Osmania students to hold beef festival on June 30

Students of Osmania University (OU) have decided to organise a massive beef festival on June 30 to protest against the Central government's move to ban the sale of cows for slaughter at animal markets.

In a notification issued last week, the Centre stated that cows and buffaloes cannot be sold for slaughter at animal markets across India, and allowed only farmland owners to trade at animal markets. The notification covered bullocks, bulls, cows, steers, buffaloes, heifers and calves. Camel trade was also included in this list.

This decision of the OU students comes days after students at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras held a beef fest on campus, to oppose the government's decision.

On Wednesday, members of various student organisations including Ambedkar Students Association (ASA), All India Students Federation (AISF) among others, held a meeting to chart out their plans for the run-up to the beef fest. “We have decided



to conduct a protest in front of the Arts College on June 4 following which a mass gathering of all students organisations, youth federations, trade unions, women groups etc will be held on June 18 to give a call from `Chalo Osmania University' on June 30,“ said Stalin, president of the AISF wing in Osmania University.

This comes amid a raging nationwide debate over consumption of beef.Students said it was a spontaneous gesture from many on campus who opposed the centre's ban and decided to not hold the beef fest under a single banner.

Nearly 80 per cent of the students at OU belong to Dalit, Adivasi, OBCs, minorities, and Christian communities that consume beef.

It may be recalled that on December 10, 2015, various student organisations in OU held a similar beef festival on campus. The immediate trigger was a series of incidents that occurred related to beef ban and attack on some sections of society, for consuming beef.