No beef festival or go-puja on campus: Osmania University

The Osmania University authorities late this evening made it clear that no "beef festival" would be allowed to be organised on the varsity campus. The decision is apparently aimed at checking the escalating tension caused by announcement by a group of students to organise a beef festival on December 10, which was followed by another group planning a "pork festival". A release from the Public Relations Officer of the University said, "Primary objective of the University is purely academic and research oriented. "It is therefore informed to all the concerned including the teachers, students and staff that activities such as beef festival, go-puja which are unrelated to the academics and research will not be permitted on the campus." The organisers of the beef festival had said yesterday it was being planned to "save democratic principles" in the wake of attempts to curb dietary habits of certain groups, coinciding with International Human Rights Day on December 10. Shankar, one of the organisers, claimed to be a member of the All India Students Federation affiliated to the CPI. Today, another group announced plan to hold a pork festival. "Pork is nutritious food choice and pig rearing provided livelihood to certain communities," said Solanki Srinivas, leader of the group. Alleging that there is a conspiracy to undermine eating pork by promoting consumption of beef, Srinivas said several prominent sportspersons consume pork to boost their fitness. Earlier, BJP MLA from Goshamahal Raja Singh had vowed to stop the beef event, saying cow is a sacred animal for crores of people. In a memorandum to the Vice-Chancellor, he had demanded that if beef festival was permitted, an event to worship the cow should also be allowed.