andhra and the gradual
encroachment by the Andhra in the city of Hyderabad. They linked
the issue of unemployment with the Andhras’ rampant migration.
Such comparisons were easily grasped by the people of Telangana as the
98 The University as a Site of Resistance
It was not the defeat of Indian democracy. It was the political culture of
Andhra lobby not to accept others’ opinion. We received a democratic
mandate through elections. But they (Andhra political lobby) bought
our leader with the help of Congress. Now, in the history of Telangana,
Chenna Reddy is the biggest enemy but if you see who created Chenna
Reddy and who destroyed Chenna Reddy—it was the Andhra politi-
cians who didn’t believe in democracy.
Our government spread the wrong message that the demand of sepa-
rate Telangana came into existence because of Naxalism. But actually,
Naxalism grew because government kept ignoring the people’s demand
of separate Telangana. We tried all the possible democratic method,
agitation, formed political party, fought and won elections but even
then, we did not get our Telangana.53 Government forced us to adapt
violent means.
The state targeted the radical students and among the common
masses, the image of such students is made to look like anti-national,
criminal. Being a Maoist is not taboo at Osmania. Many professors
proudly declare, ‘Many of our top students are Naxalite and Maoist’.
Such pedagogy tends to be opposed by the state as it goes against the
establishment. As Sridhar Reddy remarks, ‘I am also a Naxalite but
without gun. How does Naxalism develop? It comes from dissatisfac-
tion and discrimination done to Telangana people by the Andhra gov-
ernments. I have given a big philosophy on Naxalism. Naxalism does
not come from forest but it comes from disparity and discrimination.’
102 The University as a Site of Resistance
***
activists call ‘political betrayal’ in 1972. From 1973 to later early 1990s,
Osmania intellectuals kept the Telangana spirit alive through their off-
campus activism in the form of civil society activism and gradually
making national and global networks. Students did not let the issue of
Telangana die. In 2001, with the formation of TRS, the aspirations for
Telangana were rekindled and young generation of students gained a
moral and political support to fight for separate Telangana. By fram-
ing new ideologies, devising new strategies, and mobilizing masses by
promoting Telangana folk culture and music, Osmania intellectual led
the movement to its successful path.
NOTES
1. Available at http://www.osmania.ac.in/aboutus-originandhistory.php,
accessed 8 August 2015.
2. Interviewed at his residence in Vidya Nagar on 17 September 2013.
3. Interview at his residence in Secundarabad, 22 September 2013. He was
the first to publish an edited volume on Telangana issues in English in 1997,
and was a popular principal at Arts College.
4. It was written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in his novel Anand Math. It
became the inspiration for Swadeshi Andolan in 1905.
5. Golkonda Patrika. 1938. ‘Vande Mataram Movement’, 1 December, 2.
6. B.C. Mahabaleshwrappa. 1997. Hyderabad Karnatakadali Rajkiya Chluvaligalu
1946–56. Gulbarga: Gulbarga University Prasaranga.
7. Translated from Urdu:
In August 2002, Narendra merged TSS with TRS, pledging to work jointly
for the cause of a new state.
28. Telangana Jana Sabha was formed in 1998 by Akula Bhoomiaha. TJS,
along with its sister organizations, Telangana Students Front and Telangana
Kala Samiti, made a great impact on the movement during the late 1990s and
early 2000s.
29. TeNA started a magazine called Tengedu, which covers news and articles
on Telangana political and social developments. Some Osmania professors and
activists write articles for this magazines.
30. After the formation of Telangana state, TeNA has been organizing
parades and showcasing Telangana identity and culture by displaying Telangana
symbols such as Bathukamma, Bonalu, Pochampally sarees, Pembarthy metal
works, Warangal Fort Thoranam, Charminar, and displaying Kakatheeya
Thonranam, bathukammalu, bonalu, peerlu, and pictures of Telangana legends
and icons.
31. Available at http://missiontelangana.com/suryapet-shows-the-power-
of-telangana-movement/
32. He was a school teacher but his passion for Telangana movement made
him a popular singer. He is considered the personal advisor of KCR.
33. Paolo Freire, in his Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1970), observes the poten-
tial of education to challenge the oppressive myths and ideologies dominant
in postcolonial life and encourage the possibility of freedom through critical
thinking and transformation of the self. His approach to the classroom empha-
sized praxis, where ideas are put into thoughtful, reflective practice to achieve
social change.
34. Interview at his residence in Hyderabad, on 1 September 2013.
35. 10 July 1968 was observed as ‘Telangana Safeguards Day’ by Telangana
people in response to the injustice done to them.
36. Interviewed on 30 August 2013.
37. Before May 1969, MCR was a minister in the central government
and prior to that he was a minister in Andhra Pradesh under Brahmananda
Reddy. Gandhi made him a central minister and therefore, he had to resign
from his MLA seat. When he was contesting, his opponent, Mr Vandemataram
Ramchandra Rao (famous ideologue of the Vande Mataram movement in the
1940s), filed a nomination against him. MCR won but V. Ramchandra Rao
filed a case against him in Supreme Court, and ultimately, his ministership was
nullified by the court and he was barred for six years from elections. He was
compelled to resign as a minister. He became politically unemployed. He found
the opportunity to join the Telangana movement, not as a politician.There was
a Reddy domination in Telangana region. He made the Telangana movement
his full time job, and headed the Telangana Praja Samiti, formed by OU students.
Osmania University 107
38. MCR was acquainted with Gopal Krishna, the elder brother of TPS
president, Madan Mohan. He expressed his desire to become president of
TPS. Soon, Madan Mohan handed over the chairmanship of TPS to MCR.
39. Taken and translated from Lokeshwar, P. 2007. Pratyeka Telangana Udyamala
Charithra (Third Reprint), p. 62. Hyderabad: Gandhi Publication.
40. This incident and such severe nature of the movement has been recorded
by a local reporter and later published in many books.
41. Identity is a group action that occurs again and again over time by way
of action, decisions, processes, and structures (Clark and Hoffmann-Martinot
1998: 214).
42. Special Issue dated 5 June 1969, republished in 1969 Udyammamu-
Charitraka Patralu 2 (eds) by Tadikamalla Vivek, et al., Telangana History
Society, Hyderabad 2009.
43. The Hindu, 23 January 1970. During these student agitations, residents of
Hyderabad who were basically from the Andhra region were scared because
there were some students who spread rumours about the evacuation ‘Andhra
settlers’. However, yet there was no such incident.
44. ‘Bid to End Telangana Agitation’, The Hindu, 24 January 1969.
45. Interviewed on 3 September 2013.
46. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was against the bifurcation: ‘I stand firmly
for an integrated state … There is an overall rationality in the foundation
of our states and we should be very careful not to break the foundation of
rationality in momentary passion’ (Gray 1974: 183).
47. In 1972, when the Supreme Court upheld the Mulki rules, the Jai
Andhra Movement was started in Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions
with the aim of reforming a separate state of Andhra.The movement lasted for
110 days.The Supreme Court upheld the implementation of Mulki rules.The
people from the Andhra region viewed the Mulki rules as ‘treating them like
aliens in their own land’, according to Sunil, an OU activist.
48. Interviewed on 22 June 2013.
49. Since the establishment of Vrasam (Revolutionary Writers Association)
in 1970 and Jana Natya Mandali in 1972, educational institutions became the
centre for spreading the revolutionary culture and ideology, inspired from
the Naxalbari movement. In October 1974, Andhra Pradesh Radical Student
Union (APRSU) was formed based on the radical ideology of Marx, Lenin,
and Mao.
50. The Naxalite youth upsurge is perhaps the best remembered because of
the participation of several brilliant students from elite institutions, the most
famous among which was Presidency College in Kolkata. Many of these
students joined the movement out of a sense of disillusionment with the exist-
ing educational system and with the socio-economic condition prevailing in
108 The University as a Site of Resistance
the urban areas.The Naxalbari uprising provided these students with a sense of
purpose and oriented them further towards armed (Dasgupta 2006).
51. From the focus group discussion on 26 September 2013.
52. Interviewed on 18 September 2013.
53. Students supported MCR by making him the leader of their political
party but he abandoned them by merging TPS with the Congress party.
54. Interviewed on 25 June 2013 in his hostel.
55. Available at http://www.deccanabroad.com/telangana-dhoom-dhaam-
atlanta-rasamai-balkishan-show-saturday-july-23rd/, accessed 28 August 2016.
3 Campus Networks and Agitations
The Making of a Student Activist
to have tea at one of the nearby food stalls. The park is a common site
for students—whether activists or not—to meet informally. This space
is of historic and symbolic significance to the spirit of the movement.
In many ways, the park served as the interface between the student
movement and the general public. Every evening, families and friends
from the nearby areas come to pass their leisure time. As a result, they
have become spectators to the frequent protests at the Arts College.
