Telangana Protests, Student Suicides Increase in Hyderabad During Budget Sessions

Riane Menardi is reporting for The Cram while studying abroad at the University of Hyderabad in India. 
Fresh agitation from pro-Telangana protesters last Saturday brought Hyderabad to a standstill. Students from Osmania University organized a march to the Andhra Pradesh State Assembly on the first day of its budget session, demanding the resignation of Telangana legislators. To pre-empt the protest, more than 20,000 police officers set up barricades across the city. For more than 10 hours, armed forces closed roads, blocked trains and prevented businesses from opening, restricting groups of five or more people from entering the city.

The Telugu people have long felt oppressed and exploited by the much wealthier neighboring regions of the state of Andhra Pradesh. They feel they have been cheated out of natural resources, money and representation in government, and theirmovement for a separate state has often spilled over into violence.

Sara Austin, a 22-year-old Ball State student studying abroad in Hyderabad, ventured into town during the protests to see her parents at a place less than 10 kilometers from Osmania and the State Assembly. She said the severe restrictions made the city of 6 million people seem like a ghost town. She passed several police barricades consisting of razor wire fences and metal posts dug into the concrete.

"I start walking down the road and it's abandoned," Austin said. "I have not seen anything so deserted. It was like a zombie movie."


As the rest of the city lay desolate, there was building tension at Osmania University. In late afternoon, Siripuram Yadaiah, 19, lighted himself on fire at Osmania's front gate, yelling "Jai Telangana." As people rushed to put out the fire, police and protesters clashed, and nearly 300 students were arrested.

Yadaiah was taken to the hospital, where he died on Sunday. Videos of his immolation have been circulating on the Internet, and his suicide note reportedly said that if a separate Telangana were created, people like him could have better jobs. He was an orphan, and accounts differ on whether he was unemployed or working part time.

Since Yadaiah's death, three more young adults are reported to have committed suicide for Telangana.

The January issue of the "University of Hyderabad Dispatch" reprimanded students for being pawns for pro-Telangana politicians. "We are not going into the merits and demerits of the separate state demand, but we are disturbed by the series of suicides of our brethren," the opinion page reads. "The moot point is: What does the suicide of a student do to resolve the issue?"

Unlike the urban Osmania University, the atmosphere at the University of Hyderabad on the outskirts of the city has been relatively calm. There have been no rallies or demonstrations on campus, and the Joint Action Committee tent in the middle of campus has been empty for weeks.

Pressure is also mounting in the capital city of Delhi, as the first Parliament sessions of 2010 opened last Monday (click here to read more about how the Telangana movement relies on central government action).

In her opening remarks, President Pratibha Patil didn't mention the Telangana state or the unrest in Andhra Pradesh. Telangana members of Parliament from the ruling Congress party stood up in the middle of her speech in protest, holding placards with pro-Telangana slogans. Nearby, hundreds of lawyers rallied, saying, "We will suffer baton and bullets but will take Telangana." The nationwide budget will be announced on Friday, and the session will conclude on May 7.

The Srikrishna Committee -- the five-member panel appointed by the Indian government to examine Telangana statehood -- has until Dec. 31 to submit an analysis of Telangana's bid for statehood. The team, led by retired Supreme Court Justice Bellur Narayanaswamy Srikrishna, will talk to people and politicians affected by the Telangana dispute through July, then start drafting a report.

Students have been protesting outside the homes of prominent politicians, demanding their resignations. At Osmania, exams have been postponed for the sixth time in two months as agitation continues. Exams are now scheduled to take place on March 3, and protests have consistently flared up around test dates. Facing delay and silence from those in power, the students and other supporters of Telangana show no signs of relenting as their movement grows.

I am from Telangana – I am not a Naxalite

Today, I went and saw the movie called ‘I am khan, I am not a terrorist’. The movie is about a Muslim man suffering from a type of autism called ‘Asperger’s Syndrome’ who suddenly finds himself branded as a terrorist after the September 11th incident in US. As a law-abiding man with simple ideals, he doesn’t understand why he is accused of being a terrorist. The moral of the story was that there are only two kinds of people, good and evil, and they exist everywhere in all races, regions, and religions.

