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Dharna Chowk shift plan draws Oppn ire
An all-party delegation led by Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee President N Uttam Kumar Reddy called on Governor E S L Narasimhan at Raj Bhavan on Thursday, seeking his intervention to prevent the government from shifting the Dharna Chowk from Indira Park to the city\'s outskirts.
Hyderabad: An all-party delegation led by Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee President N Uttam Kumar Reddy called on Governor E S L Narasimhan at Raj Bhavan on Thursday, seeking his intervention to prevent the government from shifting the Dharna Chowk from Indira Park to the city's outskirts.
The delegation, comprising TDP Telangana unit president L Ramana, Telangana BJP President K Lakshman, CPI (M) State Secretary Chada Venkat Reddy, TDP MLA R Krishnaiah, MRPS President Manda Krishna Madiga and representatives of 15 organisations, told the Governor that the "Dharna Chowk has been in existence for over two decades. Many groups used this space to articulate their concerns and vent their anger against the government of the day.”
They said all over the world democratic governments have been offering places in the heart of the cities to express dissent. In Delhi Jantar-Mantar has long remained the epicentre for any peaceful expression of dissent in the form of sit-ins, rallies, public meetings, relay hunger strikes, etc. Jantar-Mantar has been a witness to historic movements.
The opposition leaders pointed out that Telangana had achieved statehood after struggle for 60 years. The people had vented anger against bias, inequality and despair through several agitations like Sagara Haram, Sakala Janula Samme, Millennium March, etc. Now, the State government has deliberately, and with every intention to stifle the dissent by shifting Dharna Chowk from Indira Park.
Later talking to the media, the TPCC president said the Article 19 of the Constitution of India guarantees fundamental rights of the citizen in this country to freely express their views and 19 (1)(b) clearly bestows the fundamental right to assemble to every citizen of this country and to peacefully exhibit his/her protest and dissent.
"The recent attempt by the State government to obstruct and deliberately not to give any form of permission to organise a peaceful agitation is a violation of the very fundamentals of democracy, right to expression and freedom of speech and assembly, Not allowing any protest to take place in the heart of the city which has seen several protests by the ruling party itself during the Telangana agitation smacks of hypocrisy," he said.
