Hyderabad, Sept 17 :
Opposition Leader and Telugu Desam Party supreme, Mr N Chandrababu Naidu, on Thursday hoisted the tri-colour at NTR Trust Bhavan to mark the Telangana Liberation Day.
Talking to media persons after hoisting the flag, the former Chief Minister recalled the sacrifices of the people, who laid down their lives for the cause of Telangana statehood movement.
It was on this day that then Hyderabad state acceded to the Indian Union as the last Nizam or ruler of the princely state surrendered before the Indian Army. The princely state comprising Telangana region and parts of Karnataka and Maharashtra attained freedom 13 months and two days after India got independence on August 15, 1947.
Tension prevailed at the state secretariat as activists of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) staged a sit-in demanding that the government officially celebrate the liberation day. The ABVP protesters tried to barge into the secretariat as police used mild force and arrested them.
Reiterating its demand that the state government officially celebrate the Hyderabad Liberation Day, the Bharatiya Janata Party pointed out that Karnataka and Maharashtra were officially celebrating this day every year. BJP state president Bandaru Dattatreya alleged that the successive governments neglected the demand of official celebrations for their narrow political interests.He was speaking after garlanding the statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
He said had Patel not ordered ‘police action’ against Nizam, Hyderabad state would have turned into another Kashmir. The Lok Satta party chief Jaiprakash Narayan also demanded that the government officially celebrate the Telangana Liberation Day. On the occasion, Praja Rajyam chief K Chiranjeevi felicitated freedom fighters. Film actress-turned-politician Vijayshanti paid tributes to freedom fighters in Warangal and Nalgonda districts. Talli Telangana party president called upon pro-Telangana forces to unite to achieve a separate state.