A few people brought to my attention that in some pro-united Andhra forums, and groups, any person asking for Telangana is termed as a Naxalite. The members are claiming that the Telangana supporters are instigators of violence, and they are T-rouble makers of the worst kind who are disrupting the peace and tranquility in Andhra Pradesh.  The accusers are educated Andhra people who have some form of fear that they will be driven out from Hyderabad if Telangana state is formed and Hyderabad becomes the capital of this new state.  Being a moderator of the Telangana forum, I will say that this kind of rhetoric is not just confined to the pro-United Andhra forums. Most of the administrators continuously monitor our walls for inflammatory speeches and try to moderate them. But still a few escape our close watch.  Some people attack the Andhras with equal fervor as they attack the Telangana people.

Firstly let me say clearly that I am all for the bifurcation of Telangana region from Andhra Pradesh. I don’t want the people to break up because of language, or because I have hatred for the other side. In fact, I enjoy the food, the movies, the literature belonging to the Andhra region. My reasons for the de-merger of the state are political, economic, and administrative. I think that ‘Unity’ is a politically correct word and in normal circumstances, every sane person would and should want people to be happily united. The key word here is in ‘normal circumstances’.

I strongly believe that smaller states are better for administration, especially with the high populace in India. India has already separated three states in the recent years into six. The three new states, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Uttarkhand have stated higher GDP growth since their formation.

Secondly, I believe that there are regional imbalances because of the uneven political representation in the state. The Seema Andhra people have a majority in the state, they have roughly 75 more representatives than Telangana. In the last 56 years, they have enjoyed their leaders at the helm as the chief minister of the state. Only four times, the Telangana chief ministers have come to the power and three out of the four times, they have been pulled down by the Seemandhra leaders before they fulfilled their tenure.

Because of the weak political representation, most of the irrigation projects in Telangana were put on the back burner, not maintained, and those that started were drawn and built to give more water to the Seemandhra regions than the Telangana region. When I tell this fact to my Andhra friends, they told me that our farmers are too lazy, so they didn’t want the water but wanted the dole outs from the state. Some told me that since Telangana region is a plateau, the lift irrigation is more expensive.  Painstakingly I did research and found that majority of the projects are not lift irrigation.  The government did not make any efforts to implement drip irrigation, minor canals, small lift irrigation projects that are less expensive to curtail the over usage of ground water. This resulted in depletion of ground water. The farmers took loans from the banks to dig bore/tube wells. But they needed electricity to run the borewells. Electricity was scarce too because there were no power projects in Telangana. So the farmers failed miserably and defaulted on their loans. In the last decade, Telangana ranked the highest in terms of farmer suicides.

90% of the white-collar bureaucrats in the government are from Seemandhra. When a Telangana person does all the due diligence and goes for a mining permit, somehow the permission is given to a native of Andhra. 95% of the government contracts go to the Seema or Andhra businessmen. This monopolization suppressed the Telangana people and you can name probably a handful that are millionaires, while there are hundreds of people from Andhra who can claim to be millionaires and even a couple of billionaires.

The corruption and greed of Seema Andhra leaders and businessmen is another reason why I believe it would be best for us to divide. The government (i.e. Chief ministers and powerful politicians belonging to SeemaAndhra) gave away lands almost free of charge to several Andhra policians and businessmen for favors received. The lands in Hyderabad and surrounding Telangana villages were given on the pretext of creating industries for employing locals, but instead were turned into real estate ventures. Today about 167,000 acres of government urban land in Hyderabad is in the hands of Seemandhra people.

When it comes to funds distribution, the inequality is glaringly visible. The universities in Andhra enjoy a lot more funds, and every year a new university pops in that region while the Telangana universities are always squeezed for money and have bare facilities.

Based on the weaker political power, lower per capita income, lower literacy rates, lower employment numbers, and less number of acres that are irrigated in Telangana, and increasing greed of the Seemandhra leaders, I believe that a division is absolutely necessary.  Added to this are the growing animosities between the two people, the mental anguish and fear from both sides.

