Prof Kodandaram and TJAC leaders arrested, Tank Bund shut down

Key leaders of Telangana Joint Action Committee (TJAC), including its chairman Prof M Kodandaram, were arrested on Saturday and security was beefed up at vantage points across the city to prevent the gathering of people for the "Spirit of Million March".
 
The city police had refused permission for the event, which was meant to commemorate the historic 'Million March' of 2011 on the Tank Bund at the height of the Telangana statehood movement.
 
The city of Hyderabad turned into a virtual fortress with the deployment of a large posse of the police force to thwart the rally. Barricades were erected on either side of the Tank Bund and traffic between Hyderabad and Secunderabad has been diverted.
 
On this day seven years ago, pro-Telangana activists from all walks of life, under the umbrella of TJAC, had participated in the "Million March" which was seen as a milestone in the statehood agitation. The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), now in power in the new state, was part of the rally. However, in the changed political dynamics, TRS founder president and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao finds himself at loggerheads with the TJAC leaders.
 
A new party on the anvil
TJAC chief Kodandaram, a retired professor of political science from Osmania University and a widely respected Telangana ideologue, is gearing up to float a political party to take on the TRS. The TRS government is facing flak for its crackdown on TJAC activists and denying permission for the "Spirit of Million March", which is being supported by Left parties and various social organisations.
 
A large number of policemen were deployed outside Kodandaram's residence in Tarnaka area. He was taken into custody when he stepped out to proceed towards Tank Bund. Hundreds of activists were detained across the city.
 
"The state government should realise that it cannot suppress the aspirations of Telangana citizens through arrests and illegal detentions," Kodandaram said before he was arrested. "On one hand, Chief Minister wants to stage a dharna in Delhi for upholding federal spirit and democracy but he unleashes repression on the people of his own state here and imposes curbs on their democratic rights to protest. Is this not hypocrisy?" Kodandaram questioned.