56 years after Jawaharlal Nehru shot down the proposal to merge Telangana and Andhra into one state as a “tint of expansionist imperialism” planned by the coterie with power and pelf in the then Andhra state, Telangana now finds entangled in the same capitalist games Nehru feared. As KCR's fast-unto-death enters its 8th day today and all associations worth their name in Telangana lent their support and quite visibly so, the men in power and in opposition maintain a deafening silence. The apolitical movement led by students and supported by government employees, lawyers, teachers, journalists, artistes, peasants and others as disparate as barbers and washermen gained unheard of support across castes, religions and much to its credit stayed peaceful unlike the previous agitation in 1969. Formulations ranging from the extreme left to the extreme right of the political spectrum are supporting the demand for a separate state. But nothing seems to move the political parties despite such an overwhelming advocacy for the new state. It is almost as if the much boasted democracy does not even exist. If the numbers are so overwhelmingly in favour of Telangana then why is that the parties don't jump on to the bandwagon and spearhead the movement politically? Why is that political parties and political leaders are failing to protect the interests of the people whom they claim to represent even when the people concerned are openly threatening to close their political careers? Therein lies all that is wrong not just with Telangana's backwardness but with Indian democracy.The answer lies in understanding how our 'democracy' works now. The present situation in AP makes us believe that somehow the CM and his ilk believe the agitation will subside as days go by and then all those agitators' votes can be bought by money thrown in by all those big businessmen who get to benefit with the status-quo - the undivided state. After all, that is the confidence our political elite got over the years in absence of any meaningful people's movement. Welcome to our Plutocracy. Irrespective of the party in power, this is how our beloved democracy works now. Masquerading as a democracy, the plutocracy thrives with a 21 gun salute.
The history of Telangana's negligence is testimony to the fact that power and pelf overrules all agreements, safeguards, even those provided by the supreme court. The plutocrats in AP have grown from strength to strength playing mostly playing the caste politics. They have acquired a vice-like grip on administration machinery, government policy and the media. The same is continuing now. Just look at the media coverage of the mass moment in AP. NDTV's Hyderabad correspondent literally makes fun of the agitating students as if they are some uneducated thugs. He makes absolutely no mention of the cause of the agitation. And of course there is no debate on how the government broke all laws during and after the arrest of KCR. Same with how the police baton-charged the students when they are in a peaceful rally. Times of India does the same. It laughs at KCR, the agitators, calls them all hooligans. Among the vernacular media, it is to be noted that the two major media houses EENADU and SAKSHI continues to ignore the movement, when they are not showing it in bad light. This is not a surprise considering the stakes these media house' owners have in the present political setup which would be disrupted in case Telangana becomes a reality. Most of the national media like NDTV, IBN seems to have taken the ruling party's membership! Their coverage on any event/issue reflects what is whetted by the madam's aides in Delhi's Race course road, if not their correspondents' own narrow-minded views.The media example is but one aspect of the present opposition to the movement. The more important part is that the YSR regime spawned a whole political and administrative system closely linked with Mafia. A mafia that operates on the realty business in and around Greater Hyderabad and which made a successful business out of the huge 'welfare' and 'development' programmes in irrigation and health. The MLAs, MPs presently representing AP, including Telangana, are but products of this system. The money spent in the last election in AP is estimated to be the highest in the country, thanks to this Mafia's sponsorship. So how would we expect these representatives to break the tentacles of money-driven politics and reflect people's aspirations? That explains why not all the MPs, MLAs representing Telangana are forthcoming about what they are doing to attain statehood despite their parties' manifestos supporting the creation of Telangana.
While all stakeholders who get to loose with a separate state are already united across party lines, the forces for the new state are grouping together right from grassroots level. The spark that ignited this voluntary mobilisation is the governments' atrocious actions against KCR and the students. What KCR could not do in his lifetime has been achieved by the brutal use of force by the rulers. It triggered unprecedented solidarity among the Telangana advocates. Despite the fact that the matter determines the destiny of 35 million people, the CM and Chandrababu Naidu planned their Delhi visit during KCR's planned fast and stayed put there for few days. They must have hoped KCR issue would be settled by the time they return. But it is not to be. Even after they returned, they are feigning indifference and are avoiding even media and public appearances. These two who are otherwise at each others throats on every other issue have adapted a common approach towards the Telangana movement. Not just them, Loksatta Jayaprakash Narayan indeed was a shock when he compared Telangana demand with that of Ayodhya Ramjanmabhoomi issue! JP who incessantly talks about rights of citizens maybe considers Telanganites to be second-class citizens and so he sees no issue in the continuous diversion of Telangana's resources and open discrimination of government policies against Telangana. The fact that all possible alternatives for the statehood have already been experimented with in the shape of The Gentlemen’s Agreement, The All Party Accord, The Eight Point Formula, The Five Point Formula, The Six Point Formula etc and that they all failed does not even merit a discussion for JP. JP 'the objective and the intellectual' has been a revelation. So much for his fight to empower the common man.
