The abrupt ending of the inaugural function of the much-hyped Osmania University centenary celebrations within 30-40 minutes raised many eyebrows.
President Pranab Mukherjee was the only person to give the inaugural speech at the grand and colourful function, apart from welcome address by Vice Chancellor Ramachandram and vote of thanks by registrar Gopal Reddy.
Governor E S L Narasimhan who happens to be the chancellor of the university, Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, union minister Bandaru Dattatreya and other dignitaries on the dais did not speak at all.
More than anybody else, the audiences were disappointed as KCR left the venue without speaking at the celebrations.
He did not utter a word on Osmania University which played a major role in the Telangana movement. Moreover, KCR himself is an alumnus of the university.
Apparently, KCR has been treating the Osmania University with utter contempt ever since the students protested against him and burnt his effigy for withdrawing his fast in November 2009 and he was forced to continue his fast in the hospital.
Since then, KCR has not come to the University even once and even now, majority of the student community is against him and they participate in the rallies organised by Kodandaram and others. That could be the reason why he did not want to address the gathering, say sources.
What is worse, the cultural programmes depicting the Telangana culture were lack-lustre. The entire campus was blocked by the police and there were barricades everywhere, as if Osmania University is in Kashmir.
Except those with valid passes, all the other students were confined to their hostel rooms.
