After a hours of sporadic incidents of stone pelting and lathi-charge at different places in the city, the Telangana March had a bitter climax with the police forcibly evicting the Telangana activists from the Necklace Road.
Earlier, Telangana Political Joint Action Committee chairman Prof M Kodandaram announced that in protest against the hurdles created by the State Government and police, the activists would remain seated at Necklace Road till all the arrested activists were released. Thousands of activists did not leave the venue despite heavy rains. However, the police first used water canons to disburse the crowd and later fired tear gas shells. This too did not deter the activists from leaving the PVR Ghat area.
Thousands of activists sang songs and raised Jai Telangana slogans while staying at the venue, at the time of filing this report. Addressing the gathering, Prof Kodandaram accused the government of trying to sabotage the Telangana March by resorting to illegal arrests of activists and leaders across the region. He said despite giving permission, the activists were not allowed to reach the venue.
Asking the Centre to honour the promise that it made with the people of Telangana, Kodandaram said no one and nothing could prevent formation of Telangana State. He also condemned the Centre for delaying the decision despite nearly 1,000 people committing suicide demanding statehood for the region. He accused the Seemandhra leaders of conspiring to obstruct the formation of Telangana State.
Prof Kodandaram demanded that the Centre immediately announce the route-map for the formation of Telangana State. Further, he also demanded that the ministers and elected representatives from the region resign from their posts to mount pressure on the Centre.
Condemning the arrests, Telagana Nagara Samithi president Nagam Janardhan Reddy said that the police were following the orders of Governor ESL Narasimhan while ignoring the instructions of elected representatives. He criticised the police for its “high-handedness” despite giving permission for the Telangana March.
Several Telangana leaders including TRS MLA K Tarakarama Rao, Baladeer Gadar, Swamy Goud and others addressed the Telangana March.
–Agencies