Thu Apr 03 21:30:00 UTC 2025: ## University of Hyderabad Students Launch Hunger Strike Against Land Auction
HYDERABAD, INDIA – Eighteen University of Hyderabad (UoH) students launched a relay hunger strike on Thursday to protest the Telangana government’s plan to auction 400 acres of university land in Kancha Gachibowli village. The students are demanding the government halt the auction, remove police from the campus, and restore what they describe as suppressed democratic processes.
The protest, organized by the university’s students’ union, began on March 13th and escalated to an indefinite hunger strike on Tuesday. Students claim that the campus has become heavily militarized, restricting students’ freedom of movement and even prohibiting photography and videography. They vow to continue the strike until all work on the land ceases.
Students argue that the land, part of a larger 2,300-acre plot allocated by then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, holds significant environmental, academic, and cultural value. They allege that the government’s plan to sell the land to the private sector contradicts its original purpose and will lead to the destruction of a green space within the city’s IT corridor. They further claim that approximately 75% of the land has already been cleared.
The students’ claims are supported by the assertion that one student participating in an indefinite hunger strike was taken away by the police, despite a Telangana High Court interim order to pause the work. Students also report that tree-clearing continues despite the order.
The university administration is accused of inaction and indifference to student concerns. The students’ union accuses the government of prioritizing commercial interests over educational and environmental concerns, contrasting the government’s actions with the historical significance of the land, which was set aside in recognition of 369 Telangana students who died fighting for a separate state in 1969. The hunger strike is expected to continue indefinitely.
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