Hyderabad, January 20: After a brief lull, the battle for Telanaga gained momentum Wednesday with a call for a complete shutdown in the region, following suicides by students pressing for the demand.
In the last twenty-four hours three people, including two students have committed suicide over the issue. The Students Action Committee spearheaded by the students from the Osmania University have called for a bandh in the region and are demanding that the people’s representatives from Telangana to quit immediately and press for a time frame from the Centre for the implementation of its intent to create a separate state.
The students have also not allowed the cremation of the body of 23-year old final year MCA student Venugopal Reddy, who had immolated himself yesterday in campus over the issue. Reddy’s body is till being kept in the university campus – autopsy was also conducted there.
They are also demanding that all MLAs and MPs from the region come to the campus. The students are also pressing the government to accept the demand for Rs 15 lakh compensation to Venugopal’s family.
Many political leaders, including TRS chief K Chandrasekhara Rao, visited the university, even as the campus remained tense as police mobilised additional forces to prevent possible violence.
Venugopal’s body was found on the campus early Tuesday. He said in his suicide note that he was ending his life as he was afraid that a Telangana state would not become a reality.
He also appealed to Congress president Sonia Gandhi to help carve out Telangana.
Besides, Venugopal, an 18-year-old BSC student Suvarna has set herself ablaze in Mahabubnagar district and a 40 year old man from Hyderabad also committed suicide over the issue.
The TRS, on the other hand, sought to mount pressure on the government to announce a time-frame for the formation of separate Telangana with party MLAs asking the Andhra Pradesh Assembly Speaker N Kiran Kumar Reddy to accept their resignations.
The TRS MLAs held a sit-in at the residence of the Speaker demanding that he accept their resignations immediately.
The all-party Joint Action Committee (JAC) held an emergency meeting and decided to support the 24-hour shutdown call given by student leaders to protest the delay by the Centre in carving out Telangana.
The political JAC comprising the Congress party, Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) and other parties appealed to students not to get disheartened and commit suicide.
The JAC also decided that all elected representatives from the region would start submitting their resignation from today.
JAC convenor M Kodandaram told reporters that the delay in announcing the process and contradictory statements being given by central leaders of the Congress party had created doubts in people’s minds, leading to suicides by students and other Telangana supporters.
According to the JAC, over 30 supporters of Telangana have committed suicide during the last two months.
-Agencies