By: J R Janumpalli
Justice Markandeya Katju is a retired Judge of Supreme Court of India. He was also the Chief Justice of Delhi and Madras High Courts. Presently he is the Chairman of the Press council of India. The Press Council of India is a statutory body in India that governs the conduct of the media. It is one of the most important bodies that sustain democracy and freedom of speech.
The following are the excerpts related to Telangana and comments on them, on the interview of the editor of ‘The Hans India’ with Mr.Katju dated 10th April 2013.
“Are you an integrationist?
Yes, I strongly support integration by adopting federalism and secularism. Since the country is diversified the first priority is to strengthen secularism. For instance, states like AP and Tamilnadu were developing under federal structure which reflects the aspirations of local people in the governance.
(If it is so, why there is such a robust and resilient provision for creation of new states in Indian Constitution? If states were supposed to develop under federal structure with integration, why 14 new states are created after independence? Why did not Haryana in Punjab; Nagaland, Meghalaya and Mizoram in Assam; Chattisgarh,Jarkhand,Uttaranchal in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh did not develop and were formed in to new states. In the first place, why Andhra got separated from Madras even before SRC was formed in 1952? Do the aspirations of Andhra and Telangana people have different denominations?)
Why are you opposing smaller states, particularly Telangana?
Yes, I oppose Telangana state because bifurcation of AP is a costly affair. We are poor country. We cannot afford to spend on new capital and infrastructure needed for another state. We have to spend money on development by creating new avenues for employment, education and infrastructure.Besides, once Telangana is formed, movement for small states like Bodoland, Vidarbha, Gorkhaland and Haritha Pradesh will be intensified.
(Is he a Chairman of PCI or a Cost Accountant to bother about costs not the sustenance of democracy and aspirations of people? There is no evidence whatsoever of this aspect of cost affecting the new states formed earlier. If the cost is so prohibitive why again 3 new states were formed as recent as in the year 2000? Telangana is not asking for division from any original state. It is a demerger from the earlier forced merger because of the violation of all agreements and systematic exploitation of Telangana resources for Andhra region.)
Do you mean to say that the regional aspirations should be suppressed?
Telangana was ruled by Nizams and people were deprived of development has taken place and the disparities between Telangana and non-Telangana regions have been reduced. After NT Rama Rao became CM in 1983 he gave schools, water and electricity to Telangana and it developed. The T-movement is a politically motivated one by some leaders. Someone wants to become CMs. What is this?
( Mr.Katju should have the perspicacity to know the reasons for the angst of Telangana and its incessant struggle for political freedom from andhras for the last 50 years. A voluminous information is available as to how Andhra dominant government has systematically looted Telangana resources and reduced Telangana people as second class citizens in their own land. His ridiculous observation that NTR developed Telangana is a complete travesty of truth and reflects his shallow understanding of Telangana. Yes, Telangana struggle is a political movement. They want a Telangana Chief Minister.Telangana people want their political freedom from andhras and want to take their own political and administrative decisions to define their own destiny. He should know that out of 56 years for about 6 years only real Telangana leaders had acted as CM. Even there also they were not allowed even to complete 2 years of their term. Why cannot Telangana people have their own CM for their own state like they had it from 1952 to 1956? It had no comparison whatsoever with Bodoland, Vidarbha, Gorkhaland and Haritha Pradesh. It is a unique case in whole of India.Telangana fought against Nizam and has joined Indian union with the spirit of Indian nationalism. But, Indian government has treated and still treating it as a political orphan. Likes of Mr.Katju are promoting the discrimination, with their unawareness and hypocrisy)
Are you not hurting the sentiments of Telangana people by saying this?
I am not hurting anybody and I are only speaking impartially on Telangana.The arguments made by people should be meaningful.
(When he does not know and also refuses to examine the grievances of Telangana people how can he be impartial? If he cannot delve deep in to the grievances, he will be incapable of comprehending the meaning in the 5 decade old Telangana struggle and martyrdom of more than 1500 people. It is his supercilious arguments that are entirely meaningless. When he cannot follow the accuracy and fairness of the principles and ethics of journalistic conduct, which he is supposed to supervise how can his arguments be meaningful?).”
These are the exalted views of Mr.Katju, which interestingly synchronize with the views of likes of Kavuri, Lagadapati, Gade etal of ‘samaikyandhra’ vintage.We should appreciate the courage of the management of Deccan TV and its MD Mr. Zaheeruddin Ali Khan for asking the Chief Guest of the day, Mr. Katju to keep away from the launching of the Deccan TV channel logo, because of his crabby comments on Telangana.