Man's suicide over Telangana ignites fresh protests in state

Lily

B.R
Staff member
Hyderabad: The desperate action of a young man killing himself for the sake of a separate state has inflamed passions in Telangana.

The suicide by 23-year-old M. Aadi Reddy near parliament in New Delhi in protest against delaying by the central government, and the alleged disrespect shown for his death by officials of Andhra Pradesh Bhavan has left the people of the region infuriated.

As Aadi Reddy's body was flown to Hyderabad after a day of drama at the AP Bhavan, the Telangana Joint Action Committee called for a Telangana strike today.

TJAC convenor Prof Kodanda Ram said the strike was also being called in protest against the state government's threat to use the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) against the striking government employees of Telangana.

The alleged direction of the Resident Commissioner of AP Bhavan in New Delhi to the police authorities to take the dead body straight to the crematorium sparked off major trouble in the national capital as well as in Hyderabad.

An enraged Telangana Rashtra Samiti MLA T. Harish Rao repeatedly slapped the officer on special duty, Chandra Rao, in AP Bhavan in protest against the letter written by the resident commissioner that the dead body should not be allowed to remain at AP Bhavan as it was likely to spark trouble.

Heated argument

Several other Telangana leaders including TRS MLAs K. T. Rama Rao, E Rajinder and BJP MLA Lakshmi Narayana also had a heated argument with the resident commissioner demanding to know the reason for sending the body directly to the crematorium.

"How can you do that when you know that the family of Aadi Reddy is waiting for his body in Hyderabad," asked Rama Rao.

Later as the AP Bhavan's employees sat outside the building demanding an apology from Harish Rao, all the Telangana leaders including several Congress MPs also sat in protest against the attitude of the AP Bhavan officials.

"They have shown disrespect to a martyr. I don't know whether I should condemn this or cry over this," said senior Congress MP K. Keshav Rao.

Later the body was taken to the airport to be flown to Hyderabad.

Aadi Reddy, a resident of Moinabad Mandal in Chevella Lok Sabha constituency in Hyderabad was found hanging on one of the trees in Shastri Bhavan near parliament house yesterday. Police said they found a suicide note with him in which he said that he was committing suicide because of the delay in the formation of Telangana state.
 
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