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

Why Telangana makes sense

The din and violence surrounding the government's announcement that it’ll finally push to carve out the state of Telangana from Andhra Pradesh, has claimed a major victim: reason. Most arguments against carving out Telangana are emotive, charged with hysteria, coloured with political posturing.

The only remotely sensible argument against creating Telangana is that it could set off an avalanche of competing demands for more new states. But even that argument, as we shall see, holds little water and can be dealt with reasonably.

Let's not kid ourselves. Over the last 60-odd years, successive governments have tinkered with state boundaries and carved out new states from older ones. The last three – Chhatisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttarkhand – were created less than 10 years ago, in November 2000. India today has 28 states, compared to 14 shortly after it became a republic. So let’s stop behaving as if this is an unprecedented calamity that we’re suddenly faced with.

Folks who argue in favour of Telangana say that the region is backward, something that’s hard to refute. Districts like Nalgonda, Medak and Warangal are among the poorest in India. Glittering Hyderabad is located in Telangana, surrounded by these districts. Drive out from the city and it’ll take you less than an hour to reach some of India’s most backward areas.

Yet, this is also the place where a lot of India’s mineral wealth is concentrated. Miners like the Reddy brothers from the neighbouring state of Karnataka have huge operations in Telangana. One of their mining companies is now being investigated for – this is hard to believe – changing the border between Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh to benefit their mining interests.

Lots of resources, yet very few benefits coming to people on the ground: that’s what proponents of Telangana argue. As a new state, they say, the government of Telangana will have the political and administrative drive to do better for voters. Instead of trying to refute this argument logically, people in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema, both wealthier than Telangana, are on a rampage. Burning state buses is no answer to an economic argument; it only leaves you with fewer buses.

For many years, Jawaharlal Nehru refused to pay heed to any claim for statehood based on linguistic or ethnic factors. His sole criterion was economic: would a new state be better off after independence? Would it be able to support itself better than before? Though Nehru’s blindness to language or ethnicity was, well, a handicap the economic arguments he so loved are very important. And most arguments for Telangana’s statehood are economic.

But are the assumptions of folks who want Telangana state realistic? Do people who live in newly carved out states do better than before? Nine years after the creation of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand, there’s some reason to believe that, indeed, they do.

Among all the newly created states, Uttarkhand is probably an anomaly; it wanted to peel off from Uttar Pradesh because it felt that its parent was more backward than it was. So, it’s probably no surprise to know that by 2006-07, the average person in the hill state made Rs. 27,800, nearly double the Rs. 14,663 made by the average UP-wallah.

Most of the stories coming out of Jharkhand are about Naxalism and the fabulous wealth allegedly salted away by former chief minister Madhu Koda. Yet some of Koda’s prosperity seems to have rubbed off on Jharkhand, where the average person’s income two years ago was Rs. 20,177 again, nearly double the average Bihari’s Rs. 10,570.

It’s the same story in Chhattisgarh, where the average income was nearly Rs. 29,000, much more than the average Madhya Pradesh income of Rs. 18,051 two years ago. People in smaller, newer states are better off than counterparts in their parent states.

Another argument against splitting existing states is that the new ones are slow to mobilise their own funds from taxes or cesses and depend heavily on Central handouts. Ergo, to control New Delhi’s finances, it’s better to go slow on new states.

Sure, a state like Chhattisgarh might take time to get its taxation systems in place and need Central handouts. But even a state like Haryana, carved out of Punjab in 1966, needs funds from New Delhi. Bengal, which has been partitioned several times, and therefore got smaller, is hardly self sufficient.

Indeed many ‘established’ states like Bengal and Bihar are still so slow to collect local revenues that matching funds from New Delhi often go unused. All states, big or small, old or new have similar powers to collect revenues. Their ability to do so doesn’t depend on when they were created or their size, but by the efficiency of their administration and the buoyancy of their economies.

The creation of Telangana might trigger cries to make more new states like Vidarbha and Gorkhaland, or split Uttar Pradesh into three. The best way to figure out what’s feasible, which demand merits attention and which doesn’t, is to set up a group, like the States’ Reorganisation Commission and have it thrash things out with everyone, and then take a call.