So what happens to Hyderabad? Hyderabad being in telangana region will have to stay as the capital of Telangana. The state capital for Seemandhra region needs to be selected, the money and seed capital for the infrastructure needs to be given to the Seemandhra people. The people who will lose the government jobs will need to be repatriated to their region. If Andhra people want to remain where they are, they should remain where they are – after all, Hyderabad is in India and we are all Indians, as an Indian, you or I should have the right to stay where we want.

I want to be fair to the Seema Andhra people in Hyderabad. Most of them are ordinary people who came to Hyderabad because it is the capital of A.P, they found jobs and settled here. Some of them have been in the city for 25 years or more. They fear that they will be sent back if Telangana comes, their jobs will be in jeopardy and their lands will be seized. Being a moderate and educated person, I would like to impress upon them that unless they are in a state government job, they have nothing to fear. But like Khan’s mother said, there are good and evil people in the world, and some evil people do threaten violence against the ordinary Andhra and Seema people with dire consequences. Will this increase or decrease if Andhra Pradesh remains united? I believe if the separation happens quickly and smoothly, people will live and let live. The longer the agitation is let to simmer, the worse the consequences will be.

I have a lot of friends who have had mixed marriages. I sympathize with their plight. They want the state to be united. They want their kids to have one native state, now they have to go through the same identity crises that most of the American Born Indian kids go through. Who do they show loyalty to? Where do they live? This is a delicate problem, but this is not the same kind of problem that the Telangana farmers are facing, this is not the same kind of problem that the Telangana unemployed youth are battling. Their agitation is for food, shelter, and education not for emotional comfort.

Are people from two different states not marrying today? How are the children from such marriages coping with the situation? It’s not like we are going to be two states speaking two different languages, right? It’s not like we are building a wall between our regions.

The only culprits here are the leaders from both sides, who have a lot more to lose or gain if Telangana comes. These are the Seemandhra leaders who have acquired lands illegally in Telangana, especially in Greater Hyderabad and worry that people will start looking closely into their activities. These are the Telangana leaders who are power hungry and not interested in their constituents and their needs.

The rhetoric on both sides is increasing day by day. The hostilities on internet forums is reminding me of ‘Road Rage’. On the road, people try to cut each other off, they curse, they yell obscenities when someone breaks the rules, the drivers show their middle fingers, and sometimes they even shoot each other when a crazy person loses his or her cool. I think this is probably because we are pretty sure we will never see that person face to face in a party or workplace. The same phenomenon is taking place on the forums, facebook, Orkut, Myspace groups, and fan pages. Under the guise of anonymity, we take swings at each other, trying to be as crude and as insensitive as possible.

On the Telangana forums, every Andhra person is a leech, a bloodsucker, or a Shylock. But most of the Andhra people are your co-workers, your neighbors, and your family members who probably had no idea that all these injustices were happening in Telangana. They were blissfully ignorant all this time, and now that the shit hit the fan, they are bristling at the personal insults and attacks against them. The telangana people show insensitivity about the migrants, screaming slogans like ‘idli sambar go back’,  ‘Andhra Bhago’ etc.

Telangana people should stop blaming the ordinary Andhra person. Their only fault is staying silent and blind when injustices were happening and enjoying the favors bequeathed upon them by their leaders. It is perhaps not a deed done with deliberation, but with oblivious ignorance.

The Seema Andhra leaders and the predominantly Andhra media today are trying to term Telangana people as naxalites, trying to create a fear in the Center and suppress the student movement. This propaganda has moved to the internet, now the Andhra people take pleasure in calling all Pro-Telangana people naxalites. They too show their indifference and apathy when young kids from Telangana die, committing suicides.

Andhra people should stop thinking that these demands are because the Telangana people are against them. The movement was born ‘For’ the Telangana people, not ‘Against’ any other region.

In these circumstances, it is foolish to stay together and beget violent thoughts or deeds on both sides. It is a merciful thing if the center grants the separation of Telangana as quickly as possible when there is still some love and respect between us.

I am from Telangana, I am not a Naxalite.