It is clear Telangana and its people continue to be low on the priority list in the existing setup. Whether the building up civilian movement for Telangana would sustain itself and challenge the might of the political setup is to be seen. If this indeed upturns the plutocracy, it would be a milestone not just for Telangana but for the spirit of democracy in this country and goes a long way in inspiring other grassroots movements that are fighting the reckless destruction caused by the plutocrats in the Indian state. Nehru, in whichever world he is, would find solace. If this movement is suppressed as per the plans of the plutocrats in Congress and TDP, I would hate to imagine what it would mean for the fabric of democracy in general and the self-respect of Telanganites in particular. Though I have a lingering feeling this would not be another Irom Sharmila case.
35 comments:
Good article Amar!
Jai Telangana!
Hi Amar,
You are only firing at Political leaders and system, but not a single word against students who destroyed public and private properties.thats SAD.......
Everyone can point fingers on others thats easy right, but as a responsible citizens if you had mentioned what one has to do it would have been nice
Excellent Article Amar...
Very informative and striking...
Its very sad that many comment on this sensitive issue without actually knowing the history behind the movement and the concerns of the people.Hope your article enlightens them.
I agree with you that the region and people here are treated as second class citizens. Several things that proves it, for example, we never find the history of telengana any where in our academics. There are many leaders from this region whom even we doesn't know, they are almost neglected. Is it not the crime from the other part to hide the history for the sake of thier own benifits? Physical damages can be restored at any point of time but not the one's life.
Due to the lack of awarness people here are failed in 1969, but this time I hope it creates the history as the people like you dare to write the facts in the blogs. This itself shows the strength in the movement.
Keep it up.
Bhanu,
We will take an example to analyze what the government normally does it circumstances like this where students across party lines get together for a cause. Very recently, the Junior doctors boycotted all services (except emergency services) and went on strike demanding a pay on par with those in other medical universities In India. A couple of days later, government invited them to talks only to tell them to withdraw their strike on token assurances that their demands would be looked into. The student doctors didn’t relent and the government didn’t budge and the standoff continued. It is then the government took help of the likes of Prof. Nageshwar who mediated over a few days and the issue was resolved, in favor of the junior doctors. The JuDos thanked the Professor who also happens to be the MLC.
In the present situation, a peaceful rally of students within the university precincts has been lathi-charged. 2 died. Then the government unilaterally closes colleges for a fortnight across state disrupting the preparations the students undertake for various competitive exams. They even try to vacate the hostels. Repeatedly violate State human rights commission’s orders with regard to the police presence in the campus. There was absolutely no meaningful attempt to engage the students. As if they are some untouchables. Is this not surprising in a country where we are ready to talk to terrorists? And as I write this Prof. Nageshwar, who has earlier mediated in the JuDos case and who actually teaches in OU, has been arrested while on his way to placate the students. An MLC has been arrested just like that while you can recollect the brouhaha and speaker permission rule jargon the police spoke to arrest Kovvuru MLA. Apparently the Govt will follow none of the rules of law. You still think the students have not been responsible enough as citizens in face of such blatant violations of the government? Is it not unfair?
The government has KCR in custody and it does not even bother to inform anyone outside about his health. Around 1500 students reached NIMS on Saturday and thanks to the lack of information, students get to believe a rumor that KCR slipped into coma! They get into frenzy and the police move them out of NIMS. What would you expect then to happen? They slipped into adjoining streets and indulged. What is the government doing? It started giving KCR's health statuses only after this incident. All its actions are unilateral. Never engaged anyone in discussion and did not want to open any discussion. And still the students showed enough restraint. They have been exemplary. They learnt the lessons of what not to do from the 1969 violent struggle. We should indeed appreciate their democratic ways. I hope they will continue the peaceful and restrained way of struggle even if the Govt. does not respond.
Hi Amar,
Every person will have their own plans and the government does have its own plans. It will take every step to calm down the suitation.
You Say First Day students peaceful rally was lathi charged. Well one saw on TV the student actions burning down hostel furniture etc. and Police lathicharged.
Day 2 Students went on rampage only after they saw KCR calling off strike with Juice adventure and police remained absolutely silent. You can still find on few news papers pictures where police man watching and students playing with public vehicles and they show no signs of taking rest.
How many of this students are really worthy? These students are spoiling campus environment by joining hands with political parties. I can challenge many(I am not saying all) how came on roads are fit for nothing.
Do you want the life students to be danger. I personally appreciate the decison of government to close down institutions because it is going to save those who are not invloved and mind that this decision was taking after 2nd day incidents.
We are seeing KCR from past eight years and how he played with Telangana sentiment and he is no worth person to be given that importance.
I personally feel separation will never solve any problem. One needs to uplift people life standards, not ruin their carriers and KCR is ruining the students future.
