Proceedings in the Telangana Assembly on Wednesday were marked by noisy scenes and protest by BJP members over denial of permission to speak on the Telangana martyrs issue.
G. Kishan Reddy, along with N.V.S Prabhakar, Raja Singh and Chintala Ramachandra Reddy, squatted in the well of the House to register their protest against Speaker S. Madhusudhan Chary’s refusal of permission to speak on the matter.
For nearly half an hour, Mr. Kishan Reddy refused to budge though the Speaker gave him a mike to speak. Appeals by Legislative Affairs Minister T. Harish Rao to relent proved futile. The Speaker then announced a tea break for ten minutes. When the House reassembled at noon, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao appealed to Mr. Kishan Reddy to call off his protest. He acknowledged the role of BJP in the creation of Telangana. The BJP members gave in when Ministers Harish Rao and Eatala Rajender led them to their chair.
The problem arose during zero hour when Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka (Congress) talked about the Telangana martyrs, on which a lengthy discussion took place during the question hour. Mr. Kishan Reddy also wanted to express his views but was not allowed by the chair.
Earlier, Mr. Harish Rao said the government had allotted Rs. 100 crore in the budget to provide assistance to the bereaved families of the persons who sacrificed their lives for Telangana. A list of 459 martyrs was prepared. But District Collectors were asked to review the list and send more names.
Mr. Harish Rao further stated that 369 martyrs of the 1969 Telangana movement would also be extended help. Every year on the Telangana Formation Day on June 2, the District Collectors and SPs would salute the martyrs memorial before doing other activities. About 500 artists who contributed to the Telangana cause would be provided jobs. So far, the government has withdrawn 1,000 cases booked against students and youth during the agitation. The Centre would be approached to withdraw cases booked by the Railways.
“Don’t politicise the issue,” Mr. Harish Rao told Telugu Desam member E. Dayakara Rao, who derided the TRS for giving a losing seat to the martyr Srikant Chary’s mother, Shankaramma, from Huzurnagar.
Deputy Chief Minister Mohammed Mehmood Ali said there was no proposal to treat the Telangana martyrs as freedom fighters. He said the government was offering monetary assistance of Rs. 10 lakh to each bereaved family besides a government job and cultivable land in case the family was in farming, housing, free health and education facilities.
Mr. Dayakara Rao wanted the Telangana martyrs to be treated as freedom fighters and their families to be given pension and travelling facilities. Rasamayi Balakrishna (TRS) paid homage to the Telangana martyrs through a song.
