Crackdown on SCS protesters across AP

​Visakhapatnam: Republic Day celebrated on every January 26 in commemoration of the birth of Indian Constitution across the country saw a wave of crowds defying the blanket ban of the gun-toting police to exercise their right to freedom of expression over special category status (SCS) across the state this time with the port city as a pivot on Thursday.

The city, which would have been otherwise poised to join the R-Day celebrations with all the pomp and gaiety, reeled under a shadow of armed police.

The day began with a surge people, mostly students and youths, streaming in from far-flung areas like Nellore, by all modes of transport to demonstrate their ability to let the ‘nethas’ away in Delhi hear their voice which was to be clear and loud.

The sprawling beach was however overtaken by the overzealous cops, sealing all roads much before the start of the event and people trying to reach the beach were whisked away.

Consequently, the RK beach, which throbs with the hustle and the bustle visitors on holidays, presented a deserted picture.

Ironically, a small group of youths made a vain bid to hoist the national flag in a corner of the beach before trooped into police vans. The hyperactive police used drones to scan the beach tracking the movements of protesters.

A posse of 3,000 armed men took positions along the beach with all readiness for a swoop on strangers. Meanwhile, the blanket ban in the beach triggered vociferous protests from morning walkers and fisher folks venturing into the sea for their daily catch.

Hundreds of walkers take morning strolls in the beach which could not happen on Thursday because of prohibitory orders.

The city continued to be a witness to a high-level political drama, protest demonstrations and of course a slanging match between the opposition and the ruling camps over the contentious issue of special category status.

The drama was spiced up with a sit-in by the Leader of Opposition YS Jaganmohan Reddy at the Visakhapatnam airport as he was disallowed to lead a candle light march on the beach in the evening.

He was sent back from the same flight in which he was flown in from Hyderabad by the police. Soon after, Chief Minister N Chadrababu Naidu arrived to the city to attend the partnership summit scheduled from Friday.

Meanwhile, the beach in Nellore district also became a forum for protests. The demonstrators courted arrest in Vijayawada, Tirupati and the other areas across the state.

Jana Sena Party chief Pawan Kalyan kept extending all the backing with his tweets from Hyderabad to the protest.

In the process, a section of ministers in the TDP government accused him of sailing with Jagan to damage the prospects of industrial growth in the state by inciting youth on the sensitive SCS.

Pawan in a tweet took strong exception over the alleged remarks of union science and technology minister Y Srujana Chowdary depicting the protesters agitating for special category status as pigs.

“The leaders will pay a heavy price if degrade the common people seeking their due from the government,” he said.