Peace rally in Chennai over Seshachalam killings in Chittoor

Expressing solidarity with Tamil people in the wake of recent encounter killings of Tamil wood cutters at Seshachalam forests in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh, hundreds of Telugu people living in Chennai took out a candle rally yesterday at historic Valluvarkottam.

The rally led by Telugu yuvaskathi of Tamil Nadu president K. Jagadeeswara Reddy, Telugu Sanghala Ikya Vedika and Telugu Tera leader Tanguttor Ramakrishna, appealed to Tamil brotherhood to not to be carried away by certain ploys of selfish political leaders and persons with vested interests who have been creating differences between Tamil and Telugu people.

The participants of Telugu and Tamil organizations and party leaders in the peace rally raised slogans of ‘Tamil Telugu Bhai Bhai’ in support of the age old bond between two major linguistic groups in India.

We are with Tamil brothers who have been fighting for justice over recent encounter killings in which 20 Tamil wood cutters were allegedly gunned down in a fake encounter near Tirupati. While Jagadeswara Reddy expressed solidarity with Tamil victims and their kin Ramakrishna assured to raise funds from philanthropist Telugu organizations to provide some relief to the families

Pointing out lack of coordination between AP and TN states in combing operations against red sandal smugglers, senior journalist S.V Suryuaprakash Rao suggested suspension of combing operations till a proper joint force is created to allay the fears and suspicions of Tamil people. The centre should intervene to constitute a judicial committee with a sitting judge to investigate the alleged encounter, he said.