Just think
Hello Bhanu,
Its very easy for you and me to tell here that separation will not solve any problem, we need to uplift people's standards blah blah blah... This has been said for 50 years now...what happened...the discrimination in this region is still there...All political parties are playing with the rules and GO's when it comes to this region..if you dont know then please let know atleast from these blogs....
And no one is giving importance to KCR here..Telangana is out of his hands....its now in the hands of people...people and their sentiment will decide telangana....
Nice but biased article ra Amar, to be honest with you.
I would have to say that the administration did a good job in shutting down academic institutions to calm down the agitation,lest it boils over.
Why wouldn't one see the ulterior motives of a few crooked politicians(read KCR) provoking students who had no real purpose/role to play in this huge tamasha being played out.
I would also agree that Telangana-its resources and its people-was being neglected for god-knows-how long.But again I think separation wouldn't solve this,infact it would set a bad precedent.
Hi Sandeep,
I refered KCR because Amar(Nothing Personel against Amar)was refering that he was arrested and his health status is not known etc.
When it comes discrimination, i shall say it is omnipresent. Northern leaders discriminate southern leaders and others and many examples can be given with this regard.
Can you garantee that if telangana is formed then leaders will treat all districts equally and will not discriminate some of its districts. I am sure you cannot because discrimination does exist every where.
Since we have discrimination we cannot separate.
You well said that all political parties are cheating the people then why dont the so called PEOPLE teach POLITICAL LEADERS a lesson using their precious weapon VOTE.
Unless we educate people the essence of democracy and imbibe the spirit of nataionalism one cannot SEE A GREAT INDIA.
People are dying and agitating for no good reason. It is not good for anyone.
Just Think
Prasad,
Buddy, I think I have been very very objective with the issue. Trust me. I am surprised why everyone has such a low opinion about students. Everyone keeps saying 'they are provoked' as if they dont have their brains. Did you forget the Young bengal Movement led by henry derezio which we studied abt way back in school? You shud have seen the interview of one of the 15 leaders in the Joint Action Committee on TV9. Ravi Prakash the boss cudnt stop admiring his admiration for the clarity of thought and conviction the leader displayed. In fact he went on to say that the young leader is far better than most at the state level!
Let us not forget that 'students' mean even PhD and MPhil scholars who are well aware of history, politics of Telangana struggle. in fact it is this leadership that made me blog. For gods sake, its not KCR. The movement gained steam despite KCr not because of him. Well, the backdrop just happens to be KCR's fast.
I wud not see Telangana as a separating state. It existed till 1956 as a state. The struggle is to restore that status. Firthermore, every possible alternative has already been tried already and they all failed as i mentioned in my blog. Every section in Telangana is tired and that is why we see this mass moment. It is not as if we have other options now.
Amar,
Agreeing to the neglect of Telengana region, first we should note that Telengana common man was never allowed to develop because of DORA thanam that existed way till mid 1990's. I personally stayed in Karimnagar during my child hood for 5 years and saw that. More over hardly 5 years ago visited Bheemgal in Nizamabad dist and saw how people are suppressed. KCR himslef is a classic example of this.He amassed crores of rupees toying this idea and today he and his family speak like saints for Telangana. Not a single issue he solved for commo0n man when he was a minister. We cannot succumb to the vested interests of such kind of people.
The universal truth is half of the guys represting as students in Osmania are not students and have their own interests.
First and foremost thing is to ensure basic rights reach to Telangana people with out any fail in the delivery mechanism.
Guys, Its clear from the history that unity will not play any role to educate and develop the people here. Even after 60 years of independence you people name the highly educated students and professors as provoked/ rowdies and gundaas. Is it not the example that the people here are still treated as second class mass? Fisrt, one should see the history before commenting on such sensitive issues as this blog is open to every one. One shouldn't stop acting by predicting the future and it is proved in many contries that smaller states will have faster growth. Don't put a mask of development to fulfil your own benifits, think in open mind as you are(in your opinions) well educated and best citizens, and try to contribute your self for better tommarrow.
Just Congress is waiting when KCR will go in Comma... and when he will die.
They will kill Students it is not new to Congress Govt. and Telangana people... They will suck our blod and they will put ous in gails.... and say telangan is backword area and full of radicals... but they will not hear our voice when we are doing a calm protest.
Government will lesson Only when Telangan police will say we are droping Our Guns... Already Telangan Employees in pen Drop..... We Only can please Our police to drop there guns ...... and we will avoid all the Tax payments from telangana....
It will happen Only When to tall telangana Students and people start Hunger strike.... Like the people did when Bhagatsing Did Hunger strike in Gail and in Support to Him total indian students Started Hunger strike... and Gandhi Just Giveped to kill Bhagatsing.
like same now congress govt is waiting when will KCR die.
