Violence on Osmania campus over Telangana

Violence again broke out on Osmania University campus on Monday, the second time since Sunday evening, with pro-Telangana students taking to the streets. Protesting the police firing and the baton charge on them on Sunday night, the students took out a rally and threw stones at policemen and paramilitary personnel deployed on the campus.

The police hit back with batons once more. Eyewitnesses said some policemen were injured in stone pelting while a few students and media persons sustained injuries when police used force. The fresh violence broke out a few hours after large-scale violence on the campus on Sunday evening. More than 30 students and six media persons were injured when police fired rubber bullets and used batons and teargas shells. The trouble had started when students tried to take out a procession hailing 15 Telangana legislators who resigned to protest terms of reference of Srikrishna panel looking into the statehood.

Caught in the see-saw battles was the media. The Grey Hounds personnel, trained in jungle warfare to fight the Maoists, drafted for duty on the campus put to use the counterinsurgency tactic of making other uninvolved persons as shields. As stone-hurling intensified, the policemen in battle fatigues caught hold of a vernacular TV reporter who was going on a motorcycle and threatened the agitators that they would beat him up if stone pelting was not stopped.

State government and human rights commission have ordered separate probes into the incidents. Home minister P Sabita Indra Reddy told reporters on Monday that action would be taken against policemen if they were found guilty of using excessive force.

Meanwhile, the resignations of 12 of the 15 MLAs, who had quit on the Telangana issue, has been accepted by Andhra Pradesh Assembly Speaker N Kiran Kumar Reddy. While resignation of 11 MLAs was accepted by the Speaker on Monday, a TDP MLA's letter to step down was accepted last night. Fifteen MLAs from Telangana region submitted their resignation to the Speaker protesting the terms of reference of the Sri Krishna committee appointed by the Centre to go into the statehood issue. The resignations of two Congress and one PRP MLAs are yet to be disposed of by the Speaker.

The move follows the renewed call of the all-party Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC) to legislators from the region to submit their resignation en masse, rejecting the Terms of reference.

Members belonging to the ruling Congress and Telugu Desam Party tried to disrupt the customary address by the Governor to the joint session of the Andhra Pradesh Legislature on Monday by raising slogans for and against the bifurcation of the State. As soon as Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan began his address, Congress members from Telangana rose to their feet holding placards with the slogan 'We want a separate Telangana State'.

They also raised “Jai Telangana” slogans even as some MLAs belonging to the TDP raised slogans in support of a united Andhra Pradesh. The din lasted less than a minute as other members prevailed upon their colleagues to resume their seats even as the Governor read out his address.

- Asian Tribune -