The area is large enough to hold rallies and state level protests. As it
is located on the OU main road, it gathers crowds from the passing
traffic, pedestrians, and local tourists. From this road, passers-by are
able to view the college and park. People sitting in the park view the
posters, banners, and flags set up by the students on daily basis as pro-
grammes are frequently organized by various student unions, even after
the state’s formation. OU alumni who visit fondly recount their time
at Arts College and remember the martyrs of the 1969 agitation. Thus,
for nearby residents, the Arts College main building is the symbol of
struggle, dedication, and activism.
During the 2009 agitation, students held a rally called Vidyarthi
Mahagarjana. Newspapers estimated that around two to three hun-
dred thousand people participated. Students did not vacate the park
for nearly a month. They played revolutionary songs, dramas, and
gave speeches alongside social activists. During field research in 2013,
the OU Madiga Students’ Front organized a massive meeting, which
was addressed by the popular Madiga leader, Mr M. Krishna Madiga.
During this rally, more than 50 news cameras covered the event. Media
vehicles packed the road. Students from Kakatiya and other state uni-
versities joined the rally and called their relatives and families to join,
making it a family affair.
Although the park is a public space, it serves as an ‘identity affirming
space’ (Carter 2007). This kind of space is qualitatively different than
other public spaces as it is an expression of society. Castells (1983) aptly
states, ‘Space is not a reflection of society; it is society’. This society,
rooted in local culture, has its linkages with the Telangana movement.
It is the extension of the Arts College. Sunder, a vendor who sell snacks
in the park every day from 11 am to 9 pm shares his viewpoint with a
shy expression: ‘I wish there is agitation everyday … it will bring more
business. Without these rallies or protests, this park and my business
both seem lifeless’.1
112 The University as a Site of Resistance
to the ruling party ruling at the centre. The cards also show their
pride in declaring themselves part of the Telangana movement.
Ever-present is the OU logo and the slogan Jai Telangana (Long
Live Telangana). When asked ‘why only Jai Telangana, why not Jai
Osmania?’, an activist replied, ‘See brother, everyone knows that we
[students] all are from Osmania. But our visiting cards are temporary.
We are fighting for our Telangana identity which is our permanent
affiliation. We have printed our dream and our goal on these cards.
Jai Telangana!’
Such a prompt reply makes one think how seasoned these activists
have become in delivering memorable sound bites, easily quotable, and
digestible by the media.
Interestingly, out of the 47 student activists from the 2009 agitations
who were surveyed, 40 were married with children. Three got mar-
ried as fieldwork was conducted and four were bachelors, including
one who has taken an oath that he ‘will never marry, but will serve
the people of Telangana as a political leader’. Such is the dedication
to the movement, but more importantly, it points to how the move-
ment affected all aspects of life. Marriage, personal appearance and
dress, vocation and lifestyle were all confronted with the mission of
Telangana independence.
Among left-wing students, there is also a trend to oppose tradi-
tional forms of rituals and celebrations. There were occasions when
the Left students were married after a public talk or seminar orga-
nized by their party. With little preparation or arrangements, they
exchange garlands in front of a small gathering, as a token of mar-
riage. Left parties and Dalit students of Osmania campuses have set
such examples to oppose the traditional ritualistic way of marrying,
with dowry and pomp and show. A Progressive Democratic Student
Union (PDSU) activist describes his marriage experience, ‘I had such
a simple marriage, in a seminar. After all the speeches by our teach-
ers, we exchanged our garland and everyone clapped and greeted us.
My parents were at the stage. My wife is from Andhra region … we
faced lots of difficulties but then after we had our baby, things started
getting better.’
Such programmes on campus hailed a new culture among activ-
ists that that made a social statement. This was one of many cultural
contributions credited to the Telangana movement. An activist, Murali,
114 The University as a Site of Resistance
room to sleep. He is welcomed warmly and they go for tea with six
junior students from another hostel. They chat and smoke for two hours.
The discussion centres on the activists’ struggle to approach and curry
favour with politicians. Around 2 a.m., he goes to his bed while check-
ing Facebook for comments and likes to his recent posts.
Student leaders do not attend any programme alone—there is
always a group of students who forms an entourage. They assist with
receiving phone calls for him and arranging his schedule. They never
say no to any request; ‘Yes, anna. Sure, anna’ is their answer to every call.
Manish explains why this is so:‘Anna, this is all about maintaining good
relations and meeting new people. We work in different organisations
but are connected. We all are the same. We all struggle for the separate
statehood for Telangana’. As a student leader, Manish is well aware that
he needs to devote substantial time networking. Networking is an
important aspect of student politics, especially in movements. Manish
dresses every morning in the same clothing: blue jeans and a white
shirt with a pocket, where he keeps his smartphone. He belongs to a
poor family from a rural area of Nalagonda district in Telangana. The
happiest moment of his life was gaining admission in OU as an MA
student. It took him two years to prepare for the entrance exam. He
explains:
I came to Hyderabad with only one aim: to study in Arts College.
I stayed with one of my friends for a few months. It was expensive
living in the city. I used to come here to Osmania to learn from students
how to crack the entrance exam. I also started preparing for competi-
tive exams. When I got admission in Telugu literature, that day I was so
happy when I told this news to my family, they distributed sweets in
my village. Living in the capital and having your own room is the most
important thing in one’s life. Slowly, I began mixing with all kinds of
students and parties and now I know people in politics, media, bureau-
cracy, police and academia. Recently in my brother’s wedding, I invited
all the big names in Telangana and they all came to attend the reception.
For the majority of OU activists, their first visit to Hyderabad is
once they have gained admission to Osmania. As many come from
villages and towns across Telangana, the shift is significant. It is matter
of pride for their families and relatives to be part of the capital city.
Settling in Hyderabad is equated with making valuable connections
and being part of a cosmopolitan network. However, after students
Campus Networks and Agitations 117
arrive in the city, they quickly become aware of the level of competi-
tion they face in exams, jobs, and housing and the marriage market.
NETWORKING AT WORK
OU is considered the most popular and prestigious university in the
region. Almost 85 per cent of students come from the Telangana region
and the rest are from Hyderabad.4 Most students who join OU are
products of the Andhra Pradesh Residential School system, which
has branches across the state. Students who earn the state scholarship
receive free education and lodging in these schools. A large section of
these students who come to Osmania belong to economically lower-
class families, and are the first in their family to attend a university. At
OU, they become members of the Andhra Pradesh Residential School
Alumnus Association on campus. There is a feeling of solidarity and
friendship among this group, especially as most of them are SCs or STs.
Explaining the reason behind this, Amar,5 an activist from a radical
student group recounts:
During our school days, some Leftist groups used to come and dis-
tribute their pamphlets on various social problems. The content in the
pamphlets was so radical and anti-government but was very appealing
to us. These pamphlets enhanced our understanding about activism and
Telangana problems. In their speeches they used to mention Osmania
University and its history of producing radical activists. The first time
I got to know about George Reddy who was a brilliant scholar and
Left ideologue in 1970s; but he was shot dead by the Right-wing in
his hostel. That scene was just imprinted in my mind. I was so excited
to read about such leaders. My group of friends started dreaming of
studying in Osmania.
Because of their exposure to these ideologues, students who graduate
from these schools have a heightened awareness of Telangana issues and
are sympathetic to the cause for statehood. That, combined with the
solidarity they experience when arriving at OU and the intense activ-
ism on campus, serves to crystallize their involvement in the movement.
For every movement to survive, enlisting new members to sustain
the activism is crucial. Predictably, thousands of new students arriv-
ing on campus every July become the target of activists’ recruitment
efforts. Building trust is of prime importance, and various student
118 The University as a Site of Resistance
groups compete for this trust. Social networks are important channels
for the recruitment of new students. Diani and McAdam (2003: 33)
explain the structural function of networks as it operates in two orga-
nizations studied. They hypothesized that the individuals who have
social ties with people already involved in a movement organization
are more likely to become involved in that organization. But for new-
comers who are not ‘connected’, trust becomes an important aspect
before joining an organization.6 Trust keeps the movement spirit
going, despite the ‘ebbs and flows of social interactions’ (Diani and
McAdam 2003: 36).
Activists from different parties on campus compete to win the trust
of ‘new comer’ students. Deepak, an ST student who comes from a
lower middle-class family, states:
Telangana issue is very genuine and we are so concerned about having a
separate state. But I had never thought that I will be so actively involved
in the movement and sacrifice my academic career. Sometimes I feel
that I was not meant for leadership but it was due to the police and
government attitude towards us which makes us activists. I remember
during 2009–2010 agitations, police registered some cases against us.
My name also came in the list as protesters.When I saw my name, I was
shocked to see that every possible criminal charge was made against us.
I had sleepless nights. My dream of joining into academics was shattering.
I had no other option except stick with the activists and running after
court and politicians to remove my charges. We had only one hope that
if Telangana comes, we will get rid of these charges.