Hi Bhanu,
All your posts end with 'Just Think' and I request u to do that before u post. And to think, u need facts, not emotions that make u judge students as 'good for nothing' and trust government with benevolence although I gave an elaboarate example of its brutalness in my earlier response. All I can make out from your posts is that you are not in the know of basics of Telangana struggle. So here is a brief overview of it complete with statistics culled from Government records. http://www.telangana.org/Papers/Article10.pdf
There are some specific questions that have been asked for decades. None of the parties' leaders answered it and that is why they all agreed for a separate state before elections.
After u study, if u have some answers to it, u r welcome to an objective and rational discussion. That is the purpose of this blog, not taking entrenched sides.
Gurugaru,
u r bang on as usual :)
Its absolutely true KCR is a dora, a quintessential one at that.
Its also true that a good percentage of those in OU dont actually study in OU. As an alumni of OU I do know how students from across the state land up in prepare for one competitive exam or other to land a job.
But then both these points should not allow us to distract from the central issue - a demand for Telangana. Why is that the Govt does not open a discussion on the allegations of discrimination to close this chapter for once and for all. Is that not the best way to take the wind out of the sails of the OU JAC and KCR's company TRS? The whole point of this post is to point out the undemocratic ways of the Govt. My point is why would it do that if it has nothing to hide.
Bhanu Brother...
Do you think India Government is treating Telangana People as A Its citizen, Do you feel.... then why they are not bother about Telanagana people from past 50 years.....
Hi Amar,
You did a good job by putting into perspective the need for a separate Telangana. However there might be a few things I would like to comment
1.Why is that the implementation of the NREGS is one of the lowest in the Telangana districts in the entire country during the 2004-2009 regime when TRS has won the highest number of MP seats ( they have won 5 out of the 6 they have contested ).Inspite of all the allegations of corruption being attached to the scheme,it still was the best scheme in the country for rural poverty alleviation.The fact that the scheme was implemented so well by the non-congress governments stands testimony to that fact.Infact of the funds allocated to the scheme, about 30% of the funds were un-utilised in the last tenure. Even in the present fiscal year when the famine has been so bad the status of funds has been the same. Why has this happened ? There can only be 2 reasons.Either they were ignorant or inefficient.
2.Who has been electing the representatives from the 10 Telangana districts for the last 50years ? Were all the representatives who won,got through only because of money, for half a century.If so then will the situation dramatically change if a new state is formed.Even if a new state is formed the same legislators will be contesting from the same constitutencies. What is stopping them even now from proper utilisation of MPLADS funds ? So the situation on the ground doesnt change radically with the advent of a new state.
3.They say a weak bowler can make a batsmen look even better. Because the handling of the situation was shoddy(definitely shoddy) the situation got out of hand. Such delicate situations should have been dealt deftly and not just by brute force.
4.Your anger against the media is displaced. It's quite understandable when someone sitting in Delhi doesn't understand what is happening in hyderabad but to say that their reporting is "whetted by the madam's aides" is a little far fetched.I have some dialogues from the movie "The President" in which Michael Douglas says these words on Freedom of speech. As a film buff I am sure that you will appreciate them.
"You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who's standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours." You want to claim this land as the land of the free? Then the symbol of your country cannot just be a flag. The symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest. Now show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms.
Then you can stand up and sing about the land of the free".
5.The blog says that " all possible alternatives for the statehood have already been experimented", except the Gandhian way which,infact,KCR alone is doing that. TRS has to realise that the Congress is brought to its knees not because of the violent acts by its cadres but by one man's fast.By indulging in violence they are taking away the sympathy created.I was surprised that you have condoned the violence that happened during the agitation especially after writing such a wonderful blog on Gandhi ( Missing the wood for the trees ).
Shouldnt the same happen even now ?
6.The only one thing I dont have an answer , I must confess , is that of pertaining to self-rule / self-respect. Believe me there are more questions I have, than answers on such an issue. Tomorrow after the creation of a separate state , if people of 5 districts want to be another state citing self-repect/self-rule , should we go ahead and create another state. Even Kashmir wants to be a different country citing self-respect and self-rule. Are there separate rules for a state and country when it comes to self-rule. Who decides self-rule ? Anyway,let me not get into things which I dont understand.
Hi Adarsh,
I am glad Adarsh that you articulated so well, but you would have done good content-wise too if you actually knew the objectives of this struggle which is on for decades now and which ended up in the manifesto of all political parties. It would have been good if you also studied how these objectives were addressed in the past by the ruling governments and what is the status of those agreements now. Then you would have seen the issue objectively. It is in this context that I commented " all possible alternatives for the statehood have already been experimented". Read the full sentence there -> The fact that all possible alternatives for the statehood have already been experimented with in the shape of The Gentlemen’s Agreement, The All Party Accord, The Eight Point Formula, The Five Point Formula, The Six Point Formula etc and that they all failed..
