Tension at student's funeral in AP

Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) workers on Sunday targeted the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Congress leader’s homes and business offices in Warangal during the funeral of Lunavath Bhojya Naik, an MBA student of Kakatiya University who immolated himself to protest against the delay in carving out Telangana state.

The 21-year-old student set himself ablaze shouting Jai Telangana’ slogans in front of the Kakatiya University Arts College here on Saturday afternoon and succumbed to burns. A few hours later, Naik’s death triggered a chain reaction in the dormant Telangana agitation after a gap of nearly   six months .

Naik’s body draped in Telangana flag was taken out in a procession from MGM hospital to the Martyrs column.They later moved to his native village for funeral.

Telangana supporters attacked the houses of TDP leader E Dayakar Rao and IT Minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah.

Police baton charged mobs that attacked the office of the Warangal District Congress Committee, and beat up youth raising Telangana slogan. The agitators blamed the Congress and the TDP for delaying in the formation of Telangana. Some youth attacked TDP MP G Sudha Rani’s hotel and also the house of Congress chief whip G Venkatarama Reddy.

They also garlanded the statue of Rajiv Gandhi with chappals. The funeral procession was attended by a large number of  Telangana agitators including  TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao, BJP president  G Kishan Reddy and Telangana JAC chairman Prof  K Kodandaram Reddy. “This should be the last suicide for Telangana; I will go to Delhi tomorrow (Monday) and stall the  proceedings of Parliament”, he said .

After setting himself on fire, Naik ran on the main road. Shocked students and passers-by tried in vain to douse the flames. But the tribal students kept avoiding them from helping the boy as flames engulfed him completely. When the police arrived they found him  shouting slogans  of ‘Jai Telangana’ before falling down on the ground. Naik was rushed to the MGM Hospital where the doctors said he sustained ninety per cent burns. The scene at the hospital was heartrending  with Naik’s aged mother wailing and pleading for her son’s life.

Naik hailed from Eerla hamlet of Aswaraopalli in Raghunadhapalli mandal of Warangal district. He had been active in T-movement and campaigned for TRS candidate T Rajaiah in Station Ghanpur constituency in the recently held bypoll. His father, Nama Naik says that his son had been  confident of getting a good job once Telangana state was formed.

In his dying declaration to mandal revenue officer, Naik said that he set himself on fire because formation of a separate Telangana state was becoming a mockery and was delayed due to the leaders of Congress and TDP.