Hyderabadis Lead Protests In Support Of CJP Stir, Some Flew To National Capital

Hyderabad:While the police used tear gas and batons against the Cockroach Janta Party’s march towards Parliament in Delhi on Monday, at least three separate solidarity protests took place in Hyderabad. Additionally, several people also flew from the city to join the mobilisation in the national capital.

“Many people there were not part of any organisation. I saw teachers, homemakers, older people, villagers and people from cities. Everyone had come with their own questions and reasons,” said Amit Bose, a Hyderabad-based teacher who took an early morning flight to Delhi to be a part of the protest.

Bose believed that 10 to 15 other passengers on his flight were also travelling for the protest. He said the crowd mainly spoke of political change and their dissatisfaction with the current government.

In Hyderabad protests began with an SFI hunger strike near Sundarayya Vignana Kendram. The organisation demanded the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan, the scrapping of the National Testing Agency and action over alleged examination paper leaks. CPM state secretary John Wesley and former MLA Julakanti Ranga Reddy inaugurated the protest.

Police later detained SFI state president S. Rajanikanth, secretary T. Nagaraju, vice-presidents M. Mamatha, D. Kiran and K. Ashok Reddy, and several other state leaders. They were taken to Musheerabad police station.

Representatives of the Telangana Agricultural Workers’ Union, KVPS and DYFI backed the SFI protesters, while TSUTF condemned the police action and later met the detained leaders at Musheerabad police station. Separately, the The Khairatabad DCC organised a candlelight rally from the Rajiv Gandhi statue opposite the Secretariat to the Ambedkar statue at Tank Bund, demanding Pradhan’s resignation and condemning the police action in Delhi. Minister Ponnam Prabhakar joined the protest.

At University of Hyderabad, student organisation ASA, BSF, DSU, SFI and TSF called a march from Velivada to the main gate in solidarity with the Parliament march and against the removal of activist Sonam Wangchuk from Jantar Mantar on the 20th day of his fast. These actions came a day after close to 500 students, parents, teachers and other citizens assembled at Dharna Chowk near Indira Park on July 19.

Meanwhile, thousands of protesters tried to march from Jantar Mantar towards Parliament despite police denying permission. Bose said officers blocked him soon after he arrived and told him to return when he said he had travelled from Hyderabad.

Police repeatedly chased people around Connaught Place and prevented groups from staying in one place, he said. Section 163 restrictions, blocked routes and poor phone connectivity left many confused. “I was also struck with a lathi. It was all so random,” he said.

“Not everything was peaceful and it was quite chaotic. The protest needed better coordination, but the trip was 100 per cent worth it. I heard people from across the country speak about what they wanted and how they saw their problems. It opened my mind,” Bose said. He also recalled a young man confronting an officer who was chasing a woman and asking him to hit him instead.

Bilal Quadri, who travelled from Hyderabad and worked closely with CJP representatives, said several people from Telangana, including SaveKBR activists, had been in Delhi since July 19. Quadri was admitted to hospital with a mild concussion after the lathi-charge but said he was doing well later.

“Jantar Mantar has been vacated and everyone is scattered. Calls and messages are not going through, so we do not know how many people are injured, missing or detained, or where they have been taken. We are trying to arrange medical and legal help through social media and different contact numbers,” he said.

Quadri said the group was speaking with Yogendra Yadav and Harsh Mander to assist detained students. Medical assistance had been difficult to coordinate because people were dispersed across different locations, he added.