The unemployed orphan died" - BBC

"

India state protester dies after setting himself ablaze

Yadaiah doused himself with petrol during a protest An Indian teenager has died of his injuries after setting himself on fire during protests for a new southern state of Telangana. S Yadaiah, 19, set himself ablaze on Saturday in the city of Hyderabad. The unemployed orphan died of his injuries in hospital on Sunday. A note he is reported to have left said the proposed state would mean more jobs. Andhra Pradesh, from which Telangana would be carved, has seen weeks of protests for and against the new state. Campaigners say Telangana's economic development has been neglected in favour of the richer and more powerful Andhra region - and that a new state is the only solution Divisions Reports say Mr Yadaiah doused himself with petrol from a bottle kept in his bag, and lit a match while watching a procession of university students. "The suicide note in his bag shows that he was frustrated due to lack of proper employment," police official Srinivasa Rao was quoted as saying by The Indian Express newspaper. "He wrote that a separate Telangana state would ensure jobs for hundreds of youths like him and that he was immolating himself in protest against the delay in formation of the new state." In December, India's government said that Telangana would be carved out of the northern districts of Andhra Pradesh, but later said more talks were needed. The government has decided to set up a committee to look into demands for the formation of Telangana state. Correspondents say there are deep divisions within political parties over the Telangana issue. The final decision to create a new state lies with the Indian parliament, but the sharply divided state assembly must pass a resolution approving its creation.

Telangana burns

Yesterday a kid named Yadaiah immolated himself near OU campus.  Last night he died due to severe burns.  Yadaiah was a class XI student living in Rangareddi district.  He was an orphan. 

Dileep Konatham wrote this yesterday:

Friends:

I write this email with a burning heart and tears rolling down my eyes. I went to Osmania University today morning to cover the Chalo Assembly protest called by students. The situation was tense as thousands of students and police pushed and shoved each other for over 3 hours. A batch of students broke the police cordon and ran towards Vidyanagar. I followed them with my camera. Some of these students were intercepted at Vidyanagar, while a few managed to escape from here too.   The next batch was intercepted at Narayanguda. This is where students scattered into small groups.  I then came home. 

I switched on the television only to see the most ghastly visuals of my life. A youngster named Yadaiah immolated himself at OU gates. The visuals of Yadaiah running like a ball of fire will remain etched in my mind for eternity. It was exactly the place where I was standing barely 30 minutes ago. Yadaiah suffered over 80% injuries and was shifted to Apollo DRDO hospital.

It is shame that while youngsters are sacrificing their lives like this our leaders have shamelessly decided to cheat us yet again.

Each passing day the agony is becoming unbearable.

Telangana is like Yadaiah in many ways.  Telangana burns, from betrayals, from disillusionment, from disenchantment.  Telangana like Yadaiah is orphaned.  Every political leader who has used them for their votes has now abandoned them.  Telangana like Yadaiah stands clueless, leaderless and rudderless. 

In the recent past, every political leader made a beeline to Osmania University and made many promises.  Few weeks ago, all of them took an oath on a dead OU student’s body and swore that they will relinquish their positions for the cause of Telangana.  But now when the time has come to give up their positions, they have abandoned the cause of Telangana and are holding onto their positions on the diktats from their Madams and Babus.

Today, every Telangana person identifies with burning images of Yadaiah.  Today the whole of Telangana is united in grief, is abandoned, and is orphaned.

On People’s Movements

I believe that a people’s movement should have three set of activities- those that appeal to Insiders, those that appeal to Outsiders, and those that compel the authorities.

Appeal to Insiders: 

Every people’s movement has a set of ideologues, a set of leaders, a set of organizers, a set of agitators (foot soldiers) and a huge set of sympathizers.   To create a large support base of new leaders, organizers and supporters, the movement should involve educating the people, winning over them, telling them why they need to come out and fight.  Most Indians naively think that if a movement is really genuine then there should be no need for such education.

Even the great Indian Independence Movement did not come about in a day.  It had to win many sections of its people to come and fight.  To start with, most Indians did not know what freedom meant.  To change their attitude from being a ‘subject of a king’ to a ‘citizen with rights’ took lot of education and time.  That movement involved books, pamphlets, speeches, and many participatory activities that rallied people into its fold.  Gandhi’s Dandi March, Khilafat Movement et al were all those activities that were launched to win the local support for the people’s cause.  It involved embracing all sections of society, lower castes, Muslims, Sikhs, women, North Indians, South Indians, etc.  Even the French Revolution and Russian Revolution had to appeal to the local people for their support.  Martin Luther King Jr. and his predecessors had to go educate their people on why they should not live like slaves or second-class citizens anymore.

