Don’t glorify suicides, Appeals Lok Satta

Offers condolences to Eshaan Reddy family

The Lok Satta Party today appealed to political parties and civil society organizations not to glorify suicides committed in a weak moment in the name of one cause or the other as instances of martyrdom, and instigate others to emulate them.

Expressing profound grief over the suicide of Osmania University student P. Eshaan Reddy in reported fulfillment of a vow over the Telangana by-election results, Lok Satta Party leaders Katari Srinivasa Rao, V. Laxman Balaji and Eeda Chennaiah regretted that superstition had claimed a precious life, causing agony to the family and loss to the nation.

The Lok Satta leaders cautioned students and youth to beware of forces, which have been glorifying suicides as cases of martyrdom. Far from enlisting people’s support with a constructive and imaginative agenda, the forces are whipping up their emotions and driving them to end their lives in desperation. Their conduct borders on crime against society.

Referring to suicides in the wake of Chief Minister Dr. Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy’s death in an air crash, and the arrest of TDP President N. Chandrababu Naidu by the Maharashtra police, the Lok Satta leaders underlined that the sons and daughters of leaders who instigated them are doing well while innocent students and youth paid the price.

The Lok Satta suggested that counseling centers be opened in colleges and universities to prevent suicides.