Hyderabad, February 16: Violence erupted again in Andhra Pradesh on Monday when pro-Telangana activists and police clash on the Osmania University campus and in various places across the state.
Even as chief minister K Rosaiah and home minister Sabita Indra Reddy visited hospitals and apologised to students beaten up by police at the Osmania University campus on Sunday, policemen again lathi-charged students on Monday, forcing more to seek treatment.
The Andhra Pradesh high court has ordered the immediate withdrawal of forces from the university. The government has expressed its shock over the treatment meted to students.
Police brutality was on display on Monday when media personnel presented severely injured mediamen who were covering the incident on Sunday evening to ministers at the Secretariat on Monday afternoon.
At least eight media personnel were severely injured by the police. Bandaged TV reporters stripped off their shirts to reveal deep welts on their back left by the police. Journalists across the state protested against the police action on the media even as Home Minister Sabita Indra Reddy promised to look into the incidents.
In Hyderabad, students clashed with police at Basheer Bagh and Moazzam Jahi Market when they were prevented from marching to the Assembly building where the budget session began on Monday.
Ministers houses gheroed in districts :
Violence has been reported from several towns and cities in Telangana as protesters surrounded the homes and camp offices of elected representatives and ministers demanding that they resign to put pressure on the Centre.
In places like Vikarabad, Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Warangal and Nalgonda, the houses of Congress MLAs and MPs were attacked with eggs and rotten tomatoes while in other towns, protesters smeared cow dung on the walls and windows to demonstrate their anger.
Members of the Nizamabad Bar Association clashed with the police when they tried to surround PCC president D Srinivas’ house. The house of Minister K Venkatreddy in Nalgonda was ransacked by protesters.
All hell broke loose on Sunday night when hundreds of policemen on the campus lathi-charged people, seriously injuring 15 students and 10 mediapersons. The state human rights commission has sought a detailed report on the events of Sunday and Monday. However, police said they did not receive any specific direction to withdraw.
The police action was believed to be in response to a protest by students seeking amendments to the terms of reference of the Srikrishna committee, which is looking into the demand for a separate Telangana.
“We’ve been protesting on the campus for the past three months. We are still unable to understand why the police resorted to lathi charge on Sunday and Monday,” said Venkat, a student leader of the joint action committee (JAC).
Male officer abusing girl students :
Interestingly, students are also accusing the police of using male officers to abuse and attack girl students. “Policemen dragged us by the hair and beat us,” Naga Mani, one of the injured students, said.
Monday morning’s clashes between police and students and the resignations of 11 MLAs, created more turmoil in Andhra Pradesh.
In the assembly, speaker N Kiran Kumar Reddy accepted the resignations of 11 MLAs — 10 from the Telangana Rashtra Samiti and one from the BJP.
The resignation strategy, sources in the JAC said, is not getting the full support of MLAs. The JAC was keen on forcing a constitutional crisis by getting all 119 MLAs to resign. This would have forced a by-election in Telangana.
However, Congress MLAs don’t have much faith in the strategy as they feel it would only force bypolls, not statehood. But they are worried about the backlash if they disagree with the JAC’s resolution on resignations.
Violent protests broke out in Andhra Pradesh on Monday over the terms of reference of the Srikrishna Committee. For the second day in a row, Hyderabad’s Osmania University was rocked by violence as protesters and security personnel clashed.
Coming back to the students agitation, the Osmania University campus turned into a battle zone with pro-Telangana students taking to the streets and police using force to tackle them. It was the second day of clashes between police and students at the university campus