The old (left) and the new logo of Osmania University.

Hyderabad: The original logo of Hyderabad's Osmania University which had Noorun Ala Noor written in Urdu on it was changed 50 years ago.

On the occasion of OU’s 100th anniversary, some activists and alumni are filing a petition to change the logo of the university. The Osmania University, one of the oldest universities in India, will be celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.

When OU was set up, its emblem had the Nizam turra (crown) of Nawab Mir Osman Ali Khan, the seventh Nizam and the founder of Osmania University.

The crown was surrounded by wandering beams of lights and the words Noorun Ala Noor were printed in Arabic. It means knowledge is light. Above it was an Arabic inscription of Prophet Mohammed’s words, “I am the city of knowledge and Ali is its gate.” Later, only the Urdu letter Ain remained. The present emblem contains inscriptions in Telugu and Hindi. The new logo says Tamso Ma Jyotirgamaya in Hindi and Telugu but has the Urdu word Ain in between.

Dr Chiranjeevi Kolluri who is a social activist and a retired doctor is fighting to bring back the original logo of OU. He said, “After Hyderabad was merged into India, Nizam’s crown was removed from the OU emblem. This was understandable as India is a democracy. But slowly the Urdu inscription was also removed. Urdu medium courses were changed to English and the language become extinct in OU.”

"Urdu is integral to this region. Its removal from the emblem is irrational as OU was the first university in the country to start courses in Indian languages,” Dr Chiranjeevi Kolluri added.

The activists said that injustice was done to Urdu.

The activists also plan to submit a memorandum to the OU Vice Chancellor and then to appeal Deputy CM Kadiyam Srihari who is also the in-charge of centenary celebrations. They said that if they don't get a positive response they will knock on the doors of the court.