When new students take admission at Arts College (as well as other
colleges), activists greet students at the time of admission and offer
assistance. They provide them with free university admission booklets
which feature various student parties. For a new student, it is the first
exposure to campus politics.
All student organizations ‘publish’ their own information booklets.
Though they all contain the same information—the university syl-
labus and fee structure—the cover page is added by student unions
who wish to advertise their party. Interestingly, for this rather costly
coloured printing, student unions find sponsors, which are generally
the owners of private engineering or medical colleges. This helps stu-
dent unions cover the cost of these publications. These booklets attract
new students who come from rural areas, as they think it is the official
Campus Networks and Agitations 119
Types of Networks
Like other campuses, national and regional political parties have estab-
lished student wings in OU, all of which support the movement for
separate Telangana. In 2013, there were more than twenty major parties
on campus. Activism from the National Congress Party’s student wing,
National Student Union of India (NSUI),7 spiked in 2009, when the
Indian government indicated Telangana state formation was imminent.
The Bahujan Student Front (BSF), the unofficial student wing8 of the
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), failed to gain traction despite the domi-
nance of SC/ST/OBC students on campus. This may be due to the
party’s limited vote bank in the state. Due to their ambiguous stand
on Telangana, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and Telugu Desam Party
(TDP) were comparatively late in the game in establishing their stu-
dent unions on campus; they changed their stance several times before
eventually supporting the movement.9
However, many left-wing student parties had the similar ambigui-
ties, causing disillusion among students. According to activists, it was
because of ‘ideological differences’. However, analysing the number of
divisions and groups, it appears to be personal differences within lead-
ership rather than ideological. Therefore, some activists, after work-
ing in several left groups, began to work independently in search of a
political mentor. Gaddar, a 1972 alumnus and dedicated leader, gained
popularity as a revolutionary face of the movement. Masses regard
his contribution to the movement. Similarly, Rasmai Balkrishnan
(the founder of a cultural group called Dhoom-Dhaam), and Akala
Bhumaiah also had a huge fan following on campus. Each activist
maintains his own personal network that extends beyond the campus.
The oldest student wing working on campus is PDSU.10 It gained
popularity on campus because of its committed leadership and vision-
ary approach post-Telangana politics. It questions that post-separate
statehood, how would the government solve the problems of unem-
ployment, farmers’ suicide, land issues, and so on. It helped the stu-
dents to understand and be aware of the Telangana politicians who are
upper caste feudal lords. PDSU’s approach has been to make students
Campus Networks and Agitations 121
Caste-Based Networks
A new student’s initial network tends to form easily on the basis of
one’s affiliation to their hometown or village, caste, or alma mater. Each
caste organization on campus organizes welcome parties—‘Freshers’
Welcome’—for new students. Gradually, new Osmanians become
well informed on Telangana’s problems and politics and join the cause.
Whenever there is a call for strike, rally, or protest, these networks make
the mobilization easier for activists.
Gradually, caste issues and interests started taking precedence in
Telangana student politics. Melucci (cited in Diani and McAdam 2003:
122 The University as a Site of Resistance
collect money from professors and also from students to organise these
protests’, says Mohit, a leader from NSUI. ‘I am emotionally attached
with the movement, I sacrificed everything for this movement with
this hope that we will work only when we will get our own separate
state’.
Himesh,12 a Telugu literature student who writes all the pamphlets
for his OBC organization explain the ideology of the movement:
Now, the movement is not limited to Telangana only. It has brought
a cultural revolution. We are opposing the celebration of Ganesh
Chaturthi on campus. We are celebrating Mahisaur, Ravana, Hidimba etc.
We projected our Telangana icon Komaram Bheem along with Phule,
Ambedkar and Periyar. We want Dalit-Bhaujan Telangana where power
should be in our hand. On the other hand,TRS wants power, they don’t
care about Telangana.
However, Jitendra, a Telangana Rashtra Samiti Vidyarthi Vibhagam
(TRSV) ideologue, says, ‘people give different argument saying that
irrespective of politics, we have to first get our Telangana. But these
communist and other ideologies are delaying this process. They don’t
understand what we are saying that let Telangana come into existence
and then you can fight for whatever you want’.
Apart from the political differences, TRSV actively participated
in all the rallies and marches organized by the JAC such as Chalo
Assembly; Chalo Parliament; Chalo Delhi; Chalo Hyderabad; Million
March; Vidyarthi Garjana, Vidyathi Mahagarjana, and so on. Beyond
their caste, class, and ideological difference, students and common
masses actively participate in all of these protests. The common goal
of achieving their statehood evoked regional sentiments.The intensity
of these protests can be better understood when we compare it with
the Jai Andhra movement that emerged only to counter Telangana
movement.
K. Srinivasulu, who is now a retired engineer but was actively
involved in the 1969 activism, claims:
What makes an activist is his ideological commitment to the issue. Ide-
ology can be anything but one has to be committed honestly which
requires lots of sacrifice. In case of Andhra, we don’t see a single leader,
professor, Chancellor or anybody from the any district coming out
and devote their life for united Andhra. They give press statement and
then disappear. They are all over the media because it is their media,
Campus Networks and Agitations 125
This was the most important part of the student movement. When we
started Padayatra and reached the villages, women greeted us by wash-
ing our feet with milk. This news was widely circulated in the media. It
was the best moment of our life; when we felt that the common masses
trusted us more than politicians.
Ramu, fixing his hair with his right hand, interrupts in his broken
English and says, ‘I was also there and experiencing all of this and
realised the importance of a mass movement. I became a full-fledged
activist and started working with anna (Rajiv). Anna is the most
dedicated leader and we want to see him get into politics’.
Rajiv is also known for his commitment to the movement and
decided not to get married. He declared that he will sacrifice his life
for the public. He comes from an economically poor family and is a
first-generation learner. In 2009, he became an important voice of the
movement and has been a part of various Dalit ideological streams
and a member of the SC/ST student union and the Bahujan Student
Forum. He is influenced by Ambedkar, Kanshi Ram, and Mayawati,
and dreams of meeting the latter. ‘My student supporters want me to
fight [politically]. I am getting some offers [from political parties]. My
intention is not to get fame; rather I want to just represent my people
so the real issues can come in the forefront. I want to live and die for
Telangana’.
There are student activists who follow Rajiv’s ideas on Telangana as
they think he is a ‘down to earth’ person and will listen to everyone.
He helps poor students gain admission in colleges and coaching cen-
tres.The support from students motivates him and nurtures his political
aspirations.
Similarly, there are other student leaders who also consider them-
selves equal to Rajiv but their fan following is not as strong as his.
Dr Surya, a professor at Osmania, shares his opinion about Rajiv: ‘Rajiv
as a student leader is popular for his simplicity and humbleness among
common students. Poor students see him as one of them’. In a uni-
versity campus, a student leader’s image primarily depends on rapport
Campus Networks and Agitations 129
building, within the dormitory space she or he lives in; and secondly
her or his affiliation with a particular political party.
wooden chair, a mirror, shaving cream and a knife, some branded shave
lotions, and cream. He charges Rs 10 for a haircut, much cheaper
than the market rates. On the other side of hostel, there is a tea shop
or dhaba. From morning to evening, different vendors come to sell
fresh vegetables and different snacks door to door. The scene conjures
a feeling of a village community where interpersonal communication
and interdependency is very strong. People know each other’s private
and public lives. At OU, hostel life is akin to living at home, embedded
in local practices and customs.
Food vendors come right in front of NRS hostel. There is a long
queue of vendors on their cycles and mopeds in the morning between
8 and 10 am. They sell south Indian food items such as idli, vada, dosa,
and puri for breakfast. Interestingly, none of these vendors come from
the Telangana region; they are originally from the Andhra region.
During the 2009 movement for separate Telangana, when the uni-
versity closed the hostels15 and the mess hall to curb the movement
and closed down the roads, these vendors managed to hide from the
police and reach the hostels on their small bikes and supply food to the
students.Though they were caught many times by the police; they paid
bribes and continued coming to the campus.
In the 2009 agitations, some hostels received lot of fame as they
were featured in the news. Osmania hostels turned into war rooms.
Students organized themselves into groups, brainstormed over pro-
test programmes, and resolved not to let the fight fizzle out, as was
the media’s running headlines during the agitation.The most popular
hostel is NRS, which is also known as Dr B.R. Ambedkar Hostel. It
has been the hallowed abode of all Telangana activists and student
leaders, as every other room in NRS has a different student union
or members of different JACs. It is difficult to make out exactly how
many groups exist as every individual has a membership of multiple
unions.
Generally, university space is known for its academic activities. In
the case of OU, it is known for its leading role and active participation
in the movement. Every site of the campus offers some kind of history
and students proudly relate themselves with campus site. ‘I belong to
the hostel where George Reddy used to stay’ or ‘the main leader of
the movement is my neighbour in the hostel’ is how activists explain
where they live, when speaking with an outsider.
