Online BusinessStudents to block national highway on January 5
Students of the joint action committee (JAC) at Osmania University, the nerve centre of pro-Telangana protests, on Sunday said they would block all the entry points to Hyderabad, including national highways, in a bid to prevent leaders of Seemandhra (Rayalseema and Andhra) from entering the state capital on January 5.
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“We will block all the roads and stage rail rokkos on Tuesday like what the Gujjar community did in Rajasthan. We will not even allow those who go to Andhra for the Sankranti festival, to return to Hyderabad,” JAC leaders said at the Vidyarthi Garjana (students" roar) held at the OU campus.
They said the Telugu Desam Party supremo, N Chandrababu Naidu, should announce his stance on the separate Telangana issue and threatened to demolish offices of all the anti-Telangana parties if they remained silent on the issue. “No anti-Telangana activist will be allowed to stay in Hyderabad,” they said
The JAC leaders said students would not appear for examinations until a separate state was announced and demanded a Telangana Bill be tabled in Parliament.
“The meeting convened by the Centre on January 5 should to be held at the Osmania University campus ... and not in New Delhi,” they said. Union home minister P Chidambaram on December 30 had invited leaders of eight recognised political parties for a discussion on the issue.
Earlier in the day, the police prevented hundreds of students from proceeding towards Hyderabad from various parts of the Telangana region to attend the meeting at the university campus.
The Andhra Pradesh High Court had on Saturday permitted the varsity’s JAC to organise the meeting on condition that no political leader would attend it.
The JAC leaders, however, alleged that the police violated the court order by arresting students and using “repressive measures” to foil their meeting.