Providing a boost to the mass general strike of the Telangana employees, nearly 1.7 lakh teachers across Telangana today joined the ranks of striking employees resulting in the closure of all government, private, residential and aided schools from today in all the ten districts of the region.

The teachers began the strike in response to a call given by the JAC of the Telangana Teachers’ Associations which announced its support to the strike aimed at achieving the Telangana state.

To mark the beginning of the indefinite strike, hundreds of teachers held out a rally to the martyrs’ memorial at Gun Park at Abids in the city and paid tributes to those who laid down their lives for the sake of Telangana.

Addressing the teachers, Telangana political JAC convener Prof. Kodanda Ram said the teachers’ participation heralded a golden chapter in the struggle for Telangana. “Police officials are asking the government to take a political decision on Telangana but the government has been trying to scuttle the agitation looking at it as law and order problem,” he said. “Telangana state must be announced with a time bound schedule.”

Leaders of the teachers’ JAC said that they would hold special classes later to those who lose classes because of the strike.