Finally, the Congress party which dominates this government, needs to be internally consistent in what it stands for. As long ago as 2001, the Congress Working Committee accepted the report of one of its study teams and decided that it was in favour of creating two new states: Telangana and Vidarbha. Then, the BJP-led NDA government was in power and it mattered little what the Congress thought. But in 2004 after its election victory, the common minimum programme adopted by the first UPA coalition also agreed to work towards statehood for Telangana. In the hurly burly of coalition politics, it soon forgot this promise and lost an ally, the Telangana Rashtriya Samiti (TRS) two years later.

Today, instead of dithering, the government should signal clearly that it will work to create Telangana. And set up a group to examine the demands for other new states. Remember, the United Sates, with about one third our population, has 50 states, a number that’s only grown over time.

Telangana Journal : Latest Articles & News on Telangana State Movement

Help spread the truth about Telangana region of India. Since 1956, when Andhra and Telangana merged, Telangana has gotten the short end of the stick in terms of natural resources, funding and representation in government. Though two major rivers have their sources in Telangana, irrigation projects divert the precious water to other areas. The feelings have often spilled over into violence, and in 1969, 400 people died in Telangana-related violence.

Telangana Today: Status paper

P.L.Vishweshwer Rao (Professor, Osmania University)

The long-suppressed agony of Telangana people is finding expression once again in their aspirations for independent existence and separate identity. After the great betrayal of 1971, they have once again gathered strength to assert themselves; they prepared to stake their all for realization of their dream to be free from the bondage to the people of coastal Andhra.

No movement, no struggle has ever started from the top: from intellectuals, thinkers, political and other leaders, elected representatives and so on. Inevitably, the struggles begin from people - the people give expression to their suffering because it is they who are victims of status quo. The long-dormant hope in the people of Telangana was awakened with the announcement as statehood for Uttarakhand by the Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda. Within a year it has gathered so much strength that politicians, realizing its potential have jumped on to its bandwagon. Such disparate schools of thought as People's War Group and Bharatiya Janata Party have supported statehood for Telangana.

Why Telangana State? 
Because successive governments and ruling political parties have not only neglected to develop Telangana but have systematically exploited it, denying its share of funds, grabbing its rich, fertile land, exploiting its mineral riches and impoverishing its people. Telangana people have been looked down upon, their language derided, their customs and traditions scorned at, their land grabbed, their houses snatched away. They have been discriminated against in recruitment and developmental programmes. In short, they were colonized in 1956 even as the country threw off colonial yoke.

Let us see a conscious, deliberate well-thought out and implemented conspiracy has worked against the interests of Telangana in the fields of education, irrigation, employment, industrialization, and allotment of funds and the region's share in income for its development. Even in cropping pattern is changing for the worse in Telangana, its traditional food crops being replaced with commercial crops with disastrous consequences.

Education 
Elementary education is recognized as one of the fundamental human rights. And yet this human right has been denied to the people of Telangana: the region has the lowest literacy rate and minimal educational infrastructure in the state.

Andhra Pradesh, with a literacy rate of 44.09 percent ranks among the least literate state. It ranks 26^th in the country out of 31 states and Union Territories. It is the most backward in the entire south. As many as eight districts of Telangana out of 10 (including Hyderabad) figure among the most backward educationally. Mahbubnagar has the least literacy rate, both among males(40.8 per cent) and females(18 percent). The entire Telangana, except Hyderabad city and Ranga Reddy Urban areas which are Hyderabad, has lagged behind educationally. Not a single mandal of Telangana has the national literacy rate of 52.19 percent. Coastal Andhra districts account for 33 out of 45 rural mandals which exceeds the national literacy rate (the rest being Rayalaseema). The mandals with lowest literacy rate of less than 20 percent are more in Telangana, as a consequence: 35 such mandals are in Telangana, almost three times those in Coastal Andhra (14). There are only two such mandals in Rayalaseema. District-wise, Adilabad has most of these mandals (14), followed by Mahbubnagar (9), Medak (6), Khammam (3) and Nizamabad, Karimnagar and Nalgonda (one each).

