Hyderabad: Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader Padi Kaushik Reddy on Thursday, January 29, engaged in a scuffle with the Telangana police officers while enroute to participate in the four-day Medaram Jatara tribal festival.
Accompanied by his wife, daughter and supporters, he was stopped after police cited Telangana High Court’s order that only a limited number of vehicles are permitted to the festival.
What followed was a heated argument and blatant threatening of the police, questioning how they could stop him.
“You also have a family. You also have children, right? Think about that,” the Huzurabad MLA says to the officers who calmly try to resolve the matter.
However, it only escalated as Kaushik and his supporters staged a sit-in on the road, chanting “CP (Commissioner of Police) Down, Down! Police Down Down! Look at what the police are doing. You must protect us. We will not sit quietly. We want justice! We want justice!”
As the police try to disperse his supporters, an angry Kaushik springs up and threatens the officers, saying, “Why are you doing this? Why are you acting this way?”
“I have a job. Even if I lose my job, I will speak,” he adds on.
He eventually left the premises.
Medaram Jatara kickstarts on Thursday
Medaram Jatara, dubbed as Asia’s biggest Adivasi spiritual congregations to honour tribal goddesses Sammakka and Saralamma, kick-started in Telangana on Thursday,
An estimated three crore devotees are expected to attend the biennial ‘Maha Jatara’ this year.
The tribal priests installed deities Saralamma, Govindaraju and Pagididdaraju at the ‘gaddelu’ (altars) on Wednesday night as per tradition.
Goddess Sammakka was installed at the altar on Thursday.
The devotees took holy bath in the rivulet Jampanna Vagu at Medaram. They performed worship by making idols of deities with sand collected in the rivulet.
42,000 personnel, 4,000 buses deployed
As many as 21 government departments and about 42,000 personnel are involved in organising the festival, including the arrival and departure of devotees, the provision of basic facilities, security, cleanliness and medical facilities.
The government has divided the ‘Maha Jathara’ area into eight administrative zones and 42 sectors.
The Telangana Road Transport Corporation (TGSRTC) has planned to deploy 4,000 buses for the festival.
Over 5,000 health personnel, government ambulances and 40 bike ambulances would be arranged for the mega event.
Making use of digital technology, the state government has launched an official website, a mobile application and a WhatsApp chatbot for the convenience of devotees.
As part of safety and security arrangements, the government installed a safety module in the app which includes sending an SOS alert in emergencies and registration of complaints.
About Medaram Jatara
The ‘Maha Jathara’ is celebrated in Medaram during the time the goddesses of the tribals is believed to visit them.
Medaram is a remote place in the Eturnagaram Wildlife Sanctuary, a part of Dandakaranya, the largest surviving forest belt in Mulugu.
The ‘Jathara’ commemorates the revolt led by the mother-daughter duo of Sammakka and Saralamma against imposition of taxes on the tribal populace during a period of drought by the Kakatiya rulers in the 12th century.
