The incidents that marked the first anniversary of the Telangana Million March proved that nothing has changed in the last one year. The state and central governments continue to use brute police force to crush the statehood movement, and the people of the region continue to defy all odds to show to the world how committed they are to the statehood cause.
Photo: police cordon off Tank Bund
Photo: Police arrest Prof. Haragopal and Palle Ravi Kumar (TJF)
Photo: Pittala Ravinder (Telangana Vidyavantula Vedika) being arrested for unveiling the book on Tank Bund
Yesterday’s incidents have also proved that the Telangana movement has not cooled down or subsided, but is only waiting for the right moment to strike back.
No one knows this better than the Andhra Pradesh state government. And this was clear from the way the state government has reacted to the anniversary event of Million March.
First, the state government denied permission to the launch of a book at Tank Bund. By doing so, the state government only exposed how frightened it is by the statehood movement. In this age, even dictatorships allow book release events. But the Andhra Pradesh state government has proved yet again that the people of Telangana do not have even basic human rights in this state.
To prevent anyone from entering Tank Bund, hundreds of state police forces were deployed at several locations on and around Tak Bund.
But, Telangana activists know how to break police cordons. A team of Telangana Journalists Forum (TJF) members gave a slip to the police and managed reach Tank Bund and launched the book containing experiences of those who participated in Million March.
The police, who were shocked by the launch of the book, immediately swooped down on TJF members and arrested Prof. Haragopal, Pittala Ravinder and Ramana along with scores of journalists and activists.
In the evening, an inspirational meeting aptly titled “Telangana Million March Sphoorthi Sabha” was held at Basheerbagh Press Club. Addressing the meeting, Retired Supreme Court justice Sudarshan Reddy said that asking for consensus on statehood issue is against Indian Constitution.
Prof. Kodandaram, Prof. Haragopal and Allam Narayana also spoke at the meeting.