KTR Slams Telangana Congress Over Protest Ban at Osmania University

Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president K. Taraka Rama Rao has strongly criticized the Telangana Congress government's decision to ban protests at Osmania University, calling it an assault on democracy.

Questioning the Congress party’s commitment to democratic values, KTR accused it of hypocrisy. “Is this the spirit of democracy that Rahul Gandhi and Congress have been advocating? If they truly believed in the right to protest, why are they resorting to authoritarian measures to silence student voices?” he said, reacting to a university circular prohibiting agitations.

He reminded the public that Congress had promised the right to protest under its ‘Seventh Guarantee’ during the election campaign but had now betrayed that commitment by imposing restrictions on student protests within just over a year in power.

Drawing parallels with the BJP-led governments’ crackdowns on student movements across the country, KTR alleged that Congress was adopting similar dictatorial tactics in Telangana, proving it was no different from the BJP when it came to suppressing dissent.

“Suppressing student voices is a hallmark of dictatorship. Osmania University, which played a pivotal role in the Telangana movement, is now being turned into a prison under this oppressive rule,” he remarked.

KTR also criticized the government’s misplaced priorities, pointing out that instead of addressing serious concerns like contaminated food in university hostels—where students recently found insects and razor blades in their meals—the Congress government was focused on stifling protests.

Warning of consequences, he asserted that students and the people of Telangana would not tolerate such undemocratic actions. He vowed that BRS would stand by students and resist any attempts to curb their fundamental rights.