You understand those accords and why they were arrived at.
If you knew that Telangana existed as a state in form of Hyderabad from 1948 till 1956 when it was merged with Andhra state, You wouldn't make the 6th point. Telangana is no Chattisgarh or Jharkhand which have been formed to socio-economical aspirations and geographical distinctions. It is not as if every district and city can fight to be a state. They should have a historical identity and a clear purpose to advocate for a new state. Telangana has a history and Advocates for Telangana are clear on issues like how their share of river waters are taken away from them as none of the projects in Telangana are
completed. These are life-changing issues for people in Telangana districts. If you know about these, you wont talk about MPLADS or the NREGS. It is not simply the case of who get elected from where and how efficient he/she is. It is a question of available resources within the state and how the power balance dictates who gets what share. With a numerical majority on the other side, Telangana lost in all spheres as shown by Government statistics. A separate state would make use of all its
available resources and would work free of the present power balance. Here is one such link ->
http://www.telangana.org/Papers/Article10.pdf.
The struggle for separate state is backed by statistical evidence and
advocated by apolitical Intellectuals. It is neither originated by the politically unemployed. That is why it found its way into manifestos of all parties and It is precisely why there is no one in politics or public life who contradicts what the Telangana advocates allege. In fact, even today when the movement is at a high, there is no debate on the legitimacy of the aspiration. All debate is centered on how the government has responded dictatorially to a Gandhian fast and how undemocratically it handled the students.
Hey, I liked 'The President' part. Maybe you should mail it to Rosaiah and his cabinet :) They somehow seems to think any discussion on Telangana is blasphemous. Otherwise why are they not open to any dialogue with the students?
CONTD..
In a situation where every action/word of the CM has to be permitted by her higness, you still think what I said about
national media is far-fetched? Recollect who told us first YSR was dead, recollect who told us Rosaiah sweared as CM a good 1.5 hour after he did that in high secrecy and recollect who told us about the emergency core committee meeting yesterday..Its the national media, not our beloved saakshis or tv9s! An MP is on fast, the parliament is in session and you want to believe the national media did not find it important? Being biased and subjective is the last thing you can accuse me of :) Man, I am worth much more than that.
The moment the Govt unilaterally acted against KCR's fast and Students demand with force, it owned up all subsequent results.
In my post, I only spoke about OU JAC actions, not those in the districts. So u can accuse me of condoning the OU JAC 'violence' like breaking flowerpots, window panes and furniture. I even explained the context of breaking the Ameerpet window panes. In face of a Govt which seems to only send police with lathis to talk to,trust me, if the students are not displined, there would have been havoc. I reiterate I admired how the OU JAC organised themselves (who are in thousands and who came across political parties), how they remained steadyfast with their convictions. They are the promise for our democracy in the face of the govt's blatant violations of civil rights and its own duties.
Self-rule and self-respect. Dont bother to search for answers. Even I wont get into it. They look petty peripheral issues beside the huge life-changing issues raised by Telangana advocates. Anyway these are but by-products of a larger discrimination.
And finally, I really dont think the Congress is not its knees, noy yet. The Govt succeeded in distracting the public and
media from the core issue of Telangana for now. Testimony to it is the fact that we discussed almost nothing about the core
demands of the struggle itself and how the govt failed to uphold the democratic norms while you asked and I answered so many subjective questions about inefficient/ignorant Telangana people, biased media and 'violent' students! The link I gave gives
a brief overview. Please go thru it.
Man, I cant get over it.."You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who's
standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of
yours." You want to claim this land as the land of the free? Then the symbol of your country cannot just be a flag. The symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest. Now show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms.Then you can stand up and sing about the land of the free". lets debate and shout at the top of lungs, but only rational arguments..after all we are not politicians! We make a living on logic :) Lets keep it that way and let us not get personal with the issue :)
In a nutshell, we would have been spared this situation if the govt behaved responsibly and just opened a channel to sit and talk with the students and KCR. That is the core point. Everything else that happened is a distraction.
Hi Amar,
I read the 28 Page Document. Any Telangana person's blood will boil when he reads this.
Its a Provocative Document.
I accept with heart that Telanaga is neglected by the governments formed so far and Many aggrements and Formulas were also breached.
More than 50 Years and MLAs and MP of 10 districts have done nothing to the region and tomorrow if atall Telangana is formed we will be ruled by the same bunch of MLAs who neglected us all this years. Its Political Leadership failure. SAD to say,There is no leader with true spirit here and nobody knows where that leads to.
Think Amar so far no one in Telangana developed( I mean people of Telangana).
I am against Telangana, but not against developement of Telangana. The only thing that is happening right now is, people are thinking that development is possible with separate telangana and bluntly closed all other options.
We can acheieve good development in this region only when choose good leaders and that to when we all VOTE.
People are willing to fight and die but not ready to change....
I Think as an Indian and we need to set a good trend by developing living together not a bad trend by separating.
