The University of Hyderabad (UoH) was once again the center of confrontational politics with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) screening the movie Kashmir Files in response to the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) screening the BBC documentary on India: The Modi Question.
The documentary was earlier screened by a different group on the campus leading to tension, and the ABVP complaining to the university authorities, that asked for a report from the security authorities.
The fresh controversy was seen on Thursday night with the SFI and ABVP deciding to screen the controversial content. The SFI unit of the university decided to screen in the shopping complex area and the ABVP too decided to do the same. When the university authorities requested them to stop the screening as it would lead to unnecessary tensions, the SFI decided to shift the venue to some other place on the campus.
The university unit of the SFI said in a social media post that more than 400 students turned out for the screening rejecting the false propaganda and the attempts of the ABVP to create unrest and the administration to disrupt the screening of the documentary.
Protesting against the repeated screening of the BBC documentary, the ABVP screened The Kashmir Files, which is based on the ‘targeted’ killings of Hindus by Pakistan-supported terrorists in the 90s leading to their exodus from the valley. They obtained the movie equipment from outside and when the security officials refused their entry, the ABVP activists staged a dharna. They asked how come the equipment for SFI screening was allowed while denying the same to the ABVP’s programme.
However, both the screenings went off peacefully and its effect on the campus on Friday was seen nowhere though the officials expected some trouble.