Right now, Telangana Movement is doing a great job on appealing towards insiders. Most of their current activities are geared towards this.   It has been educating its masses for a very long time now, with books, pamphlets, CDs, MP3s, etc.  It is educating them on the various issues like the discrimination and marginalization in the state of Andhra Pradesh.   It has been conducting various programs like Dhoom-Dham, Vanta-Varpu, songs and dances, and many other innovative activities to win the support of the local people.  The speeches by leaders, students, organizers have rallied people into the cause.

Through these activities Telanganas going through mode of cultural revivalism, a renaissance, where the culture of Telangana is celebrated, no longer curbed or suppressed.  They are no longer ashamed or embarrassed of being Telangana. 

Their peaceful agitations appeal to Telangana people to come out and support in large numbers. Telangana Movement stands as a people’s movements because we have succeeded in rallying our own people to the cause.  The movement has recently embraced Muslims into the fold as well.  However, there are still some pending items- like embracing some of the leaders of lower castes which it alienated recently. 

Appeal to Outsiders: 

A people’s movement should also appeal to the outsiders to win their support and sympathy.  Even the greatest of the people’s movement do not easily win support from all observers.  Even at the heyday of Gandhi’s nonviolent movement, observers across the world dismissed him as a crafty Hindu politician who was bent on usurping power.  In retrospect, it is easy for us to remember only the plaudits while conveniently forgetting the derisions.  It took lot of time before Gandhi’s methods were universally acclaimed.

Some of Gandhi’s actions were so innovative and so bold that the world had to stop to wonder what this tiny man was doing.  How could he take on the mighty British Empire by avoiding paltry tax on salt?  How could he overcome their powerful armies with his nonviolent foot soldiers?  Each of his actions caused awe and wonder amongst the outsiders and their media started to write about his exploits.  That was how he sold himself off to the West.  He appealed to their nicer side.  The Christian women and gentile could not help but sympathize with his Christ-like methods. 

Unfortunately for Telangana, all their peaceful agitations earn respect from Telangana people only.  The outsiders are completely dismissive or ignorant about them.   We are not doing a great job in selling our story to the outside world.   The world continues to see this as KCR/TRS manufactured issue.  The world continues to think of it as an idea of few petty politicians, out to grab Hyderabad, and nothing else.

We are using our activities to make a point.  For example, between February 1 and 7 there were seven big events planned, none of which got reported in national media, forget international media.   Instead of having so many events, we could have focused all our energies to organize one single but a mega event so that the world reckons our movement.  A Telangana leader said in one of his speeches: Manaku Tondara Ekkuva (We do things in haste).

Going forward, an organizing body should be formed under JAC which plans and schedules all events in Telangana, which come once in a month or so, but which come with great preparation, not only in mobilizing people but also in educating the world about the event.   Envoys and emissaries have to be sent to all concerned sections outside Telangana to educate them of our movement.  The media needs to be educated so that they sympathize with our cause.  Without this, the world will continue to dismiss our movement.

Compelling the Authority:

No peaceful or nonviolent people’s movement will bring in desired change unless it is equipped with teeth that can bite.  No matter how much your appeal to insiders or outsiders, unless you can actually force the authority to decide on your cause you are not making any progress.   Activities have to be planned in such a way that the authority actually feels the pain – however insignificant or small it is.  Gandhi’s boycott of British clothes actually made a dent in the mills of England.  Even the most peaceful and nonviolent movements have to carry an element of civil disobedience to compel the authority into bringing the desired change.

Right now, our detractors pooh-pooh our peaceful movement, rightly so.  It does not have an element of ‘compelling the authority’ in it.   None of Telangana agitation activities were geared towards that direction. Rioting on the streets is only going to bring in more derision and appropriation against our movement.  Instead, an activity has to be carefully planned in such a way that it looks respectable and yet pinches.

We have one of the greatest people’s movements headed by the most spineless leaders.  That’s unfortunate.  Our leaders are still thinking petty, trying to be on the wall, taking a neutral stand.  They are thinking of their positions in front of their Babu or in front of their Madam.  They are not thinking like real people’s leaders.  They are not even ready to resign which is one of the best ways to compel the authority in the current context.

