PM's assurance falls on deaf ears, Telangana stir intensifies

Unwilling to accept Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's assurances, activists battling for a separate Telangana state have intensified their protests.

On Tuesday, not a single bus was allowed to enter the Telangana region. Members of the Joint Action Committee for Telangana say that the protests are being conducted by people of the region themselves and without the committee's consent. However, the JAC has no complaints and says that this is how they wanted the movement to be.

Kodanda Ram, the JAC chief, told rediff.com that the fight for Telangana will continue despite assurances from the Prime Minister.

"We have more agitations planned along the way and trust us we will not stop on the basis of an assurance alone," he said.

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With either side (activists and the government) not showing any signs of understanding, more chaos is expected in the region between October 9 and 11 when activists would stage yet another rail roko (blockade). This time around they have warned that they would not restrict themselves to just blocking trains, but would go ahead and destroy railway tracks as well.

While the Telangana activists continue to go on a rampage, the government is trying various things to break the movement.

The government's latest offer was made to the striking employees of the Singareni Coaleries. The government, which is under pressure as the state is reeling under a power crisis due to shortage of coal from Singareni, offered the employees Rs 5000 per day if they returned to work.

However, this offer has not yet been considered by anyone and all employees have resolved that they would continue to be on strike until their demand for statehood is met.

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Across villages in the Telangana region, government offices continue to remain shut. Even employees from the Excise and Forest department have been taking out marches across the region in their uniform demanding a separate state.

On Tuesday, 20 buses were damaged in Vijayawada, which forced operators to call off all services into the Telangana region.

The worst of the protests were witnessed at Warangal where protestors have been on the streets damaging buses.

The police, in fact, have advised that all services into Telangana be called off since they are finding it difficult to provide security to all buses.

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