Approximately 10,000 netizens from Hyderabad signed an online petition against the changed logo of the prestigious Osmania University (OU) in Hyderabad, Telangana.
The logo of the Osmania University was changed by the Government of Telangana over a period of time. The decision taken by the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) disappointed the people of Hyderabad, following which nearly 10,000 people signed the petition and demanded to restore the old logo of the OU. The petition was started by Zuhair Madani on change.org.
It is to be noted, the logo of the OU was changed a long time back, but the incident was given attention now. Sibghatullah, an architecture student, expressed disappointment and said, “The logo was changed long ago, but we’re only paying attention to it now. Last year I made a decoded version of the logo which went viral and triggered an internet campaign for the same. Not just the logo but the medium of instruction has changed from Urdu to English.”
According to sources, the original logo of the Osmania University had both Arabic and Urdu inscriptions; the upper part of the logo had the turra (crown) of Mir Osman Ali Khan, the seventh (and last) Nizam and founder of the Osmania University. However, the new changed logo has Telugu and Hindi texts in the logo, which offended people, especially older people and alumni of one of Hyderabad’s oldest universities.
Acting years later over the changed logo of the Osmania University, netizens appealed to restore the old logo. Even the non muslim alumni of the Osmani University, objected to the changed logo and said, it should be restored to old, as it express communal mindset. The importance of OU logo is due to the foundation of the years old University by Osman Ali Khan, the last Nizam. It is one of the earliest universities in Hyderabad founded by Osman Ali Khan in 1918. It was also the first varsity which had provided higher education in Urdu medium.
Soon, #OUlogo was trending on Twitter with the demand of restoring the original logo.