Although Telangana accounts for half of the state's population, less than 25 percent of educational institutions from primary to college level are situated in the region. Only 15 percent of aided junior colleges are in Telangana while it has only two medical colleges. As many as six medical colleges are in the other areas. The region is discriminated in the field of technical education also. Only 26 out of the 72 government ITIs, 20 of the 91 polytechnic colleges are in Telangana. The gross injustice to Telangana can be seen from expenditure on education. Of the total expenditure of Rs 1150.2 crore the state has incurred on the aided degree colleges since 1956, coastal Andhra cornered the loin's share of 73.71 percent while Telangana got a paltry 10.43 percent. The corresponding share of the two regions in the expenditure incurred on the aided junior colleges is 62.71 percent and 9.45 percent, respectively. In this kind of lopsidedness, how can literacy spread? This is no accident; it cannot be especially since it has continued since 1956, and it pervades all type of education - school, college, professional and technical. This discrimination is deliberate, conscious and planned given its spread, the extent, and all-pervasiveness, it cannot be anything but a conspiracy against the people of Telangana.

Irrigation
Of the three regions of the state, Telangana has the largest area, with 11,48,000 sq km, followed by coastal Andhra with 9,28,000 sq km. The cultivable area is estimated at 64,02,358 hectares in Telangana and 46,33,304 hectares in the Coastal Andhra. But 13,12,795 hectares or 28.33 percent of the cultivable land in the Coastal Andhra is being irrigated under canal irrigation system, whereas 2,66,964 hectares or 4.17 percent of the cultivable land in Telangana is receiving canal waters. The entitlement of Telangana of waters of Krishna and Godavari rivers is 975 tmc. ft. In 1974, 800 tmc.ft water was allotted to AP by the Bachawat Award to Andhra Pradesh. A re-distribution of this in 1981 saw coastal Andhra getting the major share with 377.07 tmc, Telangana 266.783 tmc and Rayalaseema 123 tmc. Telangana's share in Godavari waters is 709 tmc.ft of the state's total allotment of 1,495 tmc.ft. Out of its total share 1153.50 tmc (from all sources) barely 380 tmc is used for irrigation.

The discrimination against Telangana stands out glaringly in the amounts spent by the state on irrigation. The amount spent in Telangana so far is Rs. 4005 crores while that spent in Coastal Andhra is Rs. 19,693.50 crores, nearly five times higher. In terms of percentage, while Telangana got a mere 15.5 percent, coastal Andhra got 76 percent. If the principle of expenditure proportionate to cultivable area were to be followed (as it should be), Telangana, with 44.28 percent cultivable area should have got an equivalent amount and coastal Andhra 32.04 percent. Instead, coastal Andhra got more than twice its share.

Since 1956 to date, the additional irrigation potential created in Telangana is only 5 percent since none of the planned irrigation projects have been completed although they were planned 30-40 years ago. The 12 projects sanctioned for Telangana at an estimated cost Rs. 5,449.53 crore to provide for 10.08 lakh hectares have been progressing at snail's pace for decades.

The Sriram Sagar Project (SRSP) was started 1n 1963 and is yet to be completed. Even the first phase of the project was not completed after 33 years. The rehabilitation of the displaced people under this project is still pending. The Bheema project, which is older than Andhra Pradesh has remained on paper. Jurala, Icchampally too have languished. While experts and decision makers debate interminably and have still not decided on Srisailam Left Bank Canal (which is to irrigate about 3 lakhs hectares in Telangana), to supply water either through lift or tunnel. The Srisailam Right Bank Canal feeding the coastal districts progresses steadily. Even the 33 medium projects proposed in Telangana which could utilize 80 to 100 tmc of water at a cost Rs 500 crore have been kept pending. Compare this delay with alacrity attending on the Telugu Ganga project: it got funds allocated consistently year after year, within 12 years of its grounding, the project is supplying water to Chennai.

Even budgetary allocation are not fully spent on projects benefiting Telangana. For the Bheema lift irrigation scheme, the budgetary allocation was nine crore rupees in 1996-97, which was pruned to Rs 10 lakhs. Subsequently, only six lakh rupees were spent. On the SRSP, only six crore rupees were spent during 1996-97 against an allocation of Rs 25 crores. In 33 years only Rs 978 crores had been spent on SRSP. And yet Rs 1075 crores were spent on Telugu Ganga in 12 years.

