The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : JAC protest blocks traffic in Telangana

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Tuesday, Jan 18, 2011
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

JAC protest blocks traffic in Telangana

Staff Reporter

Demand for introduction of bill in Parliament for statehood to the region

PHOTOs: G.N. Rao and Thakur Ajay Pal Singh

Different strokes:A girl dancing on the road near Munneru bridge on the outskirts of Khammam on Monday. (Right) TRS activists staging a massive ‘rasta roko' on the outskirts of Karimnagar. —

HYDERABAD: Vehicular traffic on all major roads interspersing through the Telangana region came to a grinding halt for most of the day on Monday as Telangana Joint Action Committee (TJAC) staged ‘rasta roko' at several places demanding introduction of bill in Parliament for statehood to the region.

The blockade hit the flow of traffic to Hyderabad and other major towns in the region from Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions. However, the return journey of people who visited their native places in ‘Seemandhra' for Sankranti was not affected as most of the buses and trains reached their destinations before the commencement of the protest. Aware of the problems in taking up journey on Monday, most people had cancelled their plans. But, those for whom the travel was inevitable suffered badly as buses and private vehicles were stopped by TJAC activists at several places across the region.

Trains detained

Except for a couple of incidents of stone throwing on buses, the protest passed off peacefully. At Sankepalli in Karimnagar district, several protestors suffered injuries as an RTC bus ran into the crowd. Protestors broke the windshields of another bus at Armoor in Nizamabad.

Two trains were detained for some time at Adilabad (Nandigram Express) and Kolanur in Karimangar (Inter-City Express) by TJAC activists by squatting on railway tracks. Convenor of TJAC M. Kodandaram stated that they would intensify the stir if the Centre failed to take a decision on introducing bill for Telangana in Parliament soon. Several TRS and BJP leaders alleged that that the Centre was trying to deceive people of Telangana again in the guise of Srikrishna Committee Report. People of the region would not be pacified with anything short of a bill for separate statehood. The police arrested TJAC, TRS and BJP leaders and activists at several places for blocking the traffic and released them later.

Community lunches were organised and kabaddi and cricket were played at several places. Activists also sang ‘Batukamma' and Telangana songs on the roads and decorated them with ‘rangoli'.

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