By: J R Janumpalli
Seemandhra politicians have been creating a weird situation in the state since last two months. They are trying to build an impression that formation of Telangana state is an injustice to Seemandhra. Earlier at different stages, almost all of them have agreed to Telangana state in their own different ways. When Telangana State is appearing to become a ‘fait accompli’ they have gone mad, keeping their political differences aside they are unitedly organizing from behind the scenes, a campaign against CWC resolution. They are feeding Seemandhra people with lies and half-truths and instigating them to revolt against the resolution and strike against the political emancipation of Telangana people from the yoke of oppression of Seemandhras.
Indian constitution has the proviso for the creation of new states. The need for new state can be diverse—– it can be administrative, political, economic, and cultural or all of them together depending on the situation in the states. In case of Telangana it is all of them together. It is not for the first time a new state is created. More than 14 new states were created in independent India. There were some hiccups in the beginning but there after they have settled down and are flourishing like any other state in India. On the hindsight, it was never felt that creating new states was an injustice to the residual states. In fact new states were created expressly to provide justice to the people in the new states. It is believed that the new state will provide necessary political empowerment to the people to decide their own destiny, which was denied to them earlier. It was invariably vindicated in case of these new states. It will be the same analogy for Telangana State also. But contrary to this, Seemandhras are trying to create a new philosophy. They are trying to keep aggrieved people of Telangana under their hegemony by their political majority, economic clout, and fake cultural blackmail and raising fictitious concerns with an intention to thwart the creation of new state.
In contrast to other new states Telangana is a unique case. Telangana region was not with Andhra state before independence. The region was in Hyderabad state from 1948 to 1956.It was merged with Andhra state forcibly as Seemandhras desperately wanted it.It was against the recommendation of SRC. It was with several guarantees and conditions. There were agitations against it even before the merger. The merger as was feared has become a disaster. It was a failed state for Telangana people. The political majority of 175 Seemandhra v/s 119 Telangana legislators in the assembly; the political and cultural domination and the unbridled regional chauvinism of Seemandhras have played havoc with the lives of Telangana people. All the guarantees and conditions were violated without any exception, unleashing an organized exploitation of Telangana resources for Seemandhras. Telangana people were essentially reduced to second class citizens in their own land. The martyrdom of several hundreds of Telangana people for the political emancipation from Seemandhra yoke; the voluminous information of injustices meted out to Telangana people in government and private chronicles all these years are the testimony to it. The very truth that the struggle for Telangana state is as old as the united state speaks for itself.
Therefore the case of Telangana State is roundly different from other new states created earlier. It was under military and civil government controlled by center from 1948 to 1952 and under ‘Andhra’ government from 1956 onwards. Its people have enjoyed real political freedom in independent India from 1952 -1956 only in Hyderabad state. When in 1956 SRC recommended Telangana to be a separate state after the Marathi and Kannada parts of the erstwhile Hyderabad state were separated, Telangana was poised to emerge as a state with political and cultural ethos of Telangana. But, alas! The fate willed otherwise. The nemesis came in the combination of Congress and Seemandhra and inaugurated the strangle hold on the region. Seemandhras ravaged it with remorse less political domination and systematic economic exploitation.
In 1969 when Telangana State was on the anvil after the martyrdom of 369 people, it was snatched away. In 2009 when it was declared in parliament it was brutally stopped by Seemandhras for four years. Now after a relent less struggle weathering political hegemony and police oppression and the suicides of more than 1000 people when CWC and UPA resolved to form the state the same cruel filibuster is used by unscrupulous Seemandhras. Now after all these years of tribulations in the united state under the autocracy of Andhra administration and the galling experiences of failures of struggles, what is left to Telangana people, except seeking redressal again through constitution. The article 3 of our constitution with all the wisdom of our founding fathers appears to be intended to salvage the poignant spirit of Telangana. If there is any case in entire India to make use of this proviso in our constitution to realize its exalted intentions of providing succor to the troubled people, it is Telangana region. There cannot be a better case than this.
The cussed Seemandhras as is their won’t, have weaved nonsensical narratives of history, geography and culture of Telugu; obfuscating arguments by pseudo-intellectuals; symbolisms of weird family relations; downright intimidation of Telangana people; threatening to defeat the resolution in the assembly and the T-Bill in the Parliament by legislators etc. They also talk irrationally, of equal justice or injustice to Seemandhra. The Andhra congress leaders who had been all along were saying to go by the decision of their high command have now become the champions of Samaikyandhra, a catechism for Seemandhra chauvinism. CM who is coordinating Samaikyandhra agitation by proxy since the CWC resolution is now openly arguing the meaningless contrived injustices that are going to happen to Seemandhras in the event of the creation of new state. He is quixotically raising up nonexistent and nonsensical problems in irrigation, power, education and employment for Seemandhras. Which clearly show cases the systematic exploitation of these resources from Telangana for the benefit of Seemandhras all these years. He is exhibiting his paranoia on the prospect of losing these ill-gotten advantages. All the politicians and many people from Seemandhra have the feeling that they cannot live without exploiting the resources of Hyderabad and Telangana. They are desperately trying to stop the demerger just because of that.
Telangana people are subjected to inestimable injustices in the united state. They are now seeking justice to come out of the oppression and to preside over their own destiny in the new state without demanding any reparations from Seemandhra exploiters. Whereas Seemandhras do not want to leave Hyderabad and the goodies in and around it. They want to keep the loot made so far and bargain for more as a quid pro quo for the new state. They want the central government to solve their real and fictitious problems before bifurcating the state. In other words they do not want the demerger to take place and intend to stop it by hook or by crook.
A new state is created to alleviate the injustices done to the people getting separated. There is no room for equal justice or injustice to the people of residual state. There could be possibility of things like assistance for building a new capital city, fair distribution of assets and liabilities and some such peripheral issues. For such things there are well worn procedures and precedents. These things are addressed by GOM constituted for the purpose and settled. In fact, in addition to this Congress party has constituted Anthony Committee for Seemandhras to bring before it their legitimate concerns for consideration. But, they do not want to make use of it, because they do not have any real concerns worth the name. Their intention all along is to stop the new state.The demand for providing bounty to the people of residual state in each and every sector of economy,before the division itself, in addition to the inestimable exploitation in the last 57 years, as demanded by Seemandhras is preposterous. It clearly explains the covetous nature and the obscurantist attitude of these people.
Against over whelming odds and political persecution Telangana people have succeeded to bring the new state on to the threshold of Telangana now. We should not get cowed down by the perverse attempts of the greedy Seemandhra people to prevent it. We must bring it home this time by all means.