ITS JUST THE BEGINNING

In a country that is facing so many problems, strangely enough what is hogging the media limelight is the battle of separate identity to the Telugu speaking people of Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh. The game being played out with human emotions as the key player has been on the burner for some time. The decision to carve out a separate State of Telangana has come about after a struggle of 40 years. Home Minister P. Chidambaram statement that the "process of separation of Telangana from Andhra Pradesh will be initiated soon" is very ambiguous as it does not divulge into matters regarding the timing and the content of passing a resolution at the Andhra Pradesh state assembly. Contradicting views of the members of the ruling party adds to the chaos. Had there been “consensus” amidst the parties, 100 M.L.A’S from Andhra and Rayalseema wouldn’t have put their papers en masse.


It’s sad to note that the first Indian state to be bifurcated on the basis of The States Reorganisation Act of 1956, is facing such an end. An in depth study into the pages of the Indian politics provides an interesting insight to this issue. The States Reorganization Committee formed to prepare for the creation of states on linguistic lines in December 1954 was in principal opposed to inclusion of the Telangana region with the then Andhra state. The report observed that the people of Telangana region where not in favor of the unification as they feared that their resources may be diverted to Andhra thus depriving their opportunities. Headed by Justice Fazal Ali the commission recommended to the government that it “will be in the interests of Andhra as well as Telangana area to constitute into a separate State, which may be known as the Hyderabad State with provision for its unification with Andhra after the general elections likely to be held in or about 1961 if by a two thirds majority the legislature of the residency Hyderabad State expresses itself in favor of such unification."


The central government decided to ignore the SRC recommendations and established unified Andhra Pradesh on November 1, 1956. However, a Gentlemen’s agreement provided reassurances to the Telangana people as well to Andhra people in terms of power sharing as well as administrative domicile rules and distribution of expenses of various regions. The agreement known as Gentlemen's agreement of Andhra Pradesh (1956) proved futile and sowed the seeds of Telangana movement way back in 1969. Had the recommendations of the Fazal Ali committee been heeded Andhra Pradesh could have saved itself the political turmoil that it has gone through.


It’s a mind boggling affair to study how the people of India vote their leaders. How many ever Rath Yatra’s or promises made by the politician, one can never judge the pulse of the voters. While the TRS received flak during the recent Loksabha elections, it has garnered more than enough support for its latest fete. By adopting a well planned strategy Chandrashekhar Rao not only got his span of political mileage at the cost of his health, but also raked the government at the centre with his indefinite fast.


The state that has sent the maximum number of M.P’s to the parliament is having a rough patch. First with the untimely loss of a towering leader in Dr. Rajashekhra Reddy, followed by the sudden outburst for the Telangana statehood. Lack of strong and an efficient chief minister can also be attributed to this problem. Had Y.S.R been alive this menace would have never surfaced. Dr. Reddy always kept a check on the extremists and kept them at bay.


The Congress should convene an all party meeting and take an appropriate decision on this contentious issue after taking into account the interest of all the stakeholders concerned. Till such time the B.J.P is only too happy as it’s freed from the constant media coverage received in wake of the Liberhan commission report.


With granting of statehood in the Telangana region, alarm bells have started ringing in the north east , west, east and northern parts of India. Claims of a separate BodoLand, Vidharba, Gorkha land, and Harit Pradesh are gaining momentum. Had the centre handled the matters more decisively and astute it could have averted its precarious position that it finds itself at present.


At the heart of any struggle is the deprival of basic opportunities and economic oppression. Telangana is no different. Despite being the largest area geographically, (1,14,800 km2 ) of the three regions of the state , yet much of the land is arid and not nearly as fertile as the agriculturally rich coastal region. Telangana has been a victim of official apathy since the formation of Andhra Pradesh and has lagged behind other regions in development and no government in the State or at the Centre made any honest attempt to bring it on a par with the other regions.


By granting greater autonomy and creating smaller states be useful in effective administration? Do smaller states translate to better governance?? The Telangana statehood issue has indeed opened the Pandora ’s Box. The answers will have far reaching consequences and can alter the geo political scenario of this developing nation.

Sir Winston Churchill quoted,

It has been said that Democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time

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