Withdraw cases against students: Telangana Congress leaders

Hydearbad,Sep 12 : Congress leaders from Telangana Sunday set Oct 2 as the deadline before the Andhra Pradesh government to withdraw police cases against students and youth who participated in the Telangana movement.The ruling party's MPs, legislators and other leaders met here to chalk out their future course of action. Senior leader K. Keshava Rao presided over the meet. Some of the participants suggested that a call for boycott of Andhra Pradesh formation day (Nov 1) should be given if the cases were not taken back. They said no action had been taken despite an announcement by union Home Minister P. Chidambaram in December last year. The students and youth were booked for participating in violent protests for separate statehood to Telangana last year. The leaders would meet again if the cases were not withdrawn by Oct 2. The elected representatives from the region also decided to donate a month's salary for the assistance of those who committed suicide for separate Telangana state since November last year. "A committee will be formed to provide the financial assistance to the families of the martyrs," MP K. Rajagopal Reddy told reporters after the meeting. The leaders will also collect donations from the rich for the assistance to such families. Legislator K. Lakshma Reddy announced Rs.1 million. The meeting also passed a resolution, urging the leadership to constitute a separate party unit for Telangana. The leaders vowed to continue their efforts to achieve a separate Telangana. They also demanded that Group I exam of Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission, which was held last week despite protests in Telangana, should be scrapped. In another resolution, the leaders asked the government to officially celebrate Telangana liberation day Sep 17. It was on Sep 17, 1948 that then Hyderabad State was merged with the Indian Union. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) and other pro-Telangana groups have been demanding the government to officially celebrate the day. The government has already turned down the demand.
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