By Konatham Dileep
Damaging the statues is not the result of some conspiracy. But the sustained and coordinated smear campaign that followed is definitely a conspiracy
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Perhaps no other statehood movement has withstood as many conspiracies as Telangana movement has. Not a day passes by without a crook trying to hatch a new conspiracy to scuttle the statehood movement.
There are a thousand cruel thugs waiting out there to silence this unborn child called Telangana.
The happenings on Tank Bund during the Telangana Million March are yet another example of how the government, police department and media dominated by Seemandhra elite have ganged up against the Telangana cause.
Defying an unprecedented crack down, over one lakh people have made it to the Tank Bund to participate in the Telangana Million March. A major chunk of the people who came there were from non-political backgrounds. Representatives from various people’s organizations, students’ unions, lawyers, doctors, coal miners, teachers, lecturers, writers and intellectuals who came there are a testimony to the broad-based popular people’s movement for Telangana state.
There were representatives from BJP, and CPI parties – which have seldom joined hands in independent Indian history. Zaheeruddin Ali Khan and Bandaru Dattaatreya attended the rally on Tank Bund. When did you last see those two guys sharing a common platform?
Surprisingly, none of the media houses had any story what so ever on this dimension of the movement.
And when a angry group of protesters felled a few statues, the Seemandhra media cried hoarse. Pages and pages of articles, condemnations, pictures in print media and hours of air time on television networks was devoted to the ‘vandalism’ and ‘desecration’ (sic) of statues.
I was a proud participant in Million March on 10th March. I can clearly say that the attack on statues was not premeditated. It was a spontaneous out burst of anger. People who came to Tank Bund on that day faced several hardhips and were emotionally charged. The news that three people had attempted suicide – one student died in Khammam, and an Osmania University student named Sampath Naik attempted suicide on Tank Bund itself. These news combined with the news that leaders like Kodandaram were arrested by the police heightened the tension on Tank Bund.
Few guys then took the iron poles used in police barricades and also stones used as landscaping on Tank Bund to attack the statues.
What baffled people like me was how hundreds of Rapid Action Force police force who were standing right in front of the statues did nothing to stop the protesters. This clearly shows the government wanted one such incident to happen and use it to launch a smear campaign against the movement.
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Picture 1 : Look how several Rapid Action Force Units were stationed next to the Tank Bund Statues. What were they doing?
Picture 2:
Picture 3 :
Picture 4: The RAF forces were armed to the teeth. Yet, they did nothing to protect the statues.
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The media reports from next day carried sensational news reports about a ‘planned conspiracy’ and how a team of students went about procuring crow bars, hammers and ropes to pull down these statues.
Eenadu newspaper carried extensive details of this ‘conspiracy’ quoting ‘reliable sources’ and police officers.
The police boss issued a statement that members of IFTU – a left wing trade union, were involved in the Tank Bund incident. Studio-N, a channel owned by Chandra Babu Naidu telecasted a story which linked the Tank Bund incidents to KCR.
By next day, our very own Lagadapati came up with another great conspiracy theory – that the CPI and BJP have jointly conducted this operation.
All along, there was repeated mention of how ‘crow bars and hammers’ were used for felling the statues. No photo/video of the incident has shown anyone using crow bars or hammers. the police have not confiscated any such instruments. Yet, surprisingly, all print media, electronic media and Seemandhra politicians have repeatedly said that the protesters used crow bars and hammers.
The police have arrested some people in connection with these incidents – the people arrested include a Seemandhra guy named Narayana Rao and two guys from North India who were passing through Tank Bund at that time!
And the police have slapped cases such as “Attempt to Murder’, and ‘Waging war against the country’.
Today’s Times of India carried a story on how the Tank Bund incidents were not premeditated !
So, the questions that everyone should ask now is
– Why did the police not make any attempt to save the statues. Did the police bosses think they could use this incident to launch a smear campaign on Telangana movement?
– Who planted the ‘crow bars and hammers’ story? Why was it carried by all media outlets and Seemandhra politicians?
– The DGP said it was ultra-left organizations who did this, Studio-N channel accused it on KCR, Nannapaneni Rajakumari says its TRS, Lagadapati Rajgopal says this is the handiwork of CPI and BJP. Doesn’t this prove the Seemandhra media and politicians are the real conspirators?
– Why were a person from Seemandhra and two people from North India arrested? Can police arrest any one with impunity in this state?
– Why were cases booked included ‘Attempt to Murder’ and ‘Waging a War against the country’. They should have ideally booked a case of damage to public property.
– Today, the state police have submitted a Remand Report to court stating that KCR, Prof. Kodandaram, KTR were absconding! While the fact is that all these people are attending public meetings on a daily basis.
While the incident on Tank bund by itself is not the result of any conspiracy, the Seemandhra government, leaders and media are clearly conspiring to use this stray incident to launch a poisonous attack on Telangana movement.