Bhanu,
Grt. So u read the document and understood it. Now that u read it, if u reflect on it, it will occur that the core point of the document is not 'development' but 'discrimination'. This is the result of policy making, not the MLAs and MPs of the region. The discrimination is systemic and that is why all agreements made are violated in letter and spirit.
Even now the govt. has no intentions to correct the mistakes. If it had any such intentions, it wud have engaged the students in a discussion instead of beating them to pulp. The govt, with its actions for a full fortnight showed there is no scope for discussing the discrimination. It somehow believes it will silence everyone with its terror.
Lets wait and watch.
All the dreams came true... I appriciate amar for rising the voice on sensitive issue and defending till success. That is the development in the people. As bhanu has pointed out, the people here are not developed, even now if you think of the development of this region it will be appreciated dear.
Jai telangana....
shanth kumar
[Not related to any of the above comments]
Amar,
Its a good article. I must say this is one of the best feeds that i've read in the recent times.
Some unclassified doubts in my mind for quite sometime:
1. Certain set of people doesn't seem to be participating in the agitation (well, majority of them, not all):
a) Telanganites working in corporate sector
b) Telanganites working abroad and other states
I firmly believe, they are not suppressed, neither under-developed. Why aren't they interested?
2. When we talk about discrimination, i see it everywhere. Like somebody has already mentioned, politicians from Northern India have an upper hand than us. Tamilians in South India have an upper hand in central govt than we do. When we talk about projects being flown off, Gujarat/TN/Karnataka are playing a major role in the last 5 yr govt tenure.
I feel that better performer and better bidder gets the best. Here, by better player, i mean the MP/MLA, not the public.
So the person to be blamed in this conflict is MP/MLA of the region, but not people from other parts. Am i correct?
3. Funds being mobilized - When there is a claim that funds of one region being mis-used for several other parts; i too see that funds from other parts are being transferred to hyderabad to make it what-a-city today it is! Also, i read that the unit-level development done in T districts alone during last YSR's tenure was 60% higher than development done in UP. Why is fact not reached to the public? Media issue or awareness problem?
4. Students don't need motivation/lead - I dont agree bro.
a) The leader you were talking about - how much % of people will be like him? I guarantee that not even 10%. If at all the % is more, then they would not wait for KCR to start; it could have happened long back
b) Also when you say all the intellectuals are doing the agitation - Here also, i think the majority isn't.
I am neither in favour of united nor seperate. So hot responses are not required, these were just unanswered doubts i had :)
Srikanth,
Thanks for the compliment. Here are my responses.
1. That’s urban apathy. After all the outrage Mumbaikars expressed after the November attacks, hardly 40% turned out to vote in subsequent elections (to vote the same guys who failed to avoid the terrorists, now they have the same home minister restored who called those attacks ‘minor incident’!). There is hardly any public movement (including the Samaikyandhra thing) the corporate guys are involved with anywhere in the country. Regarding those abroad, Telangana Development Forum (TDF) http://www.telangana.org is a very active organization.
2 & 3. Firstly, Read this to get to know the premise of Telangana struggle -> http://www.telangana.org/Papers/Article10.pdf. The discrimination is not perceived. It’s in hard statistics, on paper. How would a 5 decade struggle ever sustain itself if its not backed by facts?
4. I was referring to student leadership. That does not automatically mean all students are equally educated about the movement or equally choosy and objective in the way they want to contribute to the struggle. Not even our independence movement can pass your % test! The student leadership controlled the movement from spinning out of control. They had a clear cut agenda, knew the reasons why they are in the movement unlike their counterparts making the samaikhyandra tamasha. You will appreciate what I am saying abt this OU JAC if you knew the kind of violence and hate crime that erupted in 1969.
Regarding the intellectuals, In fact it is the intellectuals who propagated the Telangana state demand, not politicians. Politicians spoke abt it only when it’s convenient for them. Intellectuals always spoke their mind. If you have observed the movement, this is all too visible. Prof Jaishankar, Prof Kodandaram, Prof Nageshwar, IIT Ramiah, CWC member Vidyasagar Rao, Prof Kancha Illaiah are but only few. All govt employees put their pens down in support. Even Journalists from Andhra supported their Telangana colleagues in support of the movement as they recognised this to be a genuine people's movement. The facts are out there in open. The writing is clear on the wall. Its not even abt who is supporting what. It is abt understanding the issue at hand, the solutions tried before to solve it and where we stand now. And that is exactly what we are missing now in this state.
Amar,
Thanks for your responses. They are fair enough.
But somethings really bother me, though i am not in favor of any decision, why is the tone of the T agitators so harsh towards the Andhrites - for instance you quoted "samaikhyandra tamasha". And also T agitators barging into Mohan babu's movie shooting, KCR's statements called 'brainless fellows', 'andhra bhagao' etc. And also Andhrites burning the effigies of KCR! Everybody has a right to fight for their opinion. T can't blame United and vice-versa.
