Indefinite strike for separate Telangana begins

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.