By: J R Janumpalli
Sri ESLNarasimhan, the Governor of A.P. has undertaken a tour of Nalgonda District, on 28th August. The tour itinerary included, visits to a Handloom co-op society, Mahatma Gandhi University campus, a mineral water plant run by an NGO in fluoride affected areas and of course, a couple of temples in the end.
The tour had to face some rough weather in the university and in the fluoride affected villages. Former minister K.Venkat Reddy and G.Sukhendar Reddy, M.P. had some interesting interaction with the Governor on Telangana, in the presence of local people. In the university there was a vociferous protest by students. They made slogans against the Governor and in favor of Telangana. The people of D.Nagaram and Allapur gheraoed the Governor and questioned him on the age old fluoride and water problems. People have shown him the decrepit adult fluoride victims, holding them in their hands like small kids. In all these incidents the Governor had to face some embarrassing moments. As usual, the ever ready police, over powered and took the students in to custody; the people were made to behave. Governor asked the collector to solve all the problems.
In general, Sri Narasimhan is not perceived as friendly to Telangana since he took over as Governor. It is widely believed that he was specifically brought in to help the Andhra government with his police (IB) background to suppress Telangana movement. To lend credence to this charge, large no. of Police and Para military companies were imported in to the region and Hyderabad. The Andhra government introduced the draconian methods like bind overs, large scale preventive custodies, sieges of universities etc. Hundreds of false criminal cases were foisted on individual students and youth; even girl students were bound over. He has considered Telangana agitation as pure law and order problem .He has took over the responsibility of directing the police in the state to control Telangana agitataion. He had sent several reports on the agitation to the center and fed them with false information. He visited Delhi time and again and met all and sundry to spread anti Telangana charades. His tongue in cheek comments and false statements on Telangana are well known. It is also alleged that both civil and police top officials took instructions from him in trying to denigrate and suppress Telangana agitation.
Presently, Telangana is simmering at the ‘Police Raj’ un- leashed by Andhra government with the support of the Governor. In such circumstances the need of this tour is beyond comprehension. The Governor without any qualms wanted to visit the university, whose students were brutalized by his government at his behest. There is no evidence ever of his concern for the hapless weavers and the most unfortunate fluoride victims. Decades old apathy of Andhra government made them like that. Everybody knows that these superfluous instructions of Governor are not going to solve the problems overnight. Once he returns to his haven in the Raj Bhavan, he will not bother about these things again. Then what for these hypocritical visits? Perhaps he wanted to show to his employee, the center that everything was hunky-dory in Telangana. Or, he might have also thought that people feel overwhelmed by his presence amongst them and he could do what the ministers could not do. He was proved wrong on both the counts. His visit to Sri Laksminarayana swamy temple perhaps the real purpose of the tour alone has gone well.
If the Governor wanted to visit Sri Lakshminarayana swamy temple in Mattampalli, he could have made a bee line to the temple with all the paraphernalia, like his innumerable visits to temples in and around Hyderabad. For the excuse of visiting the temple in Mattampalli there was no need to make mockery of the weavers, fluoride victims and the students, by these masquerading and redundant tours. Excessive visits to all and sundry temples while harassing people and becoming a barrage to their legitimate aspirations will also not yield any good. He should know that ‘manava sevaye madhava seva’.
The Governor also should know that anything of Telangana, be it fluorosis, water, education power, farming, health whatever, will never get the primary attention in this united Andhra state. It has to wait indefinitely. Protests and Courts become necessary for the attention. In Andhra everything will be done on priority basis because the government is Andhra for all practical purposes. The fluorosis was eradicated in Prakasam district. There are no problems for the weavers in Andhra area. People and students in Andhra area are never subjected to bind overs, preventive custodies and sieges of universities. If the Governor can shed his Telangana prejudice and ponder over these things and advise the government suitably to practice impartial governanace in both the regions, it would be becoming of a Governor’s position. Not these sabbatical tours turning your back on the real issues of Telangana.