HYDERABAD: Hundreds of students danced in the streets of Hyderabad, burst fire crackers and sang songs welcoming the birth of the new Telangana state, as traffic came to a halt in many places and people stepped out of their vehicles to join in the festivities. 

 

Waving flags, students of Osmania University took out bike rallies and smeared each other with vermilion after the Centre announced the formation of the 29state after years of deliberation on the issue, which saw hundreds of students laying down their lives. 

 

"For the past three generations my family has been fighting for the cause. There souls will finally rest in peace and i will sleep peacefully tonight," G Sandeep, a student of Osmania University, who had tears in his eyes as his friends smeared his face with pink colours. 

 

Students at the University of Hyderabad and at the English and Foreign Languages University burst fire crackers inside the campus and went out to celebrate in hordes as news channels broke news of formation of a new state. 

Men and women hugged each other and were seen wiping tears of joy as young boys were seen beating drums and shouting 'Jai Telangana' and 'We salute the martyrs' slogans. 

 

Parties fund celebrations 

 

"I saw suicides in front of my eyes and so many people losing their academic years for this cause. Finally today is the day to rejoice," said Subhas Reddy, a student, while breaking into an impromptu dance. 

 

The moment news of the UPA coordination committee endorsing bifurcation of the state broke, loudspeakers set up in front of OU Arts College started blaring out Telangana ballads and students gathered in scores, waving the Telangana flag. The usual shirt tearing, tear gas fighting students of the university seemed a merry lot with most of them waving tree branches in unison and bursting crackers. 

 

The TRS and other political parties pumped in funds in campuses to encourage celebrations, after the bifurcation was announced. There were flags of Telangana Praja Front and cut outs of Sonia Gandhi put up in different places on campus. 

 

Source:TimesOfIndia