Callous indifference and neglect of maintenance of tanks in Telangana has reduced the area under tank irrigation by half, an unprecedented occurrence. In 1956-57, 4,47 lakh hectares were under tank irrigation which has come down to 2.26 lakh hectares. This increasingly made Telangana farmers resort to exploiting groundwater which is suicidal for a semi-arid region. This dependence on pumpsets saw a great tragedy befall Telangana farmers early this year: as power supply was erratic, irregular and of low quality (low voltage), they incurred huge losses as other region suffered as much due to power scarcity as Telangana.

Power Situation 
As irrigation projects for Telangana got bogged down in delays, cost-overruns, controversies, power generation projects too suffered. The Srisailam Left bank canal is one such project. Only 1543 mw of power is generated in this region whereas the generating capacity of the other two regions is 7477 mw. All power situations with the exception Ramagundam and Kothagudem are located outside Telangana, although Telangana accounts for a major share of power consumption and more than three-fourths of catchment area of Krishna and Godavari rivers is in Telangana. That the needs of Telangana are at the bottom of priorities of the government is evident from the fact as many as two lakh applications for new power connection is pending with the government. Yet, there is no plan to increase the power generating capacity in Telangana even as two lakh people wait in vain for a power connection.

Changing Crop Pattern
A dangerous and little-noticed development that threatens Telangana is the changing cropping pattern in the region with food crops giving away to cash crops. The change has been taking place over two decades now with food crops suitable for semi-arid regions giving way to water-intensive cash crops. Staple cereals such as jawar, maize and bajra preferred by local people, serving as food for them and fodder for their cattle have declined significantly in area. The area under jawar has come down from 13,63,169 hectares to 7,97,864 hectares during 1981-84 to 1990-93. Bajra declined from 1,94,981 hectares to 64,398 hectares and maize fell to 2,55,863 hectares from 3,17,098 hectares. Coarse cereals have been the major staple food for millions of people in the area and a shift from these crops needs to be understood in the context of the needs of the people most of whom continue to languish in poverty. Groundnut, castor, sunflower, cotton, chillies and sugarcane have witnessed considerable growth in cropped area. While sunflower registered 500 percent growth, it is more than 100 percent in case of cotton. Except for castor and groundnut, all other crops have entered the region quite recently.

While it may seem strange that the impoverished farmers of Telangana are opting for water-intensive cash crops in the place of rain-fed food crops, the fact is that this change has been brought about the migrant farmers and not the native ones. Settled in tracts irrigated by Nagarjunasagar and Sriransagar canals, these farmers who came to Telangana in 50s and 60s have adopted sugarcane, sunflower, chillies, cotton and groundnut since returns on them are higher than on traditional crops. Liberalization and opening of the market has come as god-sent opportunity to these farmers to make more money at he cost of the people of Telangana.

In Medak, where cotton has been introduced by the Coastal Andhra farmers on a wide scale, the people realized the dangers from it: it introduced new pests to the region and new diseases since the crop requires heavy doses of strong pesticides, and more important, the change in their dietary habits, from jawar and maize to rice had come with high undesirable price: insufficient nutrition to them and shortage of fodder for their cattle. Helped by NGO, the people have gone back to their traditional crops, which have provided them since time immemorial, food and fodder.Another development as a result of this change is the rise of a merchant class in towns dealing in these inputs, a majority of whom are immigrants from coastal area. The cash-rich migrants beat the local entrepreneurs and farmers out of the market.
Employment in Government
The entire government and its various departments are dominated by people of Coastal Andhra. This pattern has been a blatant violation of agreement to share government jobs between Andhra and Telangana in the ratio of 2:1. Out of 14 lakh jobs in the government today(1997 figures), Telangana's share has been barely two lakhs and these too are in lower levels. Similarly, of the 531 judicial officers, only 92 belong to the region. Of the 22 judges in the state high court, there are only two representing Telangana. Moreover, no one from Telangana could become the advocate-general since the state was formed in 1956. On the educational front, of the 96,031 primary teachers, only 15,921 belong to Telangana. All the top and middle level jobs cornered by Andhra people: there's not a single secretary in the government today belonging to Telangana. Out of 140 heads of department in the government barring a handful, all are from Coastal Andhra. Public and private undertakings, autonomous bodies, corporations and universities have been made the monopoly of Andhras.