There is a need to create an organ under JAC which plans the civil disobedience activities in a phased manner, carefully orchestrated so that it does not go violent, which actually forces the authorities to take heed, pay attention and thereby accede to our demands.

Shame! What a shame!

We got the greatest of the people’s movements in contemporary history headed by the lousiest of the leaders.  When the Dec 9^th announcement was made, 123 MLAs from Andhra-Rayalaseema resigned within two days.   Now, though JAC has announced for resignation of all Telangana MLAsonly 12 have resigned so far.  What a shame!

We have been saying this.  What we need is a political decision.  What we need now is a political fight.  What we need now is our political leaders to actually become more responsible towards their people and little less subservient to their Babus and Madams. 

No wonder the world laughs at us. We can’t even unite our political leaders to act together. 

Proposal

Go to a prominent place in Hyderabad.  Tank Bund sounds good.  Place a very big granite slab, something that cannot be moved easily or vandalized easily.  Etch on it the names of MPs, MLAs, MLCs who have not resigned.   And title it as ‘Betrayers’.  Let it be known for our progeny why we had to fight so hard to accomplish such a small thing called ‘creation of state’ in India.  Let it stand as a proof of how our politicians betrayed us when we needed their support the most.

Let those names be there so that we can actively campaign against each of them in the next elections. 

Don’t play with us

On 3 June 1947, Lord Mountbatten was asked when India would become independent.   For many years Indians were fighting for complete freedom from the British and were looking for a concrete answer, not another vague statement.   Lord Mountbatten was sent to India to transfer the power to local leaders but he was not prepared with a clear deadline.  The first date that came into his mind was the date Japanese surrendered to Allies two years ago on 15 August 1945.   He made up the deadline on the fly for India’s Independence: 15 August 1947.  It took less than 3 months to create a new country out of the crown jewel of British Empire and divide a subcontinent.

We were looking for a deadline

How long will it take to carve up a state within the legal confines of Indian Constitution?  Indians think that forming a state is more complex and complicated than forming a country.  Srikrishna Committee is given 11 months to come up with a report.  The decision to create Telangana is now on hold.  So nobody knows exactly when Telangana will be formed.   A cartoon in Times of Indiacaptures this well.  One politician says to the other:  Tell them Telangana will be formed by April – don’t specify the year or the century.

In last few weeks, the entire Telangana was looking forward to announcement of a date when Telangana would be formed.  Instead, what we got was another committee.  Another cartoon in Times of India captures this.  A politician is announcing to the press:  A core group will select experts to elect a panel to form a commission headed by…

Not another committee

How many committees will be formed to decide the fate of Telangana?  How many tactics will be employed to stall the eventuality?  How many more violent movements will be created before we admit our mistakes?  Why has it become so difficult for India to carve up some states like Telangana while it has easily created states like Chattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand? 

The terms of reference for this committee does not spell out anything concrete.  By being vague, without giving deadlines for actual creation of Telangana, without committing to anything, India is playing with people of Telangana. 

The only good thing India did to people of Telangana in the last sixty years was when they liberated it from Nizam.  After that this region got sucked into a farcical experiment called Andhra Pradesh, which was nothing but a solution to quench the desire of Andhras looking for a good city to build their capital.   Telanganas had to endure subjugation for the next 53 years only because Hyderabad was inside Telangana.   Now, this city has become an issue of contention once again.  Andhras have no love for Telanganas.  But they hold the city of Hyderabad dear to their hearts and are not willing to let go. 

Bad Faith

History of Telangana in post-Independent India is fraught with false promises and riddled with broken agreements.   There have been so many accords, so many agreements, so many formulas, so many legal verdicts, so many Government Orders, and so many committees.  Of what use are they to people of Telangana when none of them could address their aspirations, when one of them could save them from the domination of the majority Andhras.  Now, we get another committee which doesn’t even spell out if there will be Telangana or not. 

