Charges against Telangana protesters dropped

HYDERABAD: Succumbing to pressure from Telangana leaders, the Andhra Pradesh government on Tuesday decided to withdraw all cases against those who took part in the campaign for a separate statehood.

The decision has also helped the Congress-led government to reach at a consensus with its own MPs from Telangana who were on indefinite hunger strike demanding the same. Subsequently, the 11 MPs have called off the fast.

“A total of 1,667 cases were registered against 8,047 people, of which most are students. We have withdrawn the cases taking into count the demand from all parties in the Assembly,” said state Home Minister Sabita Indra Reddy.

Earlier this month, the government had withdrawn 562 cases against 2,436 people who participated in the protests for Telangana. It had also decided to lift another 132 cases on Monday when Telangana Congress leaders went on an indefinite hunger strike.

The home minister also met the fasting MPs and handed them over the letter withdrawing all cases. The government will also initiate the process to inform the court on withdrawal of cases.

The cases were registered during the Telangana protests in the state during November 2009 and September 2010.

In fact, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram had assured on December 9 last year that measures would be taken to withdraw cases against the students and other agitators. But, the state police refused to withdraw cases, as it would set a wrong precedent in other regions of the state.

The government's stand gains significance considering that the Srikrishna Committee set up to look into the Telangana demand is expected to submit its report to the Union government this month-end.

“Now, the credit for lifting the cases will go to Congress part as the government took this decision after its own party leaders went on strike. This is also a blow to Telangana Rashtra Samithi, which wanted to champion the cause of separate statehood,'' said a political analyst.

Earlier in the day, Telangana Rashtra Samithi chief K Chandrasekhar Rao had visited the fasting MPs offering his support to them.