Andhra supporters cry cultural invasion after the million march

The destruction of the statues of prominent Telugu personalities during the “ million march” by pro- Telangana agitators in Hyderabad on Thursday has widened the gap between the Andhra and Telangana regions of Andhra Pradesh.

Describing it as a “ cultural invasion” of Andhra culture and history by Telangana protagonists, the leaders of all parties from the Seemandhra region (comprising Andhra and Rayalaseema) equated the incident with the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992. As many as 33 statues of Telugu icons were erected on the eastern side of the Tank Bund on the banks of Hussain sagar Lake during the regime of former chief minister N. T. Rama Rao. On Thursday, 11 of these statues were razed to the ground by the agitators.

Among the statues demolished Telugu theatre artiste Bellari Raghava’s statue was destroyed by pro- Telangana agitators.

were those of famous poets of the medieval and modern eras, including Annamacharya, Errapreggada, Vemana, Gurram Joshua and Sri Sri. The statues of Vijayanagara emperor Srikrishna Devaraya, social reformers Kandukuri Veerashalingam, writers Gurajada Appa Rao and Tripuraneni Ramaswamy Chowdary, and theatre artiste Bellari Raghava were also destroyed.

Some of the broken idols were later dumped into the lake. The mob damaged the platforms on which the statues were installed as well and even removed the plaques carrying the names and brief history of the personalities.

Deputy commissioner of police Akun Sabharwal told reporters the destruction of the statues was a planned act. He pointed out that some Telangana leaders, such as Telangana Rashtra Samithi legislator K. T. Rama Rao, had in the past threatened to destroy the statues as many of them belonged to leaders of the Andhra region.

“ They carried out the threats in a planned manner during the ‘million march’ on Tank Bund. They chose the place only for this specific purpose,” the police official said. The state assembly was rocked by the demolition of the statues on Friday, with the Opposition demanding the Congress government’s resignation for its failure to protect them.

The House was adjourned twice as legislators of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) from the Andhra and Rayalaseema regions stalled the proceedings, insisting on a debate on Thursday’s incident.