A 27-year-old student who was among the 25 who conducted a beef festival and consumed beef in 2015, found out to his utter surprise that he could not appear for his PhD entrance exam at the English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU) because a police case was registered against him, according to The News Minute.
Mohammed Jalees told the online publication that he did not even know that a complaint has been lodged against him.
Jalees, who has an MA degree in Arabic, said he was told he could not sit for the exam when he went to collect his admit card. He met proctor Prakash Kona who informed him of the case.
“On December 11, when Osmania University students conducted a beef festival on their campus, 25 students from our University also organised a solidarity festival on our campus, and I was one of them. Later we also uploaded a picture of the festival on Facebook,” he told The News Minute.
He alleged that soon after, the university administration registered a complaint at the Osmania University Police station against all 25 students who participated in the festival.
But there seems to be more to the complaint. The proctor told The News Minute that besides the beef complaint, there are also complaints of sexual harassment and stalking. The university had even passed an ordinance disallowing students involved in "anti-university activities". But Jalees claimed he was not aware of any of this.
Several states in India have laws in place that prohibits the slaughter and consumption of cattle. India is the world's largest beef exporter and fifth biggest consumer. Clashes had even broken out in several parts of the country over beef and an attempt by the right wing parties to enforce the ban on the killing of cows, considered holy by many Hindus.