The Hyderabad police clashed with protesters who were demanding a separate Telangana state in a massive rally a day before a major international conference opened in the city on Monday.
Nearly 100,000 demonstrators gathered near the city's Hussain Sagar Lake on Sunday afternoon, calling on the central government to create a state for the Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh, which activists say has been marginalized. The protesters threw stones at the police, who fired back with tear gas shells and water cannons. Near Osmania University, student protesters also fought with police.
The police say 25 officers were injured, but the number of civilian injuries remains unclear, although no fatalities have been reported. A number of businesses, over two dozen vehicles and two local train stations were seriously damaged, according to local media reports.
Hyderabad is hosting the United Na tions conference on biological diversity, which began Monday, an event that officials hoped would elevate the city's international profile. The Andhra Pradesh government spent 4.5 billion rupees ($85 million) on the high-level summit meeting, much of it on improvements like repaving roads and repairing bridges.
Convention organizers declined to comment on whether the demonstrations would affect the conference. Telangana demonstrations have shut down Hyderabad twice in the past, once in December 2009 and again in March 2011.
Although the government allowed the demonstrations, organized by the Telangana Joint Action Committee, the Hyderabad Police commissioner Anurag Sharma said Sunday night that the organizers broke their promise that the march would be not be violent. “We believed that they would be peaceful and made all the arrangements for parking and routes,†Mr. Sharma said at a news conference. “But the protesters violated the conditions.â€
Mr. Sharma said his department would ensure security for delegates attending the convention.
Transportation authorities canceled 37 trains and a number of buses coming into Hyderabad on Sunday, angering Telangana groups. M. Kodandaram, a leader of the Telangana Joint Action Committee, said in a rally on Sunday evening that the cancellations amounted to a government conspiracy to thwart the demonstrations by making it more difficult for marchers to enter Hyderabad.
