The Centre’s attempt at quelling the agitation in Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra has backfired, with Telangana once again turning into a war zone.
The Centre’s attempt at quelling the agitation in Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra has backfired, with Telangana once again turning into a war zone.
The shutdown call by organisations protesting Union home minister P Chidambaram’s statement on Wednesday, that more consultations and a consensus were needed on Telangana, sparked violent protests in various parts of the region. Hundreds of buses and private vehicles have been burnt down since Wednesday midnight.
Osmania University (OU), which has become the de facto headquarters of the student movement for Telangana, once again erupted on Thursday afternoon. Thousands of policemen and paramilitary were deployed on campus.
With students trying to hit the streets and demanding withdrawal of troops, police resorted to a severe baton charge. When that did not stop the students, they fired tear gas shells and rubber bullets.
By evening, political pressure was mounting on police bosses and efforts were made to keep forces away from the campus.
While all parties appear to be supporting Telangana at this point, the joint action committee (JAC) of students was critical of the stand taken by Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N Chandrababu Naidu. Naidu is in favour of a united Andhra and is not making his stand clear on Telangana. However, on hearing the news of the baton charge, about half-a-dozen senior TDP leaders, including MLAs, descended on the OU campus to pacify students. The strategy boomeranged, as hundreds of students attacked the TDP leaders as soon as they came out of their cars, injuring senior MLA N Janardhan Reddy, former home minister Devender Goud and K Srihari. The protesting students also damaged about 10 cars belonging to the TDP leaders.
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