PIX: Telangana erupts in jubilation, remembers its martyrs

The announcement of creation of a separate state of Telangana was welcomed with jubilant celebration on Tuesday.

While political parties chose to burst firecrackers in jubilation, the Students Joint Action Committee that spearheaded the statehood movement paid a silent homage at the Martyrs Memorial in Hyderabad.

The mood among the people of Telangana is upbeat. They feel a great hurdle has been crossed. “It is only a matter of time before the state will be formed,” Student’s JAC leader, Dr Sangam Prithviraj told rediff.com.

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Over 1,000 students have sacrificed their lives since 1969 for the cause of Telangana. There have been many suicides in favour of forming a separate state, which indicated that it was an extremely emotive issue for the people of the region.

Students and activists, however, do not want to credit political parties for today’s decision. They maintain the Congress only handed over Telangana due to political compulsions. “They have not considered the sentiments of the people. If only they had handed over the state earlier, so many lives could have been saved,” the Students JAC pointed out.

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Students continue to blame political parties and say that they remained mum when lives were lost. They say political parties even kept silent when the people of Rayalseema were stealing water from their region. “These were the times they ought to have shown solidarity with the people. Today they rejoice because they feel that their political careers are safe,” say some students.

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The Students JAC has decided to visit all villages in the region and pay homage and thank the people for fighting for the cause of Telangana. We will celebrate with crackers and sweets later, but now it is time to remember our heroes and bring back their memories, and tell the people about the sacrifice they have made for the cause.

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