Rules have been twisted, manipulated or simply ignored to ensure government jobs went to those from coastal a Andhras and to keep out Telangana people. The present trend is to keep out the Telangana people even from the posts of peons, bus conductors and drivers. The new recruits are all brought over from coastal districts. This strategy has been adopted since 1956 despite agreements entered into, working out the procedure and share. For instance, in 1966, all of the 70,000 vacancies, of which 90 percent went to the people of Andhra.

The latest example is that of recruitment of more than 200 munisif magistrates, the highest post under direct recruitment. In course of time, they will become district and high court judges. Evidently, with an eye on capturing these crucial posts, the procedure has been changed, more centers of examinations opened in coastal Andhra towns, and it was ensured that an overwhelming majority of examiners chosen belong to Coastal Andhra: 50 of 55 judges-examiners were Andhras. The written examination was held on February 23, 1997. The results were predictable: 68 candidates (80 percent of them from Andhra region) passed from Hyderabad; Warangal ( the only center in Telangana) was only 15. Visakapatnam accounted for 85, Vijaywada 75 and Tirupati 47 successful candidates. Only 30 candidates out of 290 called for interview are from Telangana.

Industrial Development
Industrialization of Telangana has been restricted to the Hyderabad city and Ranga Reddy district due to their physical proximity to the seat of the government. Industries in other parts of Telangana did not take off other than those set up prior to 1956. Several industries in Telangana have been allowed to become sick with government refusing to help out to restore them. Today, more and more PSUs such as Allwyn Auto and Republic Forge, located in Telangana are being closed down by the government for various reason. Those threatened include Antargoan and Sirpur Sirsilk Mills. Others in the line for closure are Nizams Sugar factory, FCI at Godavarikhani and Miryalguda Sugar Mill.

According to data, a major chunk of the existing medium and major industrial units in Telangana are owned by people from coastal Andhra. Of the 10,0000 odd units located in Telangana, only 1250 units are owned by the native Telanganites. Coastal Andhra industrialists own 6000 units and the rest are owned by outsiders from different parts of the country. With regard to employment in these industrial units, only 23 percent belong to Telangana, the rest hail from the Coastal Andhra region.

Budget Allocation 
In terms of budget allocations, the pattern is the same: denial, deprivation and diversion. Based on area and population, Telangana should get 39-44 percent of the state's budget allocations. But at no point did its allocation exceed 30 percent. Yet Telangana contributes 42 percent of revenue to the state exchequer. Besides, according to some reports, as much as Rs 5000 crores allocated to Telangana under various heads by successive state governments have been diverted to the coastal Andhra region in the past two decades. This is hardly unbelievable since diversion of all kinds of wealth and resources including Telangana's share of water, has become a regular practice. The plunder and exploitation of Telangana to benefit the coastal Andhra region and its people has been planned, constant and systematic.The utter indifference of the officials toward Telangana can be seen from a recent occurrence. The Nizamsagar dam on Manjira river, built in 1931 was designed to irrigate 1.1 lakh hectares but enormous siltation over the years has reduced its ayacut by half. A satellite mapping has shown that all its major distributaries (83 in number) and minor distributaries (243) have been silted up as the canal bunds eroded. Nine gates of the dam meant for letting silt escape from the reservoir has been jammed for the past 20 years, reducing the capacity of the reservoir. Nothing has been done to rectify them. In 1992-93, the World bank lent Rs 30 crores for Nizamsagr through its Natural Water Program for remodeling the project. The government utilized only six crores rupees and the rest of the amount lapsed. The state government failed to get the loan revived. A high-powered committee went into question of finding funds for the project and submitted its recommendations in 1994. They have remained on the paper.

Similar is the situation of all major and minor irrigation sources all over Telangana. Breached bunds siltation, infestation by water hyacinth have slowly killed them in places, reduced their ayacut, forcing farmers to drill borewells and open wells as in Toopran mandal of Medak district. This has affected the water table in the region. Medak has as many as 1.2 lakh borewells, all dug in the last few years.

