HCU student booked by police, AISA alleges doctored evidence
HYDERABAD: The University of Hyderabad (HCU) is at the center of a new political controversy after the All India Students Association (AISA) accused the administration of an authoritarian and politically partisan mindset for referring a student dispute to the police. The AISA–HCU Unit criticized the administration and the Registrar for escalating an internal proctorial inquiry into a criminal case against one of its activists.
According to the student body, Srijan, an AISA activist, has been charged under several sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The case originated from a verbal disagreement between students with opposing political views in a class WhatsApp group.
The dispute centers on allegedly doctored screenshots. AISA claims that images suggesting Srijan made vulgar remarks about Lord Ram were circulated. The organization states that Srijan, appearing before the university’s proctorial board, challenged the authenticity of the evidence and maintained the screenshots were fabricated.
Despite this challenge, the university administration forwarded the matter to the local police. AISA describes this as a failure of institutional responsibility.
“This is not procedural caution, it is an abdication of institutional responsibility,” the AISA–HCU Unit’s statement read. “Instead of verifying the digital evidence or allowing its own disciplinary mechanism to reach a conclusion, the administration chose to forward the matter to the police.”
The student organization suggested the doctored content was deliberately provocative and intended to exploit a charged political climate. “It was crafted to provoke outrage and trigger charges relating to religious insult in a climate where right-wing ideological dominance increasingly shapes institutional reflexes,” the statement claimed. “Whoever fabricated these screenshots did so with the confidence that the administration would prioritise managing perceptions of sacrilege over investigating the truth.”
AISA characterized the administration’s decision as a dangerous encroachment of a police-state mentality into academic spaces, arguing that it sends a chilling message to students. “By criminalising Srijan on contested and unverified grounds, the administration has sent a chilling message that dissenting political affiliation invites state action rather than dialogue,” the statement added.
The student body has called for the immediate withdrawal of the police complaint and a transparent inquiry into the alleged fabrication of digital evidence. They also demand that the Vice-Chancellor and the Registrar take accountability for this overreach and issue a public apology for subjecting a student to criminal prosecution without first exhausting the university’s own due process.
