Students who started an indefinite hunger strike at OU on July 11 to press their separate statehood demand, paid no heed to TRS supremo KCR's plea to call off the stir. Realizing that the Centre was in a not so encouraging mood towards the Telangana issue, Telangana Rashtra Samithi president K Chandrasekhara Rao on Tuesday appealed to the students of Osmania and Kakatiya varsities to immediately call off their indefinite fast.

The fasting students refused to take cognizance of the appeal and vowed to continue their strike. "The Telangana agitation is meant to establish a secure future for you (students). We have put ourselves through a lot of trauma. We have to evolve more definitive strategies to take forward our struggle, which will be uncompromising and relentless. Do not spoil your health. Please heed to my request and call off the fast," the TRS chief said.

Apart from separate statehood for Telangana, the students are also pressing the Centre to delete Clause 14 (f) before holding the SI recruitment exam. Moreover, the indefinite hunger strike (Telangana Vidhyarti Samuhika Amara Nirahara Deeksha) drew wide support from the parties across the political spectrum and various affiliates of the political joint action committee. As such the students were in no mood to listen to the KCR's plea.