Telangana comes to standstill for mass singing of national anthem

Telangana came to a standstill for a minute on Tuesday for mass singing of the national anthem as part of the celebration of 75 years of independence.

Traffic was stopped at important places all over the State at 11.30 am and the singing of 'Jana Gana Mana' took place, official sources said.

The singing took place at government offices, educational institutions, and others.

Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, his cabinet colleagues, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen president Asaduddin Owaisi and other leaders attended the event in Hyderabad.

Thousands of people joined in in the recital.

The venue reverberated with the slogan of 'Bolo Swatantra Bharat Ki Jai'.

The chief minister raised hand with folded fist and chanted the slogan.

Rao paid floral tributes to a statue of the country's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in Hyderabad before singing the anthem.

Citing information available till evening, police sources said the mass singing took place at more than 11,000 places, in which over 28 lakh people participated.

The recital was taken up also in all the jails with the participation of the inmates and the staff.

"It was a grand success. Whatever way it was visualised, it did happen on the ground," a senior police official said.

All trains of Hyderabad Metro Rail stopped for 58 seconds at 11.30 am on all three corridors and the anthem was sung in trains and at stations with passengers and Metro staff standing in attention in unison to celebrate, a Metro rail release said.

TV channels showed farm workers singing at a village, while those present at a wedding in Nizamabad district also rose up on their feet to recite.

The State government has been organising the celebration for a fortnight since August 8.