The city police have denied permission to a programme proposed by the Telangana Joint Action Committee (T-JAC), CPI, CPI-ML (New Democracy) and other peoples’ organisations, on Tank Bund on Saturday evening.
Emulating history?
The programme, ‘Aata, Paata, Maata’ coincides with the historic Million March, the fight for the formation of separate Telangana State.
Tank Bund will be closed for regular traffic. Parks under Buddha Purnima Project, HMDA, including Lumbini Park, NTR Garden, Lake View Park and Sanjeevaiah Park will remain closed on March 10 between 10 am and 5 pm on account of Million March, a press release informed.
Posse of policemen were deployed outside the residence of T-JAC chairman M. Kodandaram, Revolutionary Writers Association chief Varavara Rao and other leaders. Mr. Kodandaram told The Hindu that they will not withdraw the call for the march, even if the police arrests them.
“The State government is trying to curb the democratic right of people to recollect a historical event,” he said.
Several policemen were also deployed at Tank Bund from Friday evening to curb the entry of protesters inside the city to take part in the programme.
When contacted, Deputy Commissioner of Police (central zone), D. Joel Davis said that permission for the programme was denied as organisers had mentioned in the application that the proposed event was inspired by the Million March.
Caution employed
“In the past, during the Million March agitational programme, vandalism, arson and violence took place in several parts of the city, which had led to destruction of public and private property, besides causing injuries to police personnel on duty,” he said.
‘Causing inconvenience’
The programme in the past also caused severe inconvenience to the general public and several criminal cases were also registered.
“Considering all the factors, it is not feasible to grant permission for the programme,” he said.
Mr. Joel said that ongoing intermediate and Class X examinations are also one of the reasons for denying the permission.
“Gathering of large crowd will not only cause traffic congestion, but also pose hardship for the students appearing for intermediate and Class X examination,” he said.
He added that the organisers did not mention the number of participants they were trying to mobilise and that clearly shows that they have an ulterior plan to gather crowd from across the State to bring life in the city to a standstill.