Diversion of resources from an area to another to benefit the latter is feature of colonizer. And this has been going for several decades. Water from Krishana and Godavari, coal from Singareni, limestone for cement factories owned by Andhra entrepreneurs, revenue from Telangana are all diverted to Coastal Andhra region, or Andhra businessmen and entrepreneurs of Andhra settlers in Telangana. The result has been the impoverishment of the people of Telangana, slow and tardy development of the region, oppression of the people by unemployment, discrimination and lack of opportunities.

Statehood is the only Answer to Telangana's Suffering 
For hundreds of years, people from various parts of India made Telangana their home. There have never been any instance of intolerance of Telangana people towards them. To the credit of the immigrants, they too adopted the local culture, and contributed some their own to Telangana culture. However, the Andhras were a different category. They came, made their home and life in Telangana, and in a few years, assumed a superior, arrogant posture, looking down upon the Telangana people. Gradually, people who had come looking for opportunities, displaced the local people from every field. This brings to mind the pattern followed by European immigrants to the Americas and the English in India, in fact colonizers everywhere: they come as guests, stay as friends, turn occupiers, and overtime, shunt out the local people to reservations refusing them a place of respect in their dispensation, treating as a lower class citizens.

Case for Smaller States
Whether it is a case of state of Jharkhand or Telangana, the demand for a separate state is opposed mainly by those who have benefited from the exploitation of the disaffected people, just as colonizers everywhere. Several arguments have been put forth against the need, viability and purpose of Telangana. Most important, will Telangana become reality? And if it does, will it eradicate the problems of backwardness, poverty, illiteracy and unemployment?

Need for Telangana
For all the above reasons discussed above, Telangana has to separate. Another important reason is that the merger of the two regions in 1956 did not result in the merger of their hearts, nor have the last 40 years led to emotional integration. Quite to the contrary, in fact, because the economic inequality has grown, the developmental divide has become a chasm and the cultural differences have moved the two people further away. This is because over the last four decades, the relationship of two unequal partners deteriorated into one of oppressor - oppressed, exploiter - exploited. colonizer - colonized. The division has so greatly deepened that there's no going back.. history, attitudes, prejudices cannot be undone easily.
The common language, Telugu, has been devisive rather than unifying factor because that has been the major, most visible and universally experienced by Telangana people. They have been discriminated against, humiliated and ridiculed for the language they speak. If English language is the one dividing factor between English and American people, it is even more so between the people of Telangana and Coastal Andhra: they have been divided by a common language. This one factor rejects the premise of the state reorganization committee that language binds.
Can a backward region develop economically independently? Or does its future lie in a larger state? Experience of larger states like UP, MP and Bihar has shown that size impedes rather than promotes development - the backward remain backward; the administration is unwieldy, and the growth concentrated in pockets. The answer lies in smaller states where decentralization of administration is possible; developmental activities can be more focused in smaller areas; and people can be involved in the process of development, which is a major factor in giving a push to development. An example of how smaller, backward region can come into its own after separating from the more developed region can be seen in Harayana after breaking away from Punjab, and Himachal Pradesh.
Today in India, almost every large state is facing the demand from its backward, neglected, culturally different people to be recognized as different and given independent status and separate identity. Apart from Telangana, 11 regions are seeking statehood, and these are: Vidarbha (Maharastra), Saurastra(Gujarat), Chattisgarh(Madya Pradesh), Malwa, Bundelkhand( both comprising parts of MP and UP), Pancahl Pradesh (Western UP), Poorvanchal (Eastern UP), Uttarkhand (UP), Bodoland (Assam) Gorkhaland( West Bengal) and Jharkhand ( Bihar).
The size of the state cannot be a factor for its viability, as it is being argued by some. If that factor were top be applied, then Telangana should be considered first since there are at least five existing states that are smaller than Telangana. Telangana with 11.48 lakh square kilometers area, 107 Assembly and 14 Parliament constituencies with three crore population is larger than the states of Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Hoimachal Pradesh, and Kerala. Another 49 assembly constituencies and nine parliament constituencies will be added to the present 107 assembly and 14 loka Sabha seats once the constituencies reorganized.
There is nothing sacrosanct about the 1956 merger that it has to be retained at the cost of the people of Telangana. The demand for separate state is neither undemocratic nor unconstitutional. In fact, by refusing to heed the genuine aspirations of the people, the rulers are being undemocratic. They are trying to supress the movement only to protect their own interests and hegemony over Telangana. The ceded districts of Madras Presidency - the Costal Andhra districts - put forth several reasons justfying their demand for separate state in the 1950s.They are extremely similar to those put forward by the people of Tlanga today: political and cultural domination by the Tamils; economic exploitation, discrimination in employment and education, uneven development of the land of the Telugus and jeopardy to the individuality and self-respect of the Telugu people.
The late K .Kaleshwara Rao, the first Speaker of the AP Legislative Assembly in his autobiography expanded on the perception of Andhras under Tamilians, that the latter had greater influence in the legislature, executive and judiciary and the Andhra district were neglected in industries, power, employment, education and economic development. "There are nine bridges across Cauvery but not even one on Krishna and Godavari…the pace of development of towns in Andhra area is no comparison to that of Tamil districts," he said. Supporting the movement for a separate Andhra state, an editorial in Andhra Patrika said, "If a separate state is formed, the very reason for Telugus' backwardness will disappear." If a separate state was an answer to Andhras' development in 1953, why can't a similar solution be adopted for Telangana in 1997?