What will happen if this report lists downs a set of reasons why Telangana should be formed and another set of reasons why the state should remain united?  Would the center think that those supporting Telangana outweigh the other?  What is the guarantee that Telangana will be formed after the report is created?  Didn’t the SRC of 1950s list pros and cons for keeping Telangana separate?  And didn’t the lobbying of Andhra leaders in New Delhi prevail eventually?  So what stops Andhras from lobbying again after the report is ready on 31^st December 2010?  Fact finding missions have no validity in India.  Commissions and committees don’t lead us to anywhere in India. 

India plays with its people

India has been playing with people of Telangana to satisfy the greed of Andhras.  India has failed to protect its minority and underprivileged groups against the onslaught of majority and privileged groups.  It has failed to live up to the promises it made in its Constitution.  Telangana resides inside a free and independent India but is still not free from the clutches of subjugation. 

Indira Gandhi played with people’s aspirations across Indian subcontinent.  She suppressed 1969 Telangana Agitation with ruthless force, killing 370 people and incarcerating more than 50,000 people.  That failed movement, followed by series of betrayals led to disillusionment and disenchantment amongst youth of Telangana which got a vent in Naxal Movement.   What else do you expect when a people’s movement is suppressed so mercilessly and so unjustifiably?   For the next 30 years, Telanganas had to fight their own people, keeping their Telangana Movement on hold.   The armies and central police force was ubiquitous, Section 144 a daily affair.   Thousands died in the Naxal Movement.  It continues to haunt Telangana as a socio-economic problem.

Indira Gandhi played with many other people in India.  Akalis of Punjab refused to cow down to Congress for many decades.  They were on their own even before India’s Independence though Congress enjoyed the support of entire country.  Even Nehru could not enter the bastion of Akalis.  Indira Gandhi, high on her victories against Telanganas in 1969, against Pakistan in 1971, against all opposition parties during Emergency of 1975-77, thought she could tame Akalis as well.  Brindanwale was positioned to come to power but when he got the power he decided to assert himself independent of Indira Gandhi.  What followed next was a series of disasters – Operation Blue Star that blasted its way into Golden Temple, vengeance of Sikhs by assassinating Indira Gandhi, reprisal of rioters that killed nearly 4000 Sikhs in New Delhi, and eventual Khalistan Movement seeking separate nation.    By the time the problem was solved thousands of people were killed and lakhs of young Sikhs got jailed.

Why did India not solve its problems maturely?  Why did it try to play with its people?  Why did it allow creation of Naxals in Telangana and Khalistan militants in Punjab? 

Here’s what some police officers think of the current situation in Telangana.

Increasing number of police officers are veering around to the view that if the Telangana issue is not resolved amicably on an urgent basis, the frustrated and disillusioned students may move over to the Maoist….

Recounting the history of the T movement, a police officer said when all means of democratic agitations including falling victim to police bullets, formation of a new party and winning of elections in 1971, failed in achieving a new state, the students felt that there was no point in remaining loyal to law.

"They took up arms. That was the birth of Naxalism in Telangana. The situation looks to me similar to the 1969-1971 period. If the students see no hope in continuing with their democratic struggle, there is clear danger that they might walk into the open arms of the Maoists. But unfortunately, the government wants us to treat the T agitation as purely a law-and-order problem which it is not," the officer explained.

India is on the verge of creating another violent movement. India continues to play with its people not learning the lessons from history.  It continues to betray us not realizing the consequences. 

A chance to set things right

For many years now, people of Telangana paid a heavy price for the mistakes done by New Delhi succumbing to the lobbying of Andhras.  Now, India has a chance to correct those mistakes. 

What are your plans on solving this problem?   Do you want to submit to Andhra lobbying once again?  Do you want to convert entire Telangana into Naxals so that you can put us in jails making the path clear for Andhras to continue ruling us?  You thought you suppressed our movement in 1969.  You did not.  Make no mistake about it.  You cannot crush this movement with your silly tactics.  It will survive another hundred years with the same vigor.

Telanganas knows its enemy now

Unlike in the past, the whole of Telangana knows who the enemy is without a shadow of doubt.  The answer to the question why Telanganas are not able to get Telangana is one word:  Andhras.  Had Andhra leaders kept their promises of their election manifestos there would have been Telangana now.  Only their flagrant volte-face on this issue launching a counter-agitation has made the Center retract their December 9^th statement on Telangana.  The formation of Srikrishna Committee is not a step forward towards formation of Telangana as read out on December 9^th but a precursor to that step.  It is a step back for people of Telangana.

