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.
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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.
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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.