Hyderabad: Government employees from the Seemandhra region asserted that they would settle for nothing less than undivided Andhra Pradesh at their impressive public meeting Save Andhra Pradesh, organised by the AP Non-Gazetted Officers’ Association at Lal Bahadur Stadium here on Saturday amid heightened tension on account of the Telangana bandh call, sporadic attacks and heavy police restrictions.
APNGOs members vowed to conduct a Million March at the Parade Grounds, Secunderabad, if the decision to bifurcate the state was not reversed, according to APNGOs president P. Ashok Babu. He added that they would hold such meetings in all the 23 districts of the state to voice their concerns.
They stated Hyderabad belonged to everybody and no one had the right to ask them to leave the city and that the general strike by the employees would continue till the Centre reversed its decision.
T bandh total
Hyderabad witnessed a total and largely peaceful shutdown on Saturday during the bandh called by pro-Telangana parties to protest the APNGOs’ meet.
The bandh was marred by sporadic incidents of stone-pelting. Seemandhra employees claimed that they were attacked while coming to the APNGOs’ meet, and Telangana activists alleged they were beaten up by APNGOs at Nizam College hostel.
There were attacks on buses on the city outskirts at Abdullahpurmet and in Dilsukhnagar, according to APNGOs activists who were leaving the city.
College Campuses on boil
Campuses of Nizam College and Osmania University were volatile on Saturday with pro-Telangana student activists seeking to disrupt the ‘Save Andhra Pradesh’ meet and the police trying to keep them from doing so.
Tension gripped Nizam College when police and students clashed after pro-Telangana students tried to stop the APNGOs members from entering the LB Stadi-um. After that, activist of the APNGOs and pro-Telangana students clashed, while security forces watched.
The students, who took shelter inside the college campus, pelted stones at police and Samaikyandhra supporters. A few students, including three OUJAC leaders, were injured. Meanwhile, despite the prohibitory orders in the city, Samaikyandhra protesters, who were not allowed inside the LB Stadium, took out a rally in front of the stadium.
Nizam College started simmering when police prevented students from heckling Samaikyandhra supporters. When police took two OUJAC leaders, Suman and Krishank, into custody, heavy stone pelting by the students began. Students alleged that cops entered the hostels, beat them up and locked them inside.
Even Osmania University saw its share of tension. Scores of students started a bike rally opposing the ‘Save AP’ meeting and proceeded towards the NCC gate, from where they had planned to go to the stadium. However, they were stopped by the security forces. This led to arguments, and eventually, heavy stone-pelting. This continued for more than half-an-hour and to control the situation, the cops fired around five rounds of tear gas shells to disperse the crowd.
City police commissioner Anurag Sharma said the cops had arrested as many as 366 Telangana agitators as a preventive measure from Basheerbagh, Gunpark, RTC crossroads, Nizam College, and a few other places.
The leaders of CPI (ML-New Democracy) and Telangana United Front were arrested when they staged a protest at the RTC crossroad.
Commuters fleeced by autos, cabs due to bandh
Commuters in Hyderabad faced a harrowing Saturday with APSRTC buses and the MMTS not being operational throughout the day. Even the Pushpak airport shuttles were off the streets as officials feared damage to property from stone pelting. The MMTS is set to resume on Sunday morning.
Most commuters then were forced to rely on cabs and autorickshaws drivers. According to reports, they charged hapless customers extremely high rates. “I had pre-booked a cab two days ago to take my father to the airport from the Mehdipatnam area for `700. But suddenly, on Saturday, the cab company asked for an additional `150 for the same service, citing huge demand,” said B. Gyaneshwar, a student.
According to information from APSRTC, the entire bus fleet of 22,000 buses was taken off service. That’s because a total of 15,000 buses have been damaged during various strikes in the state between 2005 and 2006. Even during the previous strike, involving APSRTC bus unions from the Seemandhra region, five buses were damaged during stone pelting.
300 protestors arrested
Commissioner of police Anurag Sharma said, “The bandh went off peacefully in the city. We have arrested around 300 protesters. Except minor incidents at Nizam College Hostel and Osmania University, everything was peaceful. We have asked all our forces to be alert while the APNGOs leave the city.”
He said students had pelted stones at the police, but they maintained restraint. Three policemen were injured on the OU campus and at Nizam College. Educational institutions declared a holiday on Saturday and cinema theatres, petrol pumps and business establishments were kept closed. RTC buses did not ply in the Telangana region, while MMTS services were curtailed.
Nalgonda superintendent of police T. Prabhakar Rao said that traffic on the national highway was smooth. Around 5,000 police personnel were deployed. The police arrested Telangana JAC convener Prof. Kodandaram and others for staging protestes and shifted them to Goshamahal Stadium.
Turnout encourages APNGOs
APNGO members said that the impact of bifurcation would be felt mostly by employees, students and the APSRTC.
The speakers expressed concern over the fact that the students would lose the opportunity to pursue studies in the best institutions and secure better jobs in companies located in the city while the employees would lose seniority and promotions after the bifurcation of the state.
They said that the APSRTC had to be closed down in the Seemandhra region as all the assets of the corporation were located in the Hyderabad and Telangana regions.
Claiming that the huge turnout at the venue despite all the odds reflected the determination of the people to keep the state united, Mr Babu said, “We have organised this meeting only to highlight the problems that will crop up due to bifurcation of the state. It is not against any political party or leaders. The political parties were elected to power to rule the people and not to divide them. The Congress took the decision to bifurcate the state, based on the consent letters given by a few political parties. They have not taken the opinion of people and employees which is unacceptable.”
The organisers concluded the meeting by the 5 pm deadline stipulated by the AP High Court. Though it was supposed to be a meeting of employees, some political leaders and individuals also occupied the dais and gave speeches.
Constable beaten up
Describing Saturday’s APNGOs’ rally as an 'assault' on Hyderabad and the region, pro-Telangana parties said the “government sponsored” meet had divided the people of the two regions. They condemned the assault on constable Srinivas, who hails from Medak’s Dubbak mandal, by half-a-dozen colleagues and a private individual for raising the ‘Jai Telangana’ slogan at the APNGOs’ meeting, and the attacks on student leader Balraj Yadav and others at Nizam College. “How dare Seemandhra constables attack Srinivas, who is also a government employee?” TRS leader Etela Rajender asked. Both Srinivas and Balraj Yadav were admitted to a hospital.