132 The University as a Site of Resistance
If government does not create jobs, there will be no food to eat, no food
for thought. Not only Masters, but PhD is used as a food course in Arts
College. In our time, master degree was enough to get you a decent job,
but now I see doctoral students are applying for fourth class jobs. This
is the state of affair of our university education. There is no research or
innovation.
student leaders they have heard about in the media. These dhabas serve
as a platform for meetings between these new students and long-stand-
ing student leaders of the university. Although these student leaders live
in hostels, they are often so busy that one must approach them through
mutual friends. Their schedules are often long and demanding. They
have to update themselves with Telangana issues and be ready with their
press statements. Bharat, one of the activists, describes:
Few years ago, before I joined OU, I came here to see one friend. We
met at a dhaba for tea. Suddenly, I saw a senior student leader from
my home town that I regard so much, was having tea there. I went
to meet him and introduce myself. He was happy to know that I was
from his town. He called somebody and introduced me and within
half an hour, I met so many students from my hometown. They told
me how to crack the exam and get in Osmania. It was only because
of that meeting at dhaba that now I am not only an Osmania student
but also an activist.
ways. One way is having a friendship with the student leader or activist.
In some cases, and despite the low ratio of female activists, love affairs
among activists is an important way to stay with the movement.19
However, the male–female friendship does not happen on the dhabas,
as generally, it is male students or activists who meet at these dhabas
and smoke cigarettes. A Leftist student, who had been a leading figure
in 2009 agitation and was arrested and jailed for few months, explains
the significance of dhabas: ‘The discussion on these dhabas involve
those petty issues that you won’t even think in your everyday life but it
affects your life. Chai, cigarette, and chatting is what makes an activist’.
Talking about another popular feature of the dhaba culture on Indian
campuses, Pathania (2011) writes, ‘the combination of tea and cigarettes
makes the discussion spirit high, healthy and argumentative’. Besides tea,
cigarettes, and snacks, dhabas often have newspapers20 which frequently
fuel discussions on the headlines. It is an informative source of daily
action and reaction between the protestors and government. Habermas,
while defining space (in the European context), describes the ‘cafe as
the sphere of private people comes together as public’ (Haine 2013: 13).
The private issues sometime take over the political ones. Similarly, most
of the activists are questioned on what is happening over Telangana.
For example, at the end of 2013, the Telangana bill was tabled in parlia-
ment and people were assured of a separate Telangana. After July 2013,
the discussion shifted to ‘who will get the MLA ticket’ among student
activists. Activists started changing parties. Dhaba discussions were cen-
tred on this political upheaval. Generally with chai, chatting begins on
a personal note. At times, one’s personal life intersects with political
situations. In one of the discussion, a student shares:
I have to arrange my sister’s wedding. I am looking for a guy for her.
But now I am thinking to postpone it for some time because I want to
try for MLA ticket, Therefore, I will keep her wedding on hold. I have
to mobilise more students and meet political leaders for ticket. Running
after these politicians also costs lots of money.
In many ways, the dhaba as social space connects activists in a
very informal manner and serves as a site where various unexpected
networks are also formed. Generally, when a newcomer participates in
discussions at the dhaba, it creates friendship between the newcomer
and the people who frequent the dhaba. Being a small campus
community, students share interpersonal relationships.
138 The University as a Site of Resistance
and we were beaten up by the police. Police used tear gas, rubber bullet
and we faced severe torture from police. Therefore, we came to the
conclusion this is “Andhra” police and their behaviour is very obvious’.
There are around 15 top JAC leaders, and each one of them is facing
more than 100 cases. According to activists, ‘fake cases were registered
to spoil our career and our spirit and also to warn the campus students
about their career’. Every week or month they have to be present in
the court. ‘In the eyes of government, we are hard core criminals’,
Amar laughs while sharing his grief:
I go more to court than my college. I am facing 115 different cases
registered from 2009 to 2012. Our own advocates [OU alumni] are
fighting our cases for which they don’t even charge because they are
also activists. Every week there is some court case date and on a certain
date in a month I also have to appear in OU police station to show
my face.
Another leader, Umesh, displayed the police FIR cases and com-
mented sadly:
I am married man and have a kid. I need to get a job and start settling
down my life but now I am bound to be part of the movement until
these cases go on. We are running after politicians to resolve these cases
but there is no hope so far. We all come from poor families and we are
first generation learner, we don’t have resources even to pay bribe and
get the case resolved.
However, state using repressive measures to control youth protests
has been a part of the history of every student movement. Filing police
cases against students can spoil their career. Thus, FIR was used as a
powerful tool by the police. The boundaries of the campus were put
under surveillance. A barricade in front of the police station controls
the speed of traffic.This barricade becomes powerful during the move-
ment as it is used to stop the student march during agitation.This is the
most controversial space which has not been conceptualized by move-
ment studies scholars. It is a ‘total institution’ existing in an open space
of campus which, through its own mechanisms, controls the liberal and
democratic space of the campus.
Anil, a political science doctoral student, says, ‘No, things are not as
easy to explain. These few characters cannot decide the future of the
movement. I know there are some dedicated student leaders who have
Campus Networks and Agitations 141
left everything for their movement and they have mastery over ideol-
ogy of the movement but the problem is that media does not want to
highlight them.’
The media helps the image of a leader in the making. Media ‘poli-
tics’ is well known by activists but not discussed widely, as students also
look for their self-interests and to fulfil their political aspirations. The
media helps them in enhancing their personality as well as their aspira-
tions. This is the other side of activism. Mahesh claims that he was the
one who suggested the concept of JAC. Since the beginning, Mahesh
was associated with the movement and participated in all the major
events. Like Rajiv, he also has prepared a file containing newspaper
cuttings. ‘It is because of print and electronic media that we have pre-
pared our strong profile. Media keeps us alive among masses and grass
root activist,’ Sunil comments. While chatting, he picked up a file and
shows newspaper cuttings of his pictures, which he had beautifully
pasted in it. He shows his biodata, which he calls an ‘activist’s CV’. He
mentions every possible thing he has done for the movement—how
many months and years he spent in the jail and how many cases he is
charged with. He is seeking a ticket to any party. Hinting at a national
level party, he hands over his CV to the researcher which mentions
how many times he has been to jail and the length of his association
with the movement.
DISCUSSION
Network processes build and sustain the essence of a social move-
ment (Diani and Bison 2004). The chapter attempted to highlight
these processes through dynamics of campus networks. However, these
dynamics are not limited to the university space alone; rather they are
enmeshed in the broader network for the movement. The strength of
Osmania students’ activism lies in their robust networks, produced by
the campus culture of activism. This culture has evolved over the past
five decades, both on and off campus. Alumni are a prominent part
of the campus community of activists and, in fact, many are teach-
ers at OU. Most of the state’s bureaucrats, journalists, lawyers, doc-
tors, officers, social workers, police, and politicians are also students
of OU. Whenever they meet, they refer to the OU network as ‘our
Osmania community’. Among the campus community, a culture of
honour is firmly in place. This is evident during public meeting or talks
on Telangana—if any movement leader appears unexpectedly at the
venue, the organizer is bound to request him to address the meeting or
announce his presence.That way, student leaders, old and new, become
known to each other, thus weaving a stronger network of those who
support the Telangana cause.
Specific sites and spaces within the university are used by activists
for networking. The main ones are the ubiquitous dhabas, along with
the hostels, where boarders and non-boarders mingle with alumni and
outsiders. However, social media has also contributed to connecting
Telangana activists across time and space.
Thus, campus networks are also built with personal motives, where
activists hope to expand their personal agenda, while fighting for the
collective cause.
144 The University as a Site of Resistance
NOTES
1. From an informal chat with the vendor (translated from Telugu).
2. From the interview of a MSF activist, Murali on 11 September 2013.
3. Yates (2015: 3) uses the term social centres, space where alternative liv-
ing arrangements, social and educational events, and political campaign are
hosted. Networks are deliberately stimulated through the organized events
and quotidian socializing that take place in and around centres, as well as
in communicative or adversarial protest such as demonstrations and direct
action.
4. Data 2009–13, Directorate of Admission, Osmania University.
5. Interview, 16 July 2013, at B hostel dhaba.
6. Granovetter (1973) and Pizzorno (1986) focus on ‘trust’ in understanding
the political behaviour of new recruiters.
7. On the other hand, NSUI could not establish a base on campus because,
according to activists ‘its parent party Indian National Congress has a long
history of denial and betrayal’ (through interviews).
8. The officer bearers of BSF claim to be a student wing of BSP but there is
no official student body of the party.
9. TDP was the last organization to form their student union Telugu Nadu
Student Front in 2013.
