Stepping up his criticism of the State Government’s functioning style by calling it ‘undemocratic and anti-people attitude’, Telangana Joint Action Committee Chairman M. Kodandaram observed that these were the signs of the government getting weak and that iss why it is fearing the TJAC.
Speaking to mediapersons at his residence here on Sunday, following the police foiling the sixth-phase of his ‘Aamarula spoorthi yatra’, Mr. Kodandaram said the government attitude had strengthened his resolve to take out the yatra to create awareness among people.
Alleging that the State Government, particularly the police, was acting illegally, he noted that the arrest of the 400 TJAC leaders and activists including him in Warangal and Hyderabad on Saturday reflected the mindset of the rulers. He stated that he would meet the leaders of all opposition parties and explain the attitude of the Government. Besides, the TJAC would also complain against the State Government’s attitude to the Governor and the President.
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Highlighting the undemocratic attitude of the Government Mr. Kodandaram said that they had applied for permission to take out the yatra well in advance, about 10 days ago, but the police had denied it at the eleventh hour and resorted to arrests of the TJAC leaders on the night of October 13. He explained that congnizable sections, such as Section 151 of CrPC usually invoked against habitual offenders like dacoits, were slapped against them. Further, he alleged that the police had arrested the TJAC leader when they went to the police to enquire about the status of their application seeking permission for the yatra. After taking them into custody the police had enquired about their community (caste). He also criticised the arrest of Congress leader V. Hanumantha Rao who came to meet him, Mr. Kodandaram said.
Unfazed by the arrests, Mr. Kodandaram said the TJAC was resolved to take out the seventh-leg of ‘spoorthi yatra’ on October 21 and 22 in Nalgonda district and they had already applied for the permission. He justified the TJAC’s resolve to fight for the rights of people as they did it for statehood. He demanded that the Government fill two lakh vacancies to do justice to the unemployed youth.