Hyderabad: Telangana supporters including
Andhra Pradesh government employees in the region today began
an indefinite strike in support of the separate statehood,
with rallies, road blockades and sit-ins organised to press
for their demands.
As part of the `strike by all sections of people`, the
pro-Telangana employees stayed away from work in Hyderabad and
other places in the region.
Raising slogans in support of Telangana, they held
sit-ins and other forms of protest.
"The employees will not cooperate with the government.
The state ministers from Telangana region should also
participate in the strike by the people," K Vithal, a leader
of Telangana employees union, told reporters.
Other Telangana supporters like students and lawyers also
took out rallies at various places like Warangal.
The workers of the state-run coal miner Singareni
Collieries Ltd also struck in various districts like Khammam,
Adilabad and elsewhere.
TRS leaders organised road blockades across the region
as part of the `people`s strike`.
Addressing a public meeting at Karimnagar last night,
TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao appealed to the public to
actively participate in the indefinite strike.
The non-gazetted officers, gazetted officers, students,
teachers, lecturers, advocates and others would participate in
the strike, he said.
As part of the agitation, buses will not ply, trains
will be stopped, coal will not be produced in Singareni,
schools, colleges and offices will remain closed, the TRS
president said.
The state government is threatening to invoke ESMA
against the employees who go on strike, but the warning will
not succeed, Rao maintained.
The agitation will go on till Telangana state is
achieved, Rao said.
PTI
