Protests erupt in Hyderabad; TRS rejects report

Widespread protests have broken out in Hyderabad and the rest of Andhra Pradesh following the report of the Srikrishna Commission report being made public.

The protests at the Osmania University, which has been the nerve centre of the movement, have intensified and two buses have been burnt down despite heavy police presence. Protests were also witnessed at the Dharna Chowk locality in Hyderabad. 

Political activity too is hectic in the state and the Joint Action Committee on Telangana is all set to meet at the Indra Park in a while.

K Chandrashekhar Rao, the supreme of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti, will meet JAC members and chalk out the future course of action.

Rejecting the report, TRS general secretary Subhash Reddy said the options outlined in the report cannot be implemented.

The only option is formation of a separate state and they are not prepared to look beyond that, he said.

"There is a lot of contradiction and a portion of the report, which suggests that a Greater Hyderabad should be formed is not something that the people have discussed or even asked for," he said, adding, "I do not know how that has made it to the report. The TRS will study the report in the next two days and will take a final decision on how to carry the protest forward."

All parties and organizations, which have been fighting for a separate state, have rejected the report outright. They say they have been cheated and that this was not the solution.

Refusing to be drawn into the controversy, Srikrishna Commission member V Duggal, when contacted, said: "It (the report) is out in the public. It is up to the government to act on it. Our responsibility was to submit the report and we have done that."

The Students' JAC has upped the ante against the report. Some students, headed by their leader Dr Prithviraj, are protesting against the report in front of Parliament.

He told rediff.com that the report has been rejected and they will boycott all its recommendations. There is only one option available and that is to form a separate state.