BJP activists wanted to hoist the flag to mark 'Telangana Liberation Day'
Hyderabad:
It seemed to be a scene from a bygone era. Activists, holding the national flag and carrying photographs of freedom fighter Sardar Vallabhai Patel, wanted to march ahead, but the police refused to let them do so.
The police were trying to prevent the activists, all BJP members, from hoisting the national flag at Hyderabad's Golconda Fort.
The BJP activists were led by the party's state unit president Kishan Reddy, Secunderabad Member of Parliament Bandaru Dattatreya, Indrasena Reddy and N Janardhan Reddy.
When denied permission to do so, they staged a sit-in blockade on the road. The slogan-shouting BJP workers were then forcibly removed and later arrested.
The party wanted to hoist the flag to mark 'Telangana Liberation Day'; it has also demanded that the state government should officially celebrate the day.
Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao has said that his party will observe the day as always, but "no government so far has celebrated the day and we won't either''.
The day marks the merger of Hyderabad State, then under the rule of the Nizam, with the Union of India on September 17, 1948, 13 months after Independence. The Nizam did so only after a revolt by the Razakars (rebel fighters) and the intervention of Sardar Vallabhai Patel, India's first Home Minister.
BJP leader Janardhan Reddy pointed out that in 2010, when Congress was ruling the state, KCR had made a similar demand.
The party's "relationship" with the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) has made it change its stance, claims Kishan Reddy, the president of the party's Telangana unit.
"This is a let-down for the people of the state, who had hoped that with a new Telangana government, things would change," said Mr Reddy.
Police officials claimed that the BJP workers were stopped as they did not have the permission to hoist the national flag at Golconda Fort.
Hitting back at the BJP's charges, MIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said, "Some people are trying to accord unnecessary importance to September 17, adding a communal colour to the day".
The police were trying to prevent the activists, all BJP members, from hoisting the national flag at Hyderabad's Golconda Fort.
The BJP activists were led by the party's state unit president Kishan Reddy, Secunderabad Member of Parliament Bandaru Dattatreya, Indrasena Reddy and N Janardhan Reddy.
When denied permission to do so, they staged a sit-in blockade on the road. The slogan-shouting BJP workers were then forcibly removed and later arrested.
The party wanted to hoist the flag to mark 'Telangana Liberation Day'; it has also demanded that the state government should officially celebrate the day.
Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao has said that his party will observe the day as always, but "no government so far has celebrated the day and we won't either''.
The day marks the merger of Hyderabad State, then under the rule of the Nizam, with the Union of India on September 17, 1948, 13 months after Independence. The Nizam did so only after a revolt by the Razakars (rebel fighters) and the intervention of Sardar Vallabhai Patel, India's first Home Minister.
BJP leader Janardhan Reddy pointed out that in 2010, when Congress was ruling the state, KCR had made a similar demand.
The party's "relationship" with the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) has made it change its stance, claims Kishan Reddy, the president of the party's Telangana unit.
"This is a let-down for the people of the state, who had hoped that with a new Telangana government, things would change," said Mr Reddy.
Police officials claimed that the BJP workers were stopped as they did not have the permission to hoist the national flag at Golconda Fort.
Hitting back at the BJP's charges, MIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said, "Some people are trying to accord unnecessary importance to September 17, adding a communal colour to the day".
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