Students of Potti Sriramulu CMR College of Engineering and Technology have unanimously agreed that the agitation is affecting their academic schedule and placements, but they are divided on whether they should take part in the agitation or not.
Huddled in a circle in a seminar hall on the campus during the launch of The Hindu E-Plus Club, a group of 10 young minds left no stone unturned to dissect the ongoing Samaikyandhra agitation and the role of students in it, here on Friday.
While Himaja pointed out that Hyderabad was the destination for software professionals from the State and losing it would spell doom for the young engineers, Hema countered her by saying that if division was inevitable then we should think of developing another city or region as new capital and not latch on to Hyderabad.
Challenging Hema’s statement, Ravikanth said that developing a capital city like Hyderabad was no easy task and it would take at least three decades, by which time the present generation would lose out in the race.
Syed Rehaman in his argument pointed out that one should not think of division of the State at any point of time as the unified State was formed only after Potti Sriramulu had given his life for the cause. Adding on to Rehaman’s point, Sai Karthik said that by dividing the State, the government would be suppressing the fundamental rights of the students.
Role of students
Coming to the role of students in the ongoing agitation, Sravani opined that students should play a decisive role, as they were a potent force, but they should not become weapons in the hands of politicians. Acquiescing with Sravani, Hemalatha minced no words to criticise the politicians.
She alleged that politicians were using the students as pawns in the ongoing agitation for their selfish motives. Taking a cue from Hemalatha, Chaitanya asserted that students can and should play a decisive role in the agitation. Citing the Nirbhaya gang-rape case, the budding engineer said, “It was the students who stood up to the Nirbhaya case to make a difference. If we can do it in Delhi, we can also do it here, but the youth leaders are trying to commercialise the entire Samiakyanadhra episode,” he observed.
Both Manibhushan and Anil opined that students should play a role but not by neglecting their studies or career. College principal K. Nageswara Rao also spoke at the inaugural of the E Plus Club.
