HYDERABAD: The chief minister and district collectors will salute the martyrs first on the Telangana State Formation Day every year before participating in the celebrations.
A decision to this effect was taken by chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao here on Saturday.
Making a statement in the Legislative Assembly on the official resolution on “paying tributes to Telangana martyrs”, the chief minister said that a huge memorial for Telangana martyrs would come up in Hyderabad soon. “We have all the photos of the martyrs and take up construction of martyrs memorial in the city,” Rao added.
Referring to the Statue of Liberty in the US and the Statue of Unity in Gujarat conceived by prime minister Narendra Modi, Rao said that the T-martyrs memorial too should be like those.
He recalled that 369 persons had died in police firing in the Telangana movement in 1969 and more than 1,200 youths sacrificed their lives in the recent agitation for statehood. Though the figure mentioned in the statement tabled in the Assembly mentioned the number of 1,200 deaths in the recent movement, the chief minister said that some deaths were not recorded and the number could be around 1,500.
He did not announce any benefits on the floor of the House but said that the government would take into account all the suggestions made by the opposition. “Before taking a final decision on helping the martyrs’ families, the government will conduct an all-party meeting,” Rao said.
The House paid homage to martyrs by observing two-minute silence. Congress member and close aide of former chief minister the late YS Rajasekhara Reddy G Chinna Reddy said YSR had opposed statehood for Telangana because of which state’s formation was not possible between 2004 and 2009. He demanded that the government extend all the facilities currently being given to freedom fighters to Telangana martyrs also.
TDP member A Revanth Reddy wanted the government to declare the day on which Srikantha Chary committed suicide as Telangana Martyrs Day. He also urged the government to celebrate the birth anniversaries of Prof Jayashankar and Konda Laxman Bapuji officially.
BJP floor leader K Laxman wanted the government to create a special cell for resolving issues relating to T-martyrs.
Courtesy: The New Indian Express