AP govt cracks down on Telangana rally

The Telangana statehood issue hit the centre-stage again today, with the state government going all out to foil the March to the Assembly rally called by the Telangana Joint Action Committee (TJAC).

The Telangana statehood issue hit the centre-stage again on Friday, with the state government going all out to foil the March to the Assembly rally called by the Telangana Joint Action Committee (TJAC).

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Hundreds of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and other statehood activists were arrested and the state capital was converted into a curfew zone, with all major roads blocked by barbed wire and gun-toting securitymen patrolling the nearly deserted streets.

The TJAC could not organise the march as all roads leading to the assembly were sealed. But that didn’t prevent activists from expressing their anger. Students of Osmania University, which has been the nerve-centre of the separate statehood movement, brick-batted the police when they were stopped from taking out a rally. In other parts of the region too protestors threw stones and bricks at police personnel on duty.

Two TRS legislators climbed the assembly building and hoisted a black flag to condemn the procrastination on creation of Telangana by the Congress government in the state and the UPA at the centre. The police quickly moved in and the legislators were brought down and arrested.

TRS chief K Chandrasekhara Rao gave a call for a Telangana bandh on Saturday to protest against the state government’s “repression”.