Hyderabad, June 11: Hyderabad: In a bid to infuse new life into the movement for a separate Telangana state, the Telangana Joint Action Committee (TJAC) has called on people to come out of their houses and cook their food on the roads on June 19.
The novel form of protest, in which the Telagnana people will turn the roads into community kitchens next week, will be the first in a series of protests aimed at mounting pressure on the central government as well as the Congress and the Telugu Desam parties to take a clear stand on the demand for a separate Telangana state.
Massive agitation
TJAC, convenor Professor Kodanda Ram and Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) president K. Chandrasekhar Rao set a June 25 deadline for the central government to take a final decision on the move to form a separate Telangana state or else they will launch a massive agitation.
“I with my family and Kodanda Ram with his family will join the programme of cooking food on the roads to highlight the apathy of the central government,” Rao said.
The TJAC and TRS also called on all MPs and MLAs (members of the legislative assembly) of Telangana to resign en masse to further press the central government.
“When we gave a call last time, only 11 MLAs resigned. But this time we will see to it that all the elected representatives resign,” Ram said.
Million March
He warned that if the government does not listen to the Telangana people, a more intense agitation will be launched from the first week of July. It will include a strike by government employees, teachers and other sectors to be followed by another Million March or Chalo Hyderabad call.
“This time lakhs [hundreds of thousands] of people from all over Telangana will march towards Hyderabad on foot,” he said.
The Million March on March 10 in Hyderabad paralysed the city despite a massive crackdown and culminated in violence and demolition of statues of Andhra leaders on Tank Bund. He said in the next phase of protest, the people will target the Congress and Telugu Desam party.
-Agencies