Now, Andhras have lobbied hard to make sure this Committee has a vague mandate.  According to Telangana people this committee has come in place only to buy time so that this agitation subsides or takes a violent form.  Either way it is in the best interests of Andhras.  If it takes violent form, then they can bring in central police like in 1969 to crush the movement citing it a law and order problem. It is clear our enemy wants to see this movement turn ugly. 

The question is does India want to see this movement turn ugly?  The question is when will India learn to solve its issues without having to convert every movement into a violent one?

You are playing with us

We have been played before.  And it doesn’t feel good.  A friend told me, his father used to advice him - don’t hit a cat inside a closed room.  The cat will eventually strike back.  That’s what you are doing to us now.  You are cornering us and beating us down.  

Not a single Andhra was attacked in the last sixty days though the people of Telangana are quite passionate and agitated- their anger seething, the feeling of betrayal overwhelming.   Though the movement was mostly peaceful with some minor exceptions the whole country thinks we are goons, because the media has only telecasted those small exceptions while they completely ignored our peaceful methods. 

Though thousands of peaceful agitations have happened in the last sixty days, nobody is covering them.   Telangana people are doing all kinds of innovative ways to express – vanta varpu, dasha disha, dhoom dham, marathons, kabaddi, kho kho, mahila gharjana, blood donation camps, etc.Of late, the agitators of Telangana are beginning to get a feeling that their peaceful protests are being seen as a weakness.

Suicides and Naxalites

There is an explanation for why the young people of Telangana commit suicides or become Naxalites.   When you are betrayed again and again, where every promise is overturned, when nobody can be trusted- not even the senior most leaders of this country, young people get disillusioned with the system.  The weak-hearted ones commit suicide while the impatient ones become Naxalites.  And most others just trudge along in their life carrying their grudges. 

The best way to convert Telangana into Naxalana or a mass-suicide land is to continue playing with them.  Play with them because you are more concerned about your vote banks and power politics.  Play with them because you are greedy.  Play with them because you don’t want to stop your exploitation of its people or resources.  Play with them because you don’t want to give up your colonies. 

Right now the movement is still peaceful because the young and emotional agitators are still listening to the saner voices.   But many of them are tired of peaceful methods that are being prescribed and enforced.  They have been restraining themselves with the hope that New Delhi will live up to the statement made on 9^th December.  The current volte-face is a slap on their face.   

Patience will not last long

No movement of this size has been so peaceful.   You are only testing the patience of Telanganas.  The saner voices will soon lose their grip on the movement.  Soon, the young agitators will not listen to those who preach peace and restraint. 

We request India to put to a stop to all these agitations so that people can go back to doing what they were doing.  The animosity and frustration amongst youth has not spilled over yet to become uncontrollable.  Don’t let this feeling of betrayal continue because it is going to turn ugly.  We don’t like that to happen inside Telangana, because we know what such violent movement brings in.  It will bring in leaders who preach violence.  It will bring hatred.  That is not good for Telangana which wants to build a great state with a great start.  Right now, it has embraced so many people into its fold.  Even the Muslims of Telangana have joined this movement.  Let’s keep this transition peaceful so that saner voices will be respected.

Grant Telangana right away

Andhras want this movement to turn ugly so that they can justify why a new state should not be formed.  They don’t understand the extent of the ugliness a suppressed movement this size can create.   They don’t know how people react when they are betrayed so many times. 

It is in the best interest of everyone in these regions to take quick decisions and put an end to all these agitations.   Table the bill in the Parliament right away or hold a referendum in Telangana right away.  Scrap Srikrishna committee because we don’t trust their recommendations will be implemented.  Our fifty three years history of broken promises is a testament to our mistrust.

Andhras want Hyderabad and nothing else from Telangana, not even Telangana people living in Hyderabad.  Just settle the dispute of Hyderabad.  Don’t waste time on fact finding missions.  Give Telangana right away with or without Hyderabad and save us from ourselves.

Jai Telangana