JAI TELANGANA JAI JAI TELANGANA
NA TELANGANA KOTI RATANALA VEENA

Hyderabad: Osmania University here was tense Saturday as yet another student committed suicide in the campus demanding formation of a separate Telangana state, and hundreds of students joined in the funeral procession.

The procession was joined by Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao, Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, revolutionary balladeer Gaddar and Telangana political Joint Action Committee chairman Kodandaram. The procession was winding its way to Gun Park, Telangana martyrs' memorial near the assembly, as per the wishes of the student.

The body of Ishan Reddy, who had completed his B.Tech from St Ann's Institute of Technology and was undergoing coaching for GRE TOEFL exams, was found near the university library in the morning. After a lull of over three months, the situation on the campus again became tense and police were mobilised to tackle the situation.

In an attempt to defuse the tension, police allowed the students' Joint Action Committee to take out the procession.

Earlier, the TRS chief broke down on seeing the charred body of Reddy. In his hand-written suicide note found near the body, Ishan said he was fulfilling his "wish" as all 12 legislators, who had resigned for the cause of Telangana, were re-elected in the by-polls.

"I wished before Maisamma (deity) that I will sacrifice my life if D. Srinivas and other Congress candidates are defeated in the elections, and now that they are defeated I am fulfilling my wish," he said.

Andhra Pradesh state Congress chief D. Srinivas and other Congress candidates were defeated in the by-elections in the region. Ishan congratulated the people of Telangana and the TRS chief for ensuring the re-election of 12 legislators.

Ishan, who hailed from Medak district, also wanted that Congress and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leaders like D. Srinivas, Jana Reddy, Damodar Reddy, Sridhar Babu, K. Venkat Reddy, Kadiam Srihari, E. Dayakar Rao and N. Janardhan Reddy be declared "traitors" of Telangana and hanged publicly.

He is the fourth student to commit suicide on the Osmania University campus this year. In March, Sai Kumar, a second year B. Tech student of Osmania University, had ended his life by hanging in his hostel room as he was upset over the delay in formation of a separate state.

On Feb 20, a class 12 student had immolated himself at the main entrance of Osmania University in full public view during a protest by university students. In January, an MCA student had self-immolated on the campus.

Parties fighting for a separate Telangana claim that over 300 students and youth have committed suicide in the region since protests began in November last year.