According to the Ambedkar Students Association from the University of Hyderabad, several Dalit students were allegedly beaten up by ABVP members and others during a Diwali programme on campus. One of the victims is also recently elected Student Union member Gopi Swamy. The programme was organised by students from the MCA (Masters in Computer Application) department on Sunday night on the occasion of Deepavali.

A member of the ASA said that two Dalit students had visited the venue when some members of the ABVP suddenly approached them and demanded to know what they were doing there. They apparently then got down to abusing them and their families with casteist slurs. "They told them things like SC, ST community people have no place in the celebrations and then began to get violent by beating them up," the member said. 

When former ASA President Samson G and others went to intervene and find out what had happened, a few ABVP members allegedly urged others to beat him from behind. "The ABVP members suddenly turned violent and started beating up Dalit Bahujan students whoever tried to intervene with sticks, stones and other sharp objects," the ASA said in a statement. 

One of the students said that there were only about 7-8 Dalit students and so they did not have any way of protecting themselves from a crowd of almost 60-80 students and outsiders trying to attack them. "An MA-PhD student from was made to run for his life, was caught and beaten up mercilessly and he had to get several stitches on his face. When students were beaten up, the violent and casteist groups from MCA and alumni affiliated to the ABVP beat up anyone who intervened with sticks and stones," the ASA said. 

Many of the victims were quite badly injured and had to be taken to the hospital, an ASA student said. The students have decided to register a formal police complaint and also wanted to file a case with the proctorial board. However, to register a case with the proctorial board, the students have to be able to name the attackers too. "Since it was in the night, the victims are unable to identify all their attackers. So today, ASA members have been trying to find out the names of all the people who beat them, so that they can register a formal complaint. They are taking the help of the Chief Security Officer too, but many of the people they are trying to contact have switched off their phones," an ASA member said. 

In their statement, the ASA has accused the administration of not taking action in a case involving a Dalit student who was allegedly intimidated and harassed by the same 'casteist goons'. "We appeal to the student community to see the violence that is called ABVP and reject casteist people one and for all. ASA demands the administration to immediately act against the perpetrators of violence," they said. 

We have reached out to the administration for a reaction and will update this copy with the same when we receive the responses.