The Telangana Political Joint Action Committee has decided to observe the AP Formation Day on November 1 as a "Betrayal Day".
The decision was taken in the emergency meeting of the TP-JAC's Steering Committee held at Telangana Films Chambers at Secunderabad on Monday.
Briefing media persons, TP-JAC chairman M Kodandaram said that 1 November would be observed as a Black Day in protest against the "forcible merger of Telangana with the Andhra region in 1956".
He said that black flags would be hoisted across the region, and that all elected representatives would boycott the Formation Day celebrations.
Further, the TP-JAC has also announced that all elected representatives of the region would go on a 72-hour "Deeksha" from 1 November.
He requested leaders of all political parties to participate in the Deeksha to send a strong message to the Centre that people in the region would settle for nothing other than statehood for Telangana.
The schedule for the Deeksha will be finalised in consultation with the MLAs concerned.
Kodandaram said that the Deeksha has been aimed at mounting pressure on the Centre to make an early announcement on the bifurcation of the state. He also expressed solidarity and support to the indefinite hunger fast
proposed by former minister Komatireddi Venkat Reddy along with one lakh of his supporters, at Nalgonda.
He said the Deeksha will be held at all villages in the region and would not be confined to the district headquarters. He invited school and college students and their parents to participate in the Deeksha.
The JAC chairman condemned Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad's request to Telangana government employees to end their strike.
Kodandaram said that Azad's call to end the strike without proposing a road-map for Telangana exposes the Centre's non-seriousness on the issue.
The JAC Steering Committee has passed a unanimous resolution demanding that the government withdraw all cases booked against the Telangana activists and leaders who took part in the general strike.
Further, the committee has also condemned the recent protest held at
Kodandaram's residence. The JAC said that the protest was held by some vested interests who are trying to defame the leaders spearheading the Telangana agitation. (INN)