A never before 'Beef Festival' on the campus of Osmania University triggered clashes between two groups of students on Sunday. A group of students wanted to organise a ‘Beef festival’ on the campus, while another group opposed the event. “The festival was intended to make the point that upper caste diktats over food habits needed to be resisted. Another group of students opposed this on the ground that it is against Indian culture,” a police official said.

As the rival group of students came to express their protest, a clash erupted. Students indulged in stone-pelting and set some vehicles on fire, the police said. The police fired teargas shells to disperse the students and bring the situation under control, they added. The incident occured when the week long communal tension in the old city is fading out. Old timers who have seen umpteen communal flare-ups in Hyderabad are surprised that for the first time communal rift has crept into Osmania University campus. They feel that the events are deliberately orchestrated by some vested interests, which is not a deservable sign.