10. In 1970s, a group called RSU (Radical Student Union) was started by
George Reddy but it got dissolve after his death. He was murdered by the
Right wing group.
11. MRPS movement gained momentum after their violent protest by
burning down Gandhi Bhawan in 2006 during Congress chairperson Sonia
Gandhi visit to Hyderabad.
12. Interviewed on 28 September 2013.
13. Available at http://www.thehansindia.com/posts/index/Hans/2013-
09-14/Upper-caste-ethics-and--spirit-of-Samaikyandhra/71741.
14. The oath was taken by Dr Sridhar Reddy, a student leader in the 1969
agitation.
15. To control students’ participations in rallies and meetings, government
closed down students’ hostels in six major universities in Telangana region
for 10 days. Available at https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/
Telangana-hostels-to-be-closed/articleshow/5317197.cms, accessed 12
December 2016.
16. While asking the question, ‘Why did you choose sociology or history or
political science?’, there was only one answer: that these are ‘food courses’—
they are easy to gain admission, and admission guarantees one food and lodg-
ing in the hostel.
Campus Networks and Agitations 145
17. He served as the principal of Arts College during the agitational phase
2007–11. Excerpt is from his interview on 21 September 2013 at his residence.
18. Describing the European café, Haine writes that a cafe is an ‘intellectual
laboratory’ (cited in Rittner, Haine, and Jackson 2013: 13).
19. However, it is not just to have a connection as ‘it is not networks per
se that matter but connection to similarly (politically) inclined alters and an
absence of ties to alters who oppose activism’ (Crossley and Ibrahim 2012:
600).
20. Describing the European cafes, Haine also notes that cafe and the news-
paper were born at roughly the same time and in the same place (cited in
Rittner, Haine, and Jackson 2013: 13).
21. Remand Case Diary. FIR no. 21/2010. Division: Kachiguda, East Zone,
Hyderabad. 20 January 2010 at 1230 hrs. Offence U/s.147, 148, 332, 188,
307 IPC r/w.149 IPC Sec. and (1) of Criminal Amendment Act and sec. 3 of
PDPP Act. 1984. Name and Address of the complainant: Smt. G. Anitha, RSI,
CAR Head Qrts, HQ Coy. Hyderabad.
22. Available at http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Hyderabad/ou-
students-decide-to-launch-political-party-and-contest-elections/article
4863206.ece.
23. The student wing of TRS party, TRSV was not part of this JAC.
4 Learning from the Past, Imagining
the Future
The University as a Site of Resistance: Identity and Student Politics. Gaurav J. Pathania,
Oxford University Press (2018). © Oxford University Press.
DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780199488414.003.0005
Learning from the Past, Imagining the Future 147
STUDENT–ALUMNI NEXUS
Contemporary Osmania campus activism is a continuation part of
the historical upheaval carried out by the student generation of the
1960s. It is the culmination of dreams, inspirations, and aspirations
of its alumni and the present students. Not all the students arrive
on campus with same political aspirations. Some become politi-
cally involved or inclined because they are recruited by their friends.
Political aspiration also motivates people to become part of activists’
networks. Everyday informal greeting between old and new activists
not only creates a collective identity but also sets the basis of collective
decision for rallies and protests. Networks provide opportunities for
action through the circulation of information about ongoing activities,
existing organizations, and people to contact, and a reduction of the
practical costs attached to the participation. They may be the source of
social pressure on prospective participants (‘if you go, I will go too’),
although there is possibility of cross-pressure (Kitts 2000; McAdam
and Paulsen 1993) and of the opposite mechanism, whereby people
participate precisely because they do not expect others do anything
(Oliver 1984). Movement scholars underscore how personal ties with
leaders or influential members inspire participation in protests. Snow,
Zurcher, and Ekland-Olson (1980, in Crossley 2015: 27) emphasized
that ‘among 60% to 90% of adherents to religious groups were linked
with activists before joining collective action’. Diani and Lodi (1988,
in Crossley 2015: 27) show that in Milan, ‘78% of activists had prior
connections with ecologists before participating in the environmen-
tal movement’. These studies highlight the fact that personal bonds
serve to connect prospective activists with an opportunity for protest
(Crossley 2015). The Telangana agitation of 2009 was not possible
without the help and guidance of Osmania University (OU) alumni
who have continued their activism since 1969.
148 The University as a Site of Resistance
1. BSF
2. BC Vidyarthi Sangham
3. MSF
4. Girijana Vidyarthi Sangham (GVS)
5. Telangana Rashtra Samithi Vidhyarthi Vibhagam (TRSV)
6. Telangana Students’ Organization (TSO)
7. Telangana Vidyarthi Sangam (TVS)
8. Telangana Vidyarthi Vedika (TVV)
JAC members met KCR and convinced him that it was time to
raise the Telangana demand powerfully. Raju,6 a JAC leader, explains
what happened:
youth. We took out his shava yatra [symbolic funeral procession] on the
Osmania University campus.9
• 2009:
– 29 November: TRS launched agitation and KCR sat on indefi-
nite hunger strike along with hundreds of students
– 4 December: Suicide of K. Srikanth Chari that led to violent
agitation
– 9 December: Historic announcement by the Government assur-
ing the formation of separate Telangana. KCR broke his fast
without consulting students
– 10 December: Chalo Assembly call by OU-JAC
• 2010:
– 3 January: OU students’ massive rally Vidyarthi Mahagarjana
– 5 January: Union home minister’s meeting with all party
leaders18
– 18 January–7 February: Students started padayatras to mobilize
people to boycott any commission set up by the government.
It started from Osmania University, Hyderabad to culminate at
Kakatiya University, Warangal after covering all the district of
Telangana.
– 28 January: Political JAC gave deadline to ministers to resign
– 3 February: Formation of the ‘Committee for Consultation on
the Situation in Andhra Pradesh’
– 20 February: Chalo Assembly Call by OU-JAC
– March: Split in JAC (PDSU, AISF, TVV, Telangana Student
Union (TSU) expelled)
– August: By-elections of the 12th assembly segments in five dis-
tricts in Telangana
– 30 December: Srikrishna Committee submitted its report
Learning from the Past, Imagining the Future 157
• 2011:
– 5 January: Students agitated and boycotted the report; violence
erupted with police use of tear gas and lathi charged and arrested
dozens of student leaders
– 20 January: Three student suicides led to violent clash between
police and students19
– February: Sakala Janula Samme
– 17 February: Non-Cooperation Agitation (Sahaya Nirakarana
Vudymama) by Telangana Employee JAC
– 21 February: Chalo Assembly call by OU-JAC
– 21 February: Another self-immolation by a student galvanized
society20
– 10 March: Million March
– 3 July: 81 MLAs, 17 MLCs, and 12 MPs (from Telangana region)
resigned21
– 5–6 July: Call for 48-hour bandh
– 13 September: 42-day historic strike
– 24 October: Strike was called off
– 15–16 November: Student–police violent clash at Osmania
The passion and fervour for the movement ignited in 2009, and by
2010, a single call for a rally or protests would gather tens of thousands
youth and students of Telangana. The OU-JAC started a ‘non-
cooperation’ movement in Telangana with a slogan of ‘Pen Down,
Chalk Down, Tool Down, Mouse Down’,22 with the aim of closing
all official activities. The movement was compared with the Indian
National Movement by many newspaper and magazines. ‘Telangana
state is our Birth Right’ and ‘Telangana Ichchedi Meme, Telangana
Thechchedi Meme’ (We will give Telangana, We will bring Telangana)
was another popular slogan that became iconic among the youth due
to students’ growing influence. A Telangana scholar and activist wrote
about Telangana movement and compared its ‘Million March’ with
Cairo’s March in Egypt.23
Azad, an OU-JAC activist, recalls his participation in an agitation,
which ended in his hospitalization:
Just two days before, I bought my phone and it was early morning,
I received a call from my girlfriend and she wished me, ‘Happy Valen-
tine, comrade’. She asked about the plan. I told her that I was busy in
158 The University as a Site of Resistance
organizing a rally this evening.We had a lovely chat for few minutes and
then suddenly I got busy with other calls. Then the same evening, I was
arrested and my phone got smashed under a police vehicle during clash
with police.Valentine ended up with violence on us. I was injured and
was hospitalized for a month.
Recalling the same incident, a local police officer,24 who reported
several OU agitations, describes it as one of the more violent
agitations of Osmania students, in which he himself was injured.
While meeting for tea at dhaba with the researcher, he narrates the
incident’s details:
It was 14 February, around 5 pm, about 400 students of Osmania
University, majority of them were from Arts College, led by Vangapalli
Srinivas, Rajaram Yadav, Praveen Reddy and Pidamarti Ravi took out
a rally from Arts College to NCC gate to burn the effigy of Central
Government as a part of ongoing agitation for Separate Telangana.
