Shutdown disrupts normal life in Telangana

HYDERABAD - Normal life remained disrupted in the Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh on the second day of a 48-hour shutdown called by Telangana groups to demand the introduction of a bill in Parliament for the creation of a separate state.

Schools, colleges, shops and commercial establishments remained closed and public transport largely remained off the roads.

State government employees in Telangana region have already launched a non-cooperation agitation in support of their demand for separate statehood.

The Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC) comprising the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and other pro-Telangana groups, has called for the strike.

Telangana leaders of the ruling Congress party and the main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) are also backing the shutdown.

A K Khan, Commissioner of Police of Hyderabad has said that the city police are on high alert so that people can go out safely to work.

“Whatever information we have regarding the shutdown we have made arrangements that normal life should not be disrupted. People can move wherever they prefer to and violence should not take place,” said Khan.

Several protests and shutdowns had brought Andhra Pradesh to a near halt last year as pro-Telangana activists pressed their demand for the separate state.

Earlier, the central government appointed a judicial commission headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice Srikrishna in March last year to look into issue of the separate statehood after series of huge demonstrations and suicides.

The report, submitted to Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram in December last year has suggested at least six options including maintaining status quo in the state or bifurcating the state. (ANI)