Introduce Telangana Bill: Leaders

Demanding the introduction of the Telangana bill in the budget session of the Parliament, Telangana leaders on Monday staged 'rasta rokos' across the Telangana region, throwing traffic flow out of gear.

The road blockage program was taken up following the call given by the Telangana political joint action committee as a part of their intensified agitations for the formation of a separate Telangana state.

Following this call, the Telangana leaders squatted on the city roads and on all national highways. The rasta rokos impeded the return of the people who had gone to their native places for the Sankranti holidays.

In Hyderabad, traffic came to a standstill at the L B Nagar Crossroads when JAC activists, under the leadership of Telangana JAC convener Prof. Kodandaram, blocked the roads. The squatting activists raised slogans against the centre and demanded the introduction of the Telangana bill in the Parliament.

Tension prevailed for some time in the area as police moved in to arrest the JAC leaders and restore normalcy to the flow of traffic. The protestors got into heated arguments with the police.

Sensing trouble, the police conducted a lathi charge and took a few protestors into custody, and Prof. Kodandaram sustained minor injuries.

Following the incident, the traffic on the national highway connecting Hyderabad and Vijayawada came to a standstill, and the vehicles lined up for a few kilometers on either side. The police had a tough time decongesting the highway and returning the traffic flow to normalcy.

Even as they were arrested, the protesting leaders lashed out at the government and the police for their arrests. They said that the administration could not stop the Telangana agitations with the use of lathis or by police firings.

At the Khairatabad crossroads, the lawyers joint action committee staged a rasta roko. Police immediately arrested them and shifted them to a nearby police station.

The JAC activists also obstructed traffic at the Secunderabad Oliphant bridge, Qutubullahpur, Kukatpally, Rajendranagar and many other places in the city.

In all the 10 districts, the Telangana leaders observed rasta rokos voluntarily and peacefully, following the call given by the political JAC. Reports suggest that at all the places across the region, the common demand was the tabling of a Telangana bill, and the resignations of all the elected leaders from their posts to mount pressure on the state and central governments.

The protestors demanded that the legislators express solidarity with the Telangana cause, besides resigning from their posts.

The protestors further warned the elected representatives that if they failed to resign from their posts, the people of the region would not forgive or forget them, and that they would be politically ostracized.

Courtesy: INN