Disturbed by the recent student suicides, the students’ leaders announced
that except TRS Party MLA, no other MLA resigned, for students
who sacrificed their lives for separate Telangana. The Political leaders
are making mockery of students’ suicide. These words spread like wild
fire and the mob increased up to 1000 approximately. After a while
students tried to push police by raising provocative slogans like Police go
back, is it a students’ campus not a police campus etc. and jumped over
the gates of Osmania University. Police maintained maximum restraint,
formed human chain and persuaded protesters to not to take out rallies
as prohibitory orders under section 144 CRPC were promulgated in
Hyderabad City. After a lot of persuasion, they burnt effigy within the
campus and started returning. After burning the effigy, the agitating
students reached to ladies hostel by raising slogans in unparliamentary
language as ‘Telangana Drohulara Kabardar, Telanganaku Adduosthe
Addanga Narkestam’ (if you stop us, we will cut you in pieces) and
‘police go back’. Since, the strength of students increased the students’
slogans made girl students to come out of their hostels and join them in
College of Management lane.
To see the unruly crowd, ACP announced additional force to
occupy campus. This unlawful rally of students reached Arts College
and stopped. Meanwhile a few students started talking to media. The
inspector, along with ACP Kachiguda and police force, returned to
Arts College bus stop. The JAC leaders Pidamarti Ravi, Suman, Rajaram
Yadav, Praveen Reddy, along with around 300 other students, came to
Learning from the Past, Imagining the Future 159
Arts College bus stop and suddenly started pushing the police person-
nel to go out of the Osmania University campus, and insisted that not
‘they will show their power at Tarnaka not in the campus’. Among
them, some others tried to set fire to the tents, where the police per-
sonnel were taking rest. Police tried to convince and persuade them
not to resort to such violent activities. However, a group of students
ran behind Arts College towards Manikeshwar Nagar with slogans
‘Telangana Drohulara Kabardar Kabardar Telanganku Addosthe Addanga
Narekestam’, while another group ran towards B hostel, Tarnaka side,
and students present there started pelting stones from Arts College on
police.
Meanwhile, the police pickets at MK Nagar was also alerted. Then
police started announcing that the unlawfully assembly is not permis-
sible as the prohibitory orders are in force and if they do not disperse
immediately tear gas will be used. Instead the mob became more violent
and started pelting stones under the cover of darkness and trees.
Then, in self-defence and with no option left, the police fired
three rounds of tear gas shells because of which the mob ran helter-
skelter. However, as the tear gas shells were ineffective, they regrouped
immediately and started pelting stones again. The police, once again,
warned them that lathi charge will be resorted to, if they do not dis-
perse. The students continued pelting stones because of which police
did mild lathi charge dispersing the mob. In the meantime, a group
of students came from rear side of tents and set fire to all four tents.
Equipments like stone guards, lathis, chairs, dragon lights, ropes, and
police vehicles were also damaged in this confrontation.
DCP East zone arrived at the scene around 7 pm and directed all
policemen to withdraw to police station. Around this time, Joint
Commissioner of police also came to B-hostel junction to monitor
the situation. During this time, the students regrouped again under
cover of darkness and resumed pelting of stones from all the direc-
tions on police officers and personnel. They started charging towards
police, who were returning to police station, with 80–100 girl
students providing cover to them. This mob turned more violent and
started hurling stones, glass pieces and sticks keeping the girls as shield
with an intention to cause injuries to the police. In selfdefence, the
police fired tear gas shells and rubber bullets at B hostel junction.
However, the unruly students’ mob persisted with attacking police
with stones, glass pieces etc. The police used ‘Vajra’ vehicles for firing
160 The University as a Site of Resistance
of three tear gas shells but soon the vajra operator got hurt as he was
hit by a stone on his right hand.
The police officer described that it was his first time seeing so many
women activists aggressively taking part in the agitation. ‘For a while
we were confused how to handle the situation,’ he said,
Around this time, when the police ordered for chasing away the crowd,
the students’ mob ran into B hostel and some students ran towards Arts
College. Subsequently, it was learnt that some girl students who were
providing cover for male students probably could not run on par with
their counterparts and appear to have fallen on the road and received
injuries. They were wearing simple sandals and flipflops. On the other
hand, boys were in their proper sports shoes. For girls, it is hard to run
in chunnis and suits.
Next day on 15 February, around 9:45 am, one police vehicle was
attacked by the students near B Hostel and was damaged due to pelt-
ing of stones on the vehicle. The vehicle was suddenly stopped and
there was a lot of slogan shouting. The police from rushed to the spot
and protected the vehicle. Meanwhile, about 200 to 300 students gath-
ered at Arts College, and simultaneously, they all started pelting stones
on the police force as well as on Police Station. In the time of stone
pelting, some of the police personnel sustained injuries. Another mob
got mobilized around Arts College area and started moving towards
B hostel while pelting stones and broken glass pieces etc. on the police.
After some time around 11 am, the mob came on to the main
road and reached near the police station and damaged barbered wire
fencing meant for blockade and indulged in stone pelting. The police
made announcements through asking students to move away but the
students continued stone pelting etc. The police in self-defence fired
tear gas shells. The students of B hostel standing on terrace and from
1st floor windows were in elevated position and in the stone pelting
that followed, some police personnel received injuries along with
some journalists.
I still remember the time when we were so powerful due to our activism.
Media used to wait outside Arts College for our press statement. We had
162 The University as a Site of Resistance
a super busy schedule. We had sleepless nights during that time. We had
no time even to attend our family calls. I remember, the then state min-
ister Karim Srihari and many others contacted us through some other
friends and had to wait to get our appointments.
To make a protest successful, the key is to mobilize students, and
for that, activists’ networks are crucial. Organizing a successful protest
requires many things. The leader should be a good orator. Cultural
programmes have been used as crowd pullers as well as to make the
masses conscious and sensitive about the Telangana issue. Explaining the
2009 strategies, Krishank Manne (2013: 91) describes in his account
of the 2009 movement that OU-JAC was the perfect combination of
dynamic leaders with their qualities:
If Pidamarthi Ravi and Rajaram Yadav were think tank’s, Mandala
Bhaskar and Balka Suman were crowd pullers, If Durgam Bhaskar,
Gadari Kishore, Kailash Neta and Balraj were good speakers then
Dharuvu Ellanna, Vijay were singing warriors, if Vangapally Srinivas
was daring then TGVP boys were dashing, if Stalin, Rajesh were
committed then Kota Srinivas, Ashappa, Azad, and Karate Raju were
confident. Balalakshmi, Satyavati and Suguna were the face for women.
Success of any movement depends on the strategies used by its
members. These strategies exist in the form of decision-making,
schedule-planning, making use of the resources, motivating masses by
highlighting various issues, using mass communication tools, and so on.
Organizing a ‘protest’ is part of a strategy in a movement. Generally,
student unions such as TRSV and NSUI (who belong to ruling party
like TRS and the Indian National Congress) are expert in organiz-
ing a quick protest as they get full resources from their parent parties.
Secondly, they have good networking in the media and know how to
handle the situation. Main student leaders of these parties even have
a television in their hostel rooms to keep themselves up to date with
the news and political activities. If there is a protest going on in Delhi,
Osmania activists plan an agitation in no time and alert media person-
nel. Some activists even have an effigy that they prepare in advance,
ready to use at a moment’s notice. That way, they only need to tag it
with a name when they plan to burn it at a protest. Similarly, they keep
banners and posters ready to protests any time when they need. They
call some close friends in media and some activists and within no time,
they organize a full protest.
Learning from the Past, Imagining the Future 163
who prepared the design of the posters for one organization, lowers his
tone and tells two of his friends:
Once I had some work in the police station. The city police in-charge
was my known people. He asked us who else is living in your room
and what is his name and other details. Then, he showed the full detail
of how many people legally and illegally residing in every room of the
hostel. What is happening in our rooms and how many out-borders are
staying in hostels. They have their own informants. Police also knows
that how many student leaders are extorting money in the name of
movement. But they don’t arrest them because otherwise student would
think they are against the movement.
Mukesh’s face shows a sign of surprise. However, the movement
had much complex dynamics not just for the activists but also for
the administration and police. For student activists, it was not easy to
organize end number of talks and protests on campus.
There is a job crisis world over. Our state is no different from other.
But separation is not going to solve any problem. What this agitation,
rallies and movements are doing basically creating bunch of goons,
bunch of middle-man who bargain for students’ interests and their
own benefits. Bunch of student leaders will get their political benefit.
It is not going to benefit common student. These leaders have no
vision for anything.
Suresh, another resident of NRS hostel who is the next door neigh-
bour of a JAC leader, reveals:
In our hostel, many students are aware what our student leaders are
doing. Except two-three leaders, everyone has sold their soul to cheap
politicians. They enjoy a lavish life. But by living in the hostels with us
they show that they are like us. It is a known fact that they extort money
from business in the name of movement. They are rowdies; they can
beat anybody in the name of Telangana movement. Andhra business-
men are afraid of doing businessmen in Hyderabad. A bunch of these
students are creating terror in the city.
