The air about the Osmania University, thick with emotions of Telangana till a few days ago, dramatically dropped much of the heat and started breezing easy around the campus.
An uneasy calm prevails in the university environs, a steep decline from the earlier charged-up atmosphere.
On Saturday, a holiday for university colleges, the campus wore a desolate look, with many students remaining indoors possibly to prepare for exams. Except for Intermediate students who were allotted examination centres within the campus, not many were visible outside.
Police personnel camping near the entry and exit points of the university and Manikeshwar Nagar seemed relaxed - some engaged in idle chat, some fiddling with their mobile phones, and a large number of them getting their precious forty winks.
The Arts College campus that heaved with jostling crowds till a few days ago now displays only a handful of students standing in queue to fulfil some obligatory requirement before exams.
“The day Sai Kumar committed suicide, students tried to take out a procession, but were stopped short by the police waiting outside the campus. Since then, the activity has dropped, perhaps due to the approaching exams,” says Shankar Goud, a security guard near the Arts College.
Some students say that those who participated in the agitation are being identified and arrested by the police as soon as they step out of the campus. With many non-borders and research scholars booked under various sections and slapped with over 70 to 80 cases, post-graduate students seem reluctant to take risk before exams.
Haunting memories
“We have haunting memories of Grey Hounds pummelling us,” said a scholar. He also ascribed the lull to rifts among student organisations.
However, N. Kumara Swamy, a JAC member, while admitting to weakening of the movement, assures that they will proceed after the exams in a more constructive way.
“We are planning public hearings through retired judges so as to gain nation-wide focus. We also need to let stances of the political parties emerge in true colours before arriving at a decision,” he says.