The only thing that bothers me is that the brothers who've been together for 50+ years; do they really need to abuse and fight each other to get separated. Like i mentioned, the real culprit for the T loss all these years are the politicians from this area. People are still not realizing it. I'm very sad that even well-educated youth are supporting/encouraging people like KCR for their misuse of toungue and encourage him and his party to provoke rage and violence across the state.
Regarding Telangana struggle: I completely respect it and i am very sad about the mishappenings of '69 (I know the history well, so the PDF might not be necessary :) ). But do you think separation is the only solution? And if separated, the same politicians who misused the T funds and people's sentiment, are going to rule the state; can you guarantee the development then? I'm obvious that people like KCR can be the next Madhu Koda!
And one more unanswered question :), sorry for bugging you out - The same JAC groups, AU students, SKU Students, NU students (probably more ratio of intelligent students) and more intellectuals are in favor of united state. Why is this? If in this case the students are provoked, then i doubt the same must have happened in the case of Osmania.
I am unable to classify the real agitators and sick mob. The overall situation now looks like even fair agitators are being treated like the worst mob who is participating in violence. Bro, i seriously feel this is not the right time; this is too politically motivated. Any +ve or -ve consequences of the 'current' movement is definitely guaranteed for a disaster.
I am Hyderabadi and i am in a no-world right now. I understand the pains of T and also the worries of United. I am not willing to join any group; i can clearly see that the politics and the yellow-journalism are really influencing both the agitations. I would conclude that this is the biggest failure/drawback of the democracy.
-Srikanth.
Srikanth,
1) Dont jump the gun! I have called it a tamasha for what it is. Simple. Whats the agenda? That we stay united? If so, why is that those active in the movement do not even care about how they plan to spread that movement in Telangana? Do they think its not necessary!? Ok, at least did u see any effort to reach out to Telanganites with any assurances that the discrmination wud stop? Is there at least an appeal to Telanganites that the contentious issues wud b worked out in talks? NO.The single point agenda of the movement is to stop the creation of the new state even with nill support within Telangana. I mean how can any area practically force the other to stay with it when it does not like it? While the Telangana struggle is to ragain control over its resources,the sole objective of the SamaikyaANDHRA seems to be negative - to stop it. There is no postive agenda that provides alternate proposals. That is why I call it a tamasha. It is driven by public shock over the abruptness of the creation of new state. All leaders immediately latched to the fancy slogan to ride the wave of Andhra angst. I dont understand how this clear reasonable criticism is equivalent to being harsh towards Andhrites in general! And please do not mix up the discussion here with rabble-rousing statements of KCR or the Chirala MLA (who called Telanganites mud-headed!) or rowdy acts. I leave politics for more intelligent people. So lets discount politics and politicians.
2) We hear abuse and insults because the plutocrats have burnt the bridges of dialogue. Apparently our democracy starts and ends with once in 5 year elections.
3) If you read the pdf, you will understand separation is not the only solution. You will also understand that the other solutions have already been tried. They all failed. I do not at all agree T legislators 'misused' funds. They are as good or efficient as their Andhra conterparts. In the system they are in, they form a minority and they have been continuosly overruled. In academic circles, its called 'tyranny of the majority'. The state govt has the control over revenues and resources and the majority from Andhra hold the decision making roles. . While Ministers like Sabita Indra Reddy are dummies. Likes of PJR are never allowed to make it. CMs like Chenna Reddy didnt survive the Andhra arithmetic. So,Telangana on an average produces 65% of the states sales and excise taxes while it is sanctioned only 25% of it every year for welfare programs. While its is entitled to well over 60% of Godavari waters, it is made to live with 9%. These are but few examples. The samaikya moment showed how the majority gangs up, irrespective of parties,to further its interests. The minority T loses everyday in every matter. What cud any T legislator do? 'Tyranny of the majority' deserves a separate post. I will come back to it later. KCR cant be a Madhu Koda because Telangana is no Jharkand! It is not a new born. It existed as a state earlier with budget surpluses! It has explosive political awareness and the most egalitarian society in this country. It has a rich linguistic and religious diversity. Exorcise the ghost of KCR and you will see it for urself.
TO BE CONTINUED..
CONTINUED..
4) u seem to see this as a zero-sum game -The students did it here, they did it there. If these are right then so are they. As u urself admitted, u cant classify the real agitators and sick mob. Even I cant and I wont try. Instead, I wud look at the arguments, not the people making them. Thats the only way we can b objective. What did the OU JAC demand and what are their reasons? What did the AU JAC demand and what were their reasons? I saw them face to face on HMTV and I shud admit AU JAC did not have any answers for Qs posed by OU JAC. Instead they stuck to 'we all r brothers' theme all thru. They went on associate Potti Sriramulu with AP formation! Enough, I thought.
