Guntur witnessed high drama in the wee hours today when fasting TDP leaders Kodela, Pulla Rao and Anjaneyulu had their fasts forcibly broken by the police.
The Andhra town of Guntur, which is as much of a hotbed of the United Andhra movement as any, witnessed high drama in the wee hours today when fasting TDP leaders Kodela, Pulla Rao and Anjaneyulu had their fasts forcibly broken by the police.
Followers of the leaders and protestors in general started gathering at midnight around the site where the leaders have been fasting for 6 days now, amid rumours that the police were planning a pre-dawn move to arrest the leaders and forcibly make them break their fasts.
At 3am, the police did indeed land up in force, and were better-prepared than are usually given credit for. Amid furious protests from the agitators who had congregated there, they whisked off the leaders to hospitals after taking them into custody.
The town is in the grip of tension as protestors are wild. And, many feel, justified, too. The police are on a fast-breaking spree, threatening to forcibly feed people who don't want to eat. Fasts continue in Andhra and Rayalaseema by the dozen. The AU students' fast at Visakhapatnam entered its 11th day today, Y S Vivekananda Reddy's fast entered its 7th day, the SKU students' fast in Amalapuram entered its 6th day, and the untraceable Lagadapati's its 8th day.
For those who came in new, the Centre declared on Dec 9 that separate statehood for Telangana would get underway soon, and the Andhra and Rayalaseema regions have been boiling ever since, with a spate of fasts, bandhs and rallies.