MANUU students protest Telangana government land move
HYDERABAD: Students of Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU), under the banner of the MANUU Students Collective, on Wednesday held a protest against the Telangana Congress government’s move to resume 50 acres of the university’s land.
Rally from library to Bab-e-Ilm
The students took out a rally from the Central Library to Bab-e-Ilm on the campus. They said the recent show-cause notice on land resumption amounted to an attack on public education and reflected a tendency to view universities as surplus land banks rather than academic institutions.
Students cite University of Hyderabad precedent
Addressing the protest, student leader Talha Mannan criticised the government’s action and warned against repeating what he described as a pattern seen at other public universities.
“This notice is not an isolated administrative act but reflects a disturbing trend where public universities are being viewed as repositories of vacant land. We have already seen how land belonging to the University of Hyderabad was sought to be taken away. MANUU students will not allow it to repeat itself here,” he said.
Demand for academic infrastructure
Mannan said the land belonged to the academic community and future generations, not shifting state priorities. MANUU Students’ Union former president Mateen Ashraf said the land should be used for hostels, libraries and academic infrastructure, not handed over in the name of resumption.
Former Students’ Union president (2019) Umar Faruq said students would not give up even an inch of land. “The university land is meant exclusively for students, particularly minority and economically weaker students. We will not tolerate any plan to snatch land from MANUU. The government should focus on development, not behave like a land mafia,” he said.