5) Telangana struggle needs a political solution. Thats the fact. This cant just go on and on for few more decades. When people sit and talk, every party wud realise the benifit. The plutocrats who are guzzling the monies in name of samaikya wud b ultimately defeated. I mean tell me whats common between Lagadapati, Kavuri, Rayapati, Subbirami Reddy? Did u ever see them lobbying at least a fraction of what they are doing now to get any projects or ministries for this state? Is it because they reserve their lobbying power for only their private interests? These are some things u can trying thinking abt.
6)We dont need labels in 21st century. Telangana or Andhra it hardly makes any difference where u stay in. The only thing important is we live in a just society. If it is not, we can atleast discuss to make it so. Democracy wud neither fail or win in a day. Its alive as long as there is willingness to enagage in objective dialoge and rational action. We have to do what all we can do.
Bro,
We cannot discount politics and politicians. You yourself couldn't stop naming few Andhra politicians.
Some of them you mentioned were true, but some i can't agree. For ex- Telangana brings in 65% taxes. Here we have to remember a fact that it includes Hyderabad which is THE major contributor, where people from different parts contribute to the tax and it HAS to be distributed.
Anyways, catch up with you sometime later; going to Osmania to meet some friends upon today's situation.
Nice, discussing with you. Keep the ideas active. Kudos!
Srikanth,
I asked to discount the politics which divert from the main issue with rabble-rousing dialogues. If you want you can go on and on abt KCR. We will get nowhere. I mentioned only the plutocrats this post was originally abt. I havent dicussed their oral skills.
Regarding the example, even if i buy ur argument and move the WHOLE revenue of Hyd to non-telangana areas,look at the scenario.
Hyd contributes 35-40% of states revenue. The additional 25% is generated by other districts in Telangana. Where does that leave us? 25% of states expenditure spent on the whole of Telangana and naturally Hyderabad takes a lion share.
These are all established figures. If they were gimmicry, the struggle wudnt have arrived so far.
Amar,
Why there is a huge difference in implementing law and order in the state. Police dept and state govt. itself creating a feel in common man that the agitations in telangana are involved with voilence by implementing sec 144 ,30 etc, before agitations. Is, no one from state or central to highlight this and stop this injestice? Can't some one like Jaya prakash narayan( who is projected as a great scholar in the state and act with nutral emotions) rise his voice in the cetral to stop the indifference?
Shanth,
Jaya prakash narayan( who is projected as a great scholar in the state and act with nutral emotions)
JPN is depriving some village somewhere of an idiot. He talks nonsense, most of it is content-free, and when is right (which is rare), doesn't have the courage to stand up. For Telangana, JPN is a trojan horse.
I hope you wouldn't mind me posting a link to your post on telanganaweekly forum.
Telanganomics,
Its a pleasure :)
Hi Amar,
The Article you wrote truely reflects the "Indian Democracy" as a whole and "Injustice to Telangana" in pertiular. I really appreciate you for publishing this Article wit true analysis.
I and my relatives, friends who ever come to Hyderabad experienced many incidents of dis-respecting Telangana's culture, language (acsent) and rejected jobs in private companies (non-IT) for just one reason that we are from Telangana; and our friends from same caste, holding same degree with lower grades in academic career offered the same jobs as they are from Andhra. This was told by these Andhra friends only.
This is quite usual in private companies in Hyderabad since 1997 (as per our experience). However, we do not have right to legally question the owners of these companies. But, we are against exploition of lakhs of Govt. jobs (in Telangana) by Andhra people with fake local certificates.
Most of the Telangana people are feeling like "Foreigners" in Hyderbad for many years. Thats the reason, all Telangana people want the "Restore of Statehood" though they get losses in their real-estate investment in and around Hyderabad.
Thanks for your time for this Article.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Telangana-students-may-cross-over-to-Maoists/articleshow/5562968.cms
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Telangana-students-may-cross-over-to-Maoists/articleshow/5562968.cms
-Shashidhar (one drop of Ocean that is boiling against "United-AndhraPadesh")
Quite some blog here. But one big joke I have seen here is, Movement despite KCR! Would have agreed that had I see you around in early 2000s but no you were not here nor so many have written anything until he took up the issue..despite him (whether he is good or bad(bad because andhra media has 16 news channels (last count) and tons of newspaper to spout venom on him and brain wash you) because they are all afriad they might have to lose their ill earned lands properties. Despite KCR is biggest joke I have ever read (I am sure you were made to say that by my learned Andhra friends, that is how they have been brainwashing poor telangana people for last 60 years. The moment someone talks about T exploitation he is a big criminal. What a joke no andhra guy every says one bad word about Rajgopal, Kavuri, MSR, KSR, MVR(TDP) etc who are biggest crooks and made thousands of crores abusing power using both congress and TDP. I pity my fellow telangana intelletuals.
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