The strategy differed in 1969 because ‘there was no time for analysis’,
according to 1969 activist,Advocate Ramdas.‘We did untiring agitations
continuously for 10 months. By that time, we exhausted our energies
and resources. That was a bad strategy; actually, there was no strategy.
We focus on our goal of getting separate Telangana and in a way, we did
but our political class betrayed us’. Activist leader K. Srinivasulu,32 an
engineering student at the time, remembers those days:
In the 1969 movement, farmers used to get involved. From all section
used to participate. Caste was not there. Class was not there. Those days
Left, Right or Centre was not clearly known. All these communalisms
and all were not well known that time.We have not read Marx, Lenin or
anyone else. Poet Sri Sri was our inspiration. Our concern was to react
to the societal problem. Everyone fought for one cause.
Learning from the Past, Imagining the Future 167
CHANGING STRATEGIES
The period from 2009 to 2014 witnessed many agitations, rallies,
marches, and strikes for the separate statehood for Telangana. On the
other hand, the Andhra region was protesting for ‘United Andhra’
(Samaikhayandra). However, there was no major agitation led by the
Andhra region as they did not have proper leadership.38 Andhra
activists resorted to following the strategy of Telangana activists’
initiatives such as Vanta Varapu, Rail Roko, and so on. In 2013, they
formed many JACs to oppose the demand of Telangana but their
protests remained largely limited to the Hyderabad city. A history
professor from OU, commenting on the Samaikhyandhra movement,
found no comparison between the two:
We have been writing books and publishing it for past 50 years but
media never highlighted us. These Andhra leaders will publish a pam-
phlet about united Andhra and they will gain lots of popularity in
media. But leaflets, pamphlets are just information; it is not an intellec-
tual material. And without intellectuals you cannot launch any serious
movement. Tell any name of the book written by their activists. Our
activists have written hundreds of books and thousands of songs were
composed only for Telangana.
Shyam takes out a piece of paper and draws a diagram to show the
caste atrocities by Reddys and Velammas. His voice gets louder as his
frustration begins to show, and he tears apart the diagram. ‘Do these
student leaders have any answer to the caste question in Telangana?’ he
asks angrily. He pauses and continues:
I don’t want to waste my time talking about this non-sense movement.
It has produced just a bunch of goons and middlemen. That is not what
Ambedkar or Kanshi Ram has imagined for Dalit society. They are all
PhD students but you ask them any book of Ambedkar, you will get
no answer. They have no vision. They are surviving only because they
are associated with glorified Osmania University. They themselves did
nothing to glorify it.
Ignoring the question posed, Shyam, in his prophetic style, reveals:
You will see various characters of the Left, Dalit-Bahujan and Telangana
movement. Leftist leaders would convince you how they are attached
to the masses. A Dalit leader would say he is attached with Dalits. But
Telangana student leaders would say, ‘I am closely attached with TRS’.
This is the irony of Telangana politics. To them, it is just about how to
get a ticket from TRS.
such a manner that evoked the cultural feeling of its people. For
example, the basis for the demand of separate Jharkhand state from
Bihar was the tribal identity that spurred a mass movement. Similarly,
Chhattisgarh was formed on the basis of the Chhattisgarhi language
spoken in the region. Therefore, there is a correlation between
culture, language, and region. Firoz, a sociology student at Arts
College, states:
I come from Warangal district which is known for its struggle and
sacrifices. When I joined here, I met many senior activists from my
area who carry forward the legacy of the radical left. I started attend-
ing their program and rallies, agitation. Now, you see I am speaking
to the media on the behalf of Osmania students. My family does not
own a TV in my village but when they heard that I was on TV and
they called me I was the happiest person on earth. This campus is the
most pious place for students like me who come from extremely poor
families.
activist like Kota Srinivas, Stalin and others refrained from violent
activities. Regardless, each of these group leaders was charged with
more than 100 cases by the local police. Their history of activism
shows a particular trend from being an ordinary student to becoming
a popular student leader. For example, Pidamarthi Ravi grew up in
extremely poor economic conditions, studied in government schools,
and reached OU and opted for Telugu literature for his doctoral. His
friends revealed that he was always found in library reading for com-
petitive exams and they were confident that he would easily crack
state civil services. But they believe that it is his generous nature
that made him a leader. He never said no to any of his friends who
sought any kind of help. While he was with the SC/ST Students’
Association, Ravi publicly shattered an idol of the Hindu god Lord
Ganesha to oppose Brahminism on campus, which cast him into
limelight. To counter the slogan of Bharat-Mata [Mother India], he
coined the slogan Ambedkar Pitah [Father Ambedkar]51 and offered
his support to BSP.
During interviews with the old generation of activists (1969–72)
and then the present generation of activists (2000–14), the researcher
found an interesting connection between these generations—that
both are first generation learners. Except one or two activists, all
of them belonged to economically poor backgrounds. Students
from elite backgrounds used to attend Arts College, but now it is
only first-generation learners who do so. Between November 2009
and February 2010, 60 young students aged 18–25 committed
suicide. Many of them were self-immolations (Government of
India 2010: 387). This was a distinct phenomenon in 2009 agita-
tions. On the contrary, there was not even a single suicide during
1969 agitations. Dr Chiranjeevi became visibly emotional while
talking about this phenomenon: ‘We used to face the police bullets
directly and many of our friends sacrificed their lives but we never
quit even in the extreme hopeless situations. This generation is
losing hope’.
During 1969, there was a low number of faculty members from
Telangana region, but it was predominantly students who devised their
own strategies. But during 2009, the ratio was different. Arts College
had the largest faculty from Telangana, and it became a joint struggle
for both students and teachers.
178 The University as a Site of Resistance
DISCUSSION
The university campus is a site where ‘identities are actively made,
remade’ (Vennela 2014) and strengthened. Most of the students who
were part of the movement were first generation students. Their
families had high expectations of them to secure a government job
in Hyderabad. Thus, they do not necessarily come with the aim of
engaging in politics or activism on campus.Yet, it is the image of the
university as an ‘activists’ campus’ that contributes to and strength-
ens their Telangana identity. As more and more students from small
towns and villages came to Hyderabad to join OU, they learned
more about the difficulties of settling in Hyderabad. Living in the
city forced them to think more of their career. Seeing first-hand
the difficulties and struggle to gain employment coupled with the
lack of representation of people like themselves in government jobs
and positions of power, students from Telangana felt the only solu-
tion to these social inequities was forming a separate state. Thus,
the university provided the consciousness and understanding of the
problems and offered a solution. Daily life experiences in Hyderabad
magnified reasons to become an activist and the university campus
provided a safe haven.
Activists define collective identities in opposition to other groups
in society, including targeted groups such as the state or counter-
movement groups. Collective identity is an interpretation of a group’s
collective experience: who these members of the group are, what their
attribute are, what they have in common, how they are different from
other groups, and what is the political significance of all this (Whittier
2002: 302). It emerges from interaction within movement contexts as
participants transform their sense of themselves. It is grounded in the
group’s social location, that is, its structural position, its common expe-
riences, and dominant definition of the group. It, thus, is shaped by
forces external to the movement, but it is never a straightforward result
of a shared social location. The collective identity of JACs fragmented
into various segments. On the one hand, it was narrowing the collec-
tive identity but at the same time, it was democratizing the movement.
Three ideological concepts—‘Geographic Telangana’, ‘Democratic
Telangana’, and ‘Dalit-Bahujan Telangana’—represented a vision, a
strangery and planning for their dream state. This ideological grouping
Learning from the Past, Imagining the Future 179
NOTES
1. Available at https://www.mainstreamweekly.net/article1970.html, accessed
19 September 2015.
2. The ban was implemented following the death of a Nizam College
student leader. See https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/
Lift-ban-on-student-polls/articleshow/42067746.cms, accessed 15 January
2015.
3. Interview on 29 June 2013, Hyderabad.
4. Manda Krishna Madiga formed MRPS to fight for subcategorization to
oppose dominance of Mala caste among SCs. He tried to unite all 59 sub-
castes of Dalits. He became popular among students since he formed a group
called MSF. In January 2014, he also formed a party called Mahajana Socialist
Party (MSP).
5. Available at http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-
andhrapradesh/lsquoHyderabad-cannot-be-viewed-as-a-free-zonersquo/
article16477754.ece.
6. Raju was one of the JAC leaders who attended several meetings at TRS
office during 2009. From his interview on 2 June 2013.
7. KCR was the cabinet minister in the Congress government from 2004 to
2009. After four years of his tenure, Osmania students realized that he was not
raising the separate Telangana demand.
8. Deccan Chronicle, 24 December 2009.
9. To express their anger, the student activists told the media that ‘this
coloured thing he drank was our urine’.