Agenda for a Separate Telangana State
It is extremely important that if our efforts for a separate state are to succeed we have a clear vision of the future of its people. An agenda needs to be developed through a pooling of ideas, tasks prioritized, and plans outlined to tackle the major problems facing the people.Blueprints would have to be drawn up for a social and economic development of the people. An action plan is necessary for the immediate tasks on hand, such as land reforms. This could be worked out to be completed within a time-frame to avoid the pitfalls of earlier well-meaning intentions that were hijacked by vested interests in free India.
Universal educational should be the first priority; special efforts should be made make access to education available to the Dalits, women and minorities. This task too should be achieved within a specific time-frame.
Other priorities should be safe drinking water in all villages, electricity and health for all. The rich mineral resources of Telangana, the fertile soil, massive irrigation potential and the hard-working nature of its people will help them to realize their dreams.
A word about the support PWG has extended to Telangana state.: it is welcome, as is all support, from within Telangana and outside. Given the political dominance and brute majority enjoyed by ruling Telugu Desam Party in the Assembly, given the control of the mass media by Coastal Andhra people, and given the threat a separate Telangana poses to the entrenched economic interests that have grown at the cost of Telangana people, any and all support is necessary to carry the struggle forward.
The statement of PWG that it will only support and not lead the agitation should lay to rest apprehensions of break out of violence, or that the struggle for Telangana would be hijacked by PWG. Solidarity and unity of all people, of all ideologies, of all persuasions is the need of the hour.
Another fear, perfectly justified, is that the support of PWG might be used by the state to suppress the Telangana movement. The government has found it convenient to blame PWG for the continuing backwardness of the region, for the agitation of the farmers against low voltage, and for many struggles taking place all over Telangana for justice. There is every danger of the government using the excuse of PWG support to Telangana to crackdown on the movement to suppress it. That is why the movement has to be democratic, peaceful and non-violent.

Rebuilding Our Telangana

        

we as students have pledged to take initative not just to achieve Telangana state , but to rebuild the Education Standards in Rural parts of Telangana ....

We are trying to bridge the gap in socio economic status , starting by spreading awareness among our offspring's .. the future citizens of Telangana state, We are planning to provide them books and clothings and few computers , not in schools of towns but very most remote part of Telangana , so that every mother of the withered student in this agitation feel proud that our son has died for a cause !

Many eyes are waiting for us .. I have started as one .. am waiting to be one among millions !

to Rebuild their hopes

to Rebuild their faiths

to Rebuild their dreams

to Rebuild their " LIVES "

support :   www.facebook.com/telanganabiddalu
our 1st Initative :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjqeOkXRQMI&feature=channel