Telangana statehood: Parties urge youths against suicide

The Telangana Joint Action Committee and the Telangana Rashtra Samiti organised a massive rally in Hyderabad making a fervent appeal to the people of the region not to resort to suicides. Mohammed Siddique reports

Despite the Telangana parties and organisations repeatedly appealing to supporters demanding a separate state not to take extreme steps, the region continues to witness suicides and attempts to commit suicide at an alarming pace.

After eight such incidents in less than a week, another Telangana supporter tried to kill himself in Nalgonda district on Friday. The Telangana activist in Kondrapol village in Damacharla mandal poured kerosene on his body and set himself ablaze. He was admitted to the area hospital in a critical condition. He left behind a note saying he was ending his life as he had lost hope that the government will form Telangana state.

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Another youth Anil Kumar had committed suicide on Thursday in Mahbubnagar town, while 23-year-old Yadgiri committed suicide in Medak district two days ago.

In the latest wave of suicides in support of Telangana state, which started on March 24 with an MBA student Bojja Nayak killing himself in Warangal, so far four persons have killed themselves and five others have been injured.

The wave of suicides has sparked off a debate with pro Telangana organisations blaming the incidents on the inaction of the central government to carve out a separate state. However, Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and some police officers have added fuel to the fire by saying that there could be other reasons behind the suicides.

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With suicides continuing, the Telangana Joint Action Committee and the Telangana Rashtra Samiti organised a massive rally in Hyderabad on Friday to make a fervent appeal to the people of the region not to resort to suicides.

The rally from Sundraiah Vignanan Kendra to Indira Park was led by TJAC convenor Prof Kodanda Ram and attended by thousands of people.

Kodanda Ram urged the youth and the students to refrain from suicide as it will not achieve Telangana. "We will achieve our goal only when we force the political leaders and the government in Hyderabad and Delhi," he said.

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The procession also witnessed some tense moments as the participants tried to damage the statue of the Telugu Desam founder N T Rama Rao. Telangana supporters were angry with the TDP for not taking a clear stand in support of Telangana state.

The police had a difficult time in saving the statue from the ire of the Telangana supporters.

The Bharatiya Janata party, which was also trying to wriggle its way to the center stage of the Telangana movement, has become active in the campaign against the suicides. State BJP President G Kishan Reddy sat on a day-long fast in Warangal, which has witnessed two incidents of suicides. He appealed to the people not to resort to the extreme steps but to strengthen the hands of the BJP to achieve Telangana state.