Telangana students plan road, rail blockade Tuesday (Third Lead)

HYDERABAD - Two days ahead of the all-party meet called by the central government on Telangana issue, a mammoth meeting of students at the Osmania University here Sunday threatened to demolish offices of the parties opposing statehood to the region.

Asking the Congress and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) to spell out their stand, student leaders threatened to “throw out” of Telangana region the parties who oppose a separate Telangana state at the Jan 5 all-party meeting.

They vowed to continue the agitation till Telangana state becomes a reality and called for a road and rail blockade in the region Tuesday to coincide with the meeting in New Delhi.

In a clear indication that the Telangana movement has gone beyond the political parties, thousands of students from Hyderabad and nine other districts of the region attended “vidyarthi garjana” (students’ roar) organised by Joint Action Committee (JAC), a conglomerate of 13 students’ organisations.

The speakers also threatened to intensify the agitation by cutting off road and rail links to the other two regions of the state. “We will not allow buses and trains from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions to enter Telangana after Pongal,” said one of the speakers.

The meeting urged the central government to immediately table the bill in parliament for carving out a Telangana state.

The meet called for immediately starting the process for formation of Telangana and withdrawing cases against students as announced by the central government Dec 9.

A resolution unanimously passed at the meeting demanded that the central government set a time-frame for carving out the separate state.

Stating that Hyderabad is an integral part of Telangana, the meeting also asked Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) to break its silence and support Telangana movement while respecting the aspirations of people of Telangana in general and of Muslims of the region in particular.

MIM, which has its stronghold in Hyderabad, is one the eight parties invited for the talks in New Delhi Tuesday.

M. Kodandaram, chairman of the all-party JAC, and revolutionary writer Varavara Rao were among those who addressed the meeting, which passed off peacefully under the tight vigil of hundreds of policemen and paramilitary forces.

Political leaders stayed away from the meeting as per the court order while police prevented revolutionary balladeer Gadar from entering the campus.

The high court Saturday allowed the JAC to hold the meeting but barred political leaders and Maoists from addressing it.

The Osmania University has emerged as the nerve centre of the Telangana agitation which began Nov 29 when TRS chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao launched fast unto death, demanding statehood to Telangana.

The massive protests and Rao’s hunger strike forced the central government to announce on Dec 9 that the process for formation of the new state would be initiated. However, following protests in Andhra and Rayalaseema regions, the government made a second statement Dec 23 underlining the need for wide-ranging consultations on the issue.