Is 'T' Movement Losing Steam In Osmania University?

Is the‘T’ movement in Osmania University, the traditional hotbed of the Telangana movement, finally losing steam? 

It definitely seems so with analysts pointing out that the OU Students’ Telangana Joint Action Committee (OUTSJAC) is fast losing their support base and even protests on campus are getting lukewarm response. 
    
From a disastrous ‘Garjana’ in January to a failed ‘Secretariat Chalo’ with just about 50 students in tow, the JACs are currently facing an identity crisis. And the blame this time is on interference from mainstream political parties. 
    
Student leaders admit that after three years of protests they have not gained anything and are now a disillusionedlot.“Studentshavesuffered a lot during protests. Whilethe government employees who took to streets got salary hike as part of state’s appeasement and appropriation policy and political leaders from the region gained politically, the students lost their precious academic time,” said M Krishank, a studentleader.“Our careers andfuture are at stake now.” 
    
The introspection comes at a time when theCentreisdilly-dallying on the issue of separate statehood to the Telangana region, comprising 10 districts, including Hyderabad. Earlier this month when the Centre asked for more time to reach a consensus, the government deployed a large number of police at OU, but were actually surprised to see hardly any significant protests on the T-issue. 
    
Analysts said that the reasons for the decline of the Telangana movement on the campus are many. The university had only one students’ JAC, christened Osmania University Joint Action Committee in 2009 comprising 20 members, each representing various student parties. 
    
Currently,thisbody itself is non-existent and has disintegrated into six groups,eachhaving itsown political affiliations. While two of the students JACs are affiliated to Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), one sails with the Left parties (CPM and CPI-ML) and the rest go with the factions supported by politicians from the region. 
    
With the affiliations of JACs wavering over a period of time, the leaders themselves state that non-partisan students are questioning their credibility and not participating in rallies. 
    
Currently, the students who were once active in protests have gone back totheir studies.Consequently,theleaders are finding it difficult to mobilise students for agitations for the T-cause. 
   
 In response to a ‘Chalo Gandhi Bhavan’ call this January, just 15 students were seen taking out a rally out of campus.They werestopped attheNCC gate by police is a different story. “Till about a year back, OU used to simmer with protests stretching over three days. Now, it can’t even sustain for a day,” said Kailash Neta, a student leader. 
    
Neta added that the JAC had to tone down some of the protests as not many students were willing to step out. The firstVidyarthiGarjana whichwasheld on OU campus in 2010, witnessed a gathering of over one lakh students from almost allthe10districtsof the region.Currently,two groupson campus, one led by B Suman, affiliated to Telangana Rashtra Samithi Vidyarthi Vibhag (TRSVV) and Progressive Democratic Students Union led by Pidamarthi Ravi have a cadre strength of up to 300 students, the sources said. 
    
Ironically, even as the strength of JACs on campus are depleting by the day, more student groups are floating new JACs. “In a couple of days one more JAC might come into existence. But we think it’s a bad move to set up more of such organisations as student support is anyway dwindling and getting divided,” said Tirumani Kondal, a student leader. 
    
One of the biggest complaints against the JACs is their flawed membership policies. Students with dubious political affiliations are allowed tobe partof JACs,somesaid.There are members affiliated to YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) who have taken membership in campus JACs. 
    
“The fact that the YSRCP’s stand on Telangana is notclear is notconsidered while doling out memberships to such cadre. This shows lack of planning,” said a non-partisan student, who spoke on conditions of anonymity. 
    
Also, in the recent past, the JACs have fallen out with some of the political leaders they had pledged their alliance to which has triggered a drastic downfall. Sources revealed some of the JAC cadre, who were in the good books of K Chandrasekhar Rao and Danam Nagender,hasfallen outof their favour. “This reduces funding for protests,” said a JAC source. On the whole, the student JACs have lost respect among students on campus, some leaders rued.