Delhi gets taste of Telangana ire
From R. Vasudevan - Reporting from New Delhi
New Delhi was witness to the anger of Telangana activists on Monday when hundreds of lawyers from Telangana staged a protest rally demanding statehood for the region and tried to enter the parliament annexe.
Holding placards with messages such as "Lathi, goli khayenge, Telanagana le jaayenge" (we will suffer baton and bullets but will take Telangana) and shouting "Jai Telangana", men and women dressed in their black and white lawyers' attire gathered at Jantar Mantar in the heart of the capital and voiced their demands, attracting many tourists who move around the area.
The protest was timed to coincide with the opening day of the budget session of parliament.
The agitating lawyers demanded that a bill for formation of a separate Telangana state should be moved in parliament at the earliest. When they tried to march to parliament, the lawyers were stopped by police who were present in large numbers. Water cannons had to be used to disperse the protestors. However, a group of nearly 150 lawyers slipped through and managed to reach near the parliament annexe. They were stopped by the security personnel.
The Telangana region comprises nine districts of Andhra Pradesh, including the state capital Hyderabad. The separate statehood to Telangana is vehemently opposed by the two other regions of the state - Rayalseema and Andhra.
Meanwhile, BJP leader Prakash Javadekar and expelled Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh shared the stage for the cause of Telangana statehood and slammed the UPA government for not heeding to the demand of the people. The two addressed the pro-Telangana advocates. Terming the Terms of Reference of the Justice Srikrishna Committee on Telangana as a "joke", Amar Singh said the document only reflected the Centre's policy of "management by postponement."
- Asian Tribune -