The Osmania University in Hyderabad is the centre of a burgeoning controversy and confrontation with some students declaring a pork festival to counter the beef festival planned for 10 December.
One of the organisers, Solanki Srinivas, however, reportedly denied that the event was being conducted to counter the beef festival, saying that pig-rearing is a livelihood to many people.
The situation is expected to get more tense as Hindutva groups have openly opposed the beef festival.
BJP MLA T Raja Singh said that he is willing to kill or be killed to protect cows, reported The Indian Express.
"We don't want an incident like Dadri here, but I am willing to kill or be killed to protect cows. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi cannot stop me from preventing this beef festival," he said. "I don't care what the party says. People have a right to choose what they want to eat but it should not hurt anyone's religious sentiments."
He added that "Dadri will repeat" if the organisers go ahead with the beef festival, referring to the mob lynching of Mohammad Akhlaq over beef-eating rumours in a Greater Noida village two months ago.
However, the BJP leadership has distance itself from the MLA's statement.
