The city of Nizams was shut down due to the violent protests by the students for a separate state to be carved out of the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Businesses were close and hundreds apprehended after police collided with students shouting slogans at the main Osmania University, necessitating that the Telangana region, including Hyderabad be declared a state.
The Andhra Pradesh High Court today canceled a state government order closing all colleges and universities in Hyderabad and nine other districts of Telangana region till December 18.
Police in riot gear manned street barricades to contain the agitation in commonly peaceful Hyderabad city which is a home to multinational and local hi-tech firms that ranges from Microsoft and Google to Mahindra Satyam.
Some students of Osmania University had went up the court challenging the 15-day holiday and closure of hostels.
When the region was unified with Andhra state to form Andhra Pradesh demands for Telangana state blazed up from time to time since 1956. There are some cultural differences though; people across the state speak the same Telugu language.
State Chief Minister K. Rosaiah, a member of the Congress party that heads the national ruling coalition, expressed his concern about the violent protests that could possibley scare the investors.
The widespread violence that occurred between 1969 and 1972 killed more than 300 people, mostly students, over the statehood demand.
The regional Telangana Rashtra Samiti is leading the protest, and its leader K. Chandrasekhara Rao began a fast till death ten days ago.
The Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the main opposition party, is supporting the movement whilst the Congress has been non-committal on the demand for a separate state.
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