Statue Number 3: Annamayya Vs Andhra Hegemony
When Telangana agitators pulled down some statues on Tank Bund, Seemandhra media and leaders used that incident to spit venom on Telangana statehood movement.
“How can you attribute regionalism to great icons like Annamayya and Sri Sri?” was the oft repeated question of the Seemandhra guys. They insulted Telanganites by branding them Talibans.
For the past 5 decades, Telangana people have been respecting all Telugu icons, irrespective of their region and their contribution to Telangana. Visit any Telangana town and you will find scores of statues of notable personalities hailing from Seemandhra region. (like Potti Sriramulu, NT Rama Rao, etc.)
Tank Bund incident was NOT directed at the ‘icons’. It was a desperate act of defiance against the Seemandhra hegemony.
We wanted to show one great example of how Telangana people continue to respect ‘icons’ hailing from Seemandhra region.
Look at this statue of Annamayya located in the heart of Siddipet town. As most of you might be knowing, Siddipet is considered as the birth place of Telangana movement. Right from Madan Mohan to KCR, stalwarts of Telangana movement got elected from Siddipet constituency.
And bang in the middle of this town you will find this Annamayya statue. It was installed only a couple of years ago, when Telangana movement was at its peak. Even today, the statue continues to receive respect from the people of Siddipet.
[click on image to view full size)
A standing testimony to the respect that icons from Seemandhra receive in Telangana region.
We don’t hate Annamayya. We hate Andhra hegemony.
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Read the Previous Parts of this series here: