Split protests rock both states, Telangana wins hands down

Hyderabad: Protests are either peaceful or violent, but some in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema, against the bifurcation of the undivided Andhra Pradesh were interesting.

But no points for originality to people from AP as similar protests were held in Telangana State earlier demanding separate statehood. From cooking food, washing clothes and utensils on streets and national highways, young men doing push ups on roads and mass sloganeering, the region saw it all. All of this, however, had been witnessed in TS.

The only ones who get points for originality are the electricity employees whose strikes triggered blackouts in the state. It was a mirror image with TS protesters indulging in these acts before the bifurcation was announced while their AP counterparts watched in awe.

Once the bifurcation was official, the scene shifted to the other side of the border. Protests continued for months together until people reconciled with the fact that it was an irreversible decision, practically if not theoretically.

But some protests were different and novel. In Kakinada, folk tales were recited in protest. Hilariously, some outfits performed karate on roads in protest, while others enacted historical plays. Some outfits even performed “homam” on roads. Unfortunately, they perhaps did not have enough faith as their prayers did not bear fruit.