184 The University as a Site of Resistance
The political map of India has been drawn and redrawn several times
since independence, according to recommendations made by the
States Reorganisation Commission Act of 1953. Demands for new
states have reshaped regional power dynamics. Starting with Andhra
Pradesh, many new states were created, including Himachal Pradesh,
Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, and Manipur. In the decades since, states and
boundaries have been created and shifted for linguistic or political
reasons. With the exception of Chhattisgarh, all such demands began
with protests and resistance. The territorial reorganization had differ-
ent socio-political undercurrents. Tillin (2013: 5–6) identifies three
processes behind the state formation: (a) compromise between historic
social movements and new political parties in the 1970s; (b) challenges
to the upper-caste dominance in the Hindi heartland by Dalits and
Other Backward Classes (OBCs); and (c) Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP)
changed approach to federalism and their emergence as national party
(also see Heath 2002). On the other hand, Weiner (1978) highlighted
the ‘sons of the soil’ theory to understand the demand for the separate
statehood. All the analyses of state formation are centred on political
(representational or electoral benefits) and economic gains.
After more than six decades of struggle, on 2 June 2014, Telangana
appeared on the map as the 29th state of India. Contrary to above
mentioned approaches, this book unfolds cultural contours to explain
the emergence of Telangana movement for separate statehood. There
are historical factors that guide these cultural resistances. William Sax
(2011: 173), in his study on Uttarakhand statehood, argues that ‘cultural
and ethnic factors have been prominent in the creation of new Indian
The University as a Site of Resistance: Identity and Student Politics. Gaurav J. Pathania,
Oxford University Press (2018). © Oxford University Press.
DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780199488414.003.0006
188 The University as a Site of Resistance
POLITICS OF NARRATIVES
Generally, a social movement provides counter-narratives to existing
narratives. These new narratives gradually become part of our socio-
cultural understanding. The history of Telangana regional politics has
been a history of countless narratives by the government of ‘consti-
tuting’, ‘establishing’, ‘forming’, and ‘setting up’ dozens of ‘safeguards’
‘committees’, ‘commissions’, ‘agreements’, ‘pacts’, ‘government orders’,
‘official statements’, ‘negotiation’, ‘promises’, ‘assurance’, and so on.
These words appear thousands of times in the modern history of
Telangana politics.The Telangana movement engaged with the state by
opposing government policies known as ‘safeguards’ says Dr A. Gopala
Kishan, who was one of the founding fathers of Telangana Praja Samiti
(TPS). According to him, ‘none of our interests—relating to health,
education, self-governance, and sale of agricultural lands—was safe-
guarded’.3 These ‘safeguards’ were planned to ensure equal develop-
ment in the region, but many of them were never implemented. Yet,
they remained part of the state’s narrative.
The first chapter highlights the discrimination, humiliation, and
neglect of Telangana people and culture, specifically in government
employment and financial allocation by the ‘dominant’ culture of
Andhra. Employees hailing from Telangana faced constant humiliation
as their culture and accent were considered ‘inferior’. As OU is located
in the capital city of Hyderabad, its students recognized the cultural
politics at hand. When agitations to uphold the policy of safeguards
were repeatedly ignored by the government, OU students raised the
190 The University as a Site of Resistance
demand for separate statehood in 1969 and formed the TPS, rally-
ing widely for support. Their collective anger burst onto the streets of
Hyderabad in the form of the first violent student agitation, accelerat-
ing the movement, and creating turmoil in the city for nearly a year.
Hundreds of students lost their lives in these protests, which fuelled
more protests and resulted in a mass satyagraha across Telangana. For
the entire academic year, students were on the road confronting the
police. Jails quickly became overpopulated with students, and even
schools in Telangana were used as detention centres. At the movement’s
peak, students invited Dr Marri Chenna Reddy (MCR), a Congress
party leader, to head the TPS. After a year-long failed agitation in 1970,
student activists set their eyes to the parliamentary election of 1971.
‘This election was the only hope left for us. We coined the slogan—
Employment, Status and Pride. We had no experience of any election
except campus election of 1968 which was fought on Separate
Telangana issues and we won that with this hope we were so ready to
take the challenge and responsibility of parliamentary election.’4
In the 1971 election, TPS won 11 of 14 parliamentary seats, the
most remarkable victory in the history of students’ struggle. With
high hopes, pamphlets were published announcing ‘Telangana State’.
However, Reddy’s politicking and the eventual merger of TPS with the
ruling Congress party led to widespread frustration among students, as
they lost trust in the state. This new narrative was accepted by those
who opted for a peaceful approach to remain close to power. But many
activists rejected the Reddy–Congress narrative and imagined a new
narrative. Sympathies began to sway towards the extreme Left with
many student leaders joining the Naxal movement and People’s War
Group. Activism on campus waned and the emotions and forces gener-
ated by the 1969 movement did not find a political platform. More
than a decade later, students became disillusioned with the Left’s inac-
tion. Nevertheless, the vision of a separate Telangana never wavered in
the minds of the leading intellectuals who had experienced the 1969
agitation and lost friends in police firings. In 1986, they formed the
‘Telangana Information Trust’, where they penned their experiences of
the movement. Later, many of them became popular writers and poets.
In addition, OU alumni formed many socio-cultural organizations
such as Telangana Jana Parishad, Telangana Mahasabha and Telangana
Sanskruti Samakhya, to evoke consciousness among the masses.
New State, Old Narratives 191
Thus, they find little difference in their struggle pre and post-state
formation.
‘us vs. them’, ‘bourgeois vs. proletariat’, or ‘Hindu vs. non-Hindu’ and
so forth, are fixed. This leaves little scope for any change in ideology.
The narratives of Telangana ideologues justify the movement as
a struggle for identity and autonomy, and rationalize it as a struggle
against domination, exploitation, discrimination, deception, and
humiliation (Srikanth 2013: 42). Political parties not only ignored the
socio-cultural history of the state but also bypassed the people’s aspira-
tions. Hundreds of student suicides were labelled as ‘political strategy’.
Radical left parties used students’ energy for their party interests while
Telangana issue was given only a token inclusion in their agendas.
Amidst all this, OU intellectuals’ efforts over half a century to research
and understand the Telangana problem of writing and publishing lit-
erature, forming organization, and mobilizing masses finally achieved
success. What is important to understand is that a movement occurs
when the inequality becomes intolerable and there is no space left for
negotiation. It occurs when there is no other option left, when rep-
resentation becomes redundant, and existence becomes meaningless.
The Telangana movement is the combination of various identities
assertion and above mentioned challenges. The grouping, organiza-
tion, mobilization, and the strategies of the movements are loose and
unstructured in these new movements. The changing student (social)
composition has also changed the context of higher education, which
led to the identity assertion. It takes us back to the question that
Bernstein (2008: 289) asks: ‘How do movements negotiate identity
for empowerment when the identity around which the movement
is organised is also the basis for grievance?’ It also provides us insight
to understand the weakness of the Telangana movement. Before the
movement is unified, it splintered into various caste and sub-caste
groups. The process of formation of Telangana identity and caste asser-
tion did not work in tandem. In fact, unlike the assertion of caste
and sub-caste identity occurred before identity formation for separate
Telangana. In other words, lower castes were doubly deprived of their
identity as Dalit and being Telanganaite. On the other hand, upper
castes appeared to have a single agenda—of attaining statehood. Caste
appeared as a dividing factor among Leftist parties but at the same time,
it was making a collective identity for Dalits. Ideology of Dalit-Bahujan
Telangana ignited aspirations of all the lower castes, including OBCs.
Therefore, caste issues may not be the primary agenda item in their
New State, Old Narratives 197
NOTES
1. Available at http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/Telangana-student-
succumbs-to-burns/article16816028.ece, accessed 16 October 2014.
2. Available at http://www.mainstreamweekly.net/article1213.html, accessed
14 March 2016.
3. Available at https://www.telegraphindia.com/1130804/jsp/7days/
17193418.jsp, accessed 14 March 2016.
4. Srinivasulu (OU activist in 1969), interviewed on 18 June 2013 at his
residence in Gandhi Nagar, Secundrabad.
5. From his speech at Telangana Vidyarthi Vedika prorgram at Arts College
on 2 October 2013.
6. Like Bharat Mata in the British era,Telangana Talli is presented as a victim
of colonial domination, the victim here is Seemandhra capitalists (Srikanth
2013: 42).
7. Available at https://www.ap7am.com/lv-198321-chakali-ilamma-statue-
unveiled-in-warangal-district.html, accessed 6 November 2016. A Telugu
movie was also made on the life of Chakali Ilamma.
8. Available at http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/dalit-telangana-first-chief-
minister-k-chandrasekhara-rao/1/298009.html.
9. As Dalit politics, government jobs and position were largely held by
Mala community, there was space for the emergence of non-Mala. Madiga
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