Telangana

Prologue: This series of posts is for people who would like to know why Telangana is being demanded for. This post is for people who would like to know the truth. For every one else, take your mouse pointer to the top-right corner of your screen and left click there (top-left for users of Mac OS) . That is your road to a hell lot of bliss, if we go by the saying 'Ignorance is bliss'.

Chapter 1: The History

A majority of India got its independence on the 15th of August 1947. The Hyderabad state was still under the rule of the Nizam, Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII. After the military offensive of the Indian army, code named Operation Polo, the state was freed from the monarchy on the 18th of September 1948. And thus was formed the Indian state of Hyderabad. The first chief minister of Hyderabad was Mr. Mullath Kadingi Vellodi Menon, from 1950 to 1952. The first (and last) elected chief minister of the Hyderabad state was Mr. Pullamraju 'Burgula' Ramakrishna, from 1952 to 1956.

Meanwhile the Madras Presidency of the British Raj had become the Madras State in 1950. 'Amarajeevi' Potti Sree Ramulu was an Indian revolutionary of Telugu origin who was a freedom fighter and also fought for Harijan upliftment. He was of the opinion that the Telugu culture and language needed to be preserved and thus needed a unique identity, and this opinion wasn't a new one, but existed since the British Raj. For this, he demanded for the formation of a separate state of Telugu speaking people and went on a fast-unto-death which ended in his sad demise on the 16th of December 1952. At the beginning, his voice wasn't well supported by the Andhra people, but as time passed, the Andhra people understood how important his proposition was and joined the movement which transformed into a violent agitation, where many were killed, leading to the announcement of a separate state by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on the 19th December 1952, and eventually to the formation of a separate Andhra state on the 1st of October 1953. So Potti Sree Ramulu's dream of a state having only Telugu people was fulfilled. All was well (or was it?.. No). The Andhra State had to decide what her capital would be. In 1953, the 'Madras Manade' (Madras is ours) movement started. The Andhra people wanted Madras (now Chennai) city as their capital though clearly it was not within the Andhra state boundary. Then Madras city had many Telugus and the culture of the city was highly influenced by Tamils and Telugus alike. A report was published by Jawaharlal Nehru, Pattabhi Sitaramayya , and C. Rajagopalachari rightly stating that Madras cannot be Andhra's Capital. Problems started. Now a state which was formed hoping they could live off Madras had to build a new capital. Kurnool was chosen, as it was located in the backward Rayalaseema region as making it the state capital would help the region develop, under the terms of the Sri Bagh Pact of 1937 between the leaders of the Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema. The High Court of the state was located at Guntur nevertheless. The first Chief minister of Andhra was Tanguturi Prakasham. All was well (or was it?.. No). The state was being run on a budget deficit. Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy, the deputy chief minister of Andhra state 1953-1954, makes a statement in the Andhra State Assembly- "The state is running on a budget deficit. It is difficult to run a state without income enough even to pay the salaries of government employees." (Source- Sakshi Newspaper. I don't remember the date). One would wonder what steps the leadership would take to increase the state income and sustain itself. I'll tell you what they did.

Meanwhile, the Hyderabad state, consisting of some parts of present day Maharashtra and Karnataka, was enjoying a budget excess (Ever heard of that in recent times?), reportedly of 500 crores, at a time when India neither was a booming economy, nor was it a partially free economy as it is today. The average salary of a state government employee of Telangana was substantially greater than that of a state government employee of Andhra. At a time when India was just beginning to stand on her legs, Hyderabad state was having more than what it was spending. Reason? The Hyderabad city. It was the 5th largest city of India then (as it is now, excluding the areas added, making it Greater Hyderabad) and was a major income generator. The state was planning to build dams and other major projects for the development of the state. If I'm not wrong, five dams were in the pipeline of which Nagarjuna Sagar was one.

Chapter 2: The Proposal

My esteemed readers, by now, might have guessed what happened next. The Andhra state began to sing the song of Telugu brotherhood. They suddenly began to interpret the sacrifice of Potti Sreeramulu for a state of only Telugu people to be a state of 'ALL' the Telugu people. They suddenly

got enlightened that the interests of all the Telugu people were similar and thus having a single state was a good idea (I have a name for this- HYPOCRISY). And someone please explain how having two different states would hinder achieving those common interests. Jawaharlal Nehru wasn't interested in the proposition. He had a name for it too-- “tint of expansionist imperialism” (Indian Express, October 17, 1953). The States Reorganization Committee was constituted which came out with it's report which considered the case of the merger of Telangana and Andhra in 1955.

Some excerpts from the report :

Para 376

"The existing Andhra State has faced a financial problem of some magnitude ever since it was created and in comparison with Telangana the existing Andhra State has a low per capita revenue. Telangana, on the other hand, is much less likely to be faced with financial embarrassment. The much higher incidence of land revenue in Telangana and an excise revenue of the order of Rs.5 crores per annum principally explain this difference....."

"...Telangana claims to be progressive and from an administrative point of view, unification, it is contended, is not likely to confer any benefits on this area."

Para 377

"....The Nandikonda and Kushtapuram (Godavari) projects are, for example among the most important which Telangana or the country as a whole has undertaken. Irrigation in the coastal as of these two great rivers is however, also being planned. Telangana, therefore, does not wish to lose its present independent rights in relation to the utilization of the waters of Krishna and Godavari."

Para 382

"....we have to take note of the important fact that, while opinion in Andhra is overwhelmingly in favour of the larger unit, public opinion in Telangana has still to crystallize itself. Important leaders of public opinion in Andhra themselves seem to appreciate that the unification of Telangana with Andhra, though desirable, should be based on a voluntary and willing association of the people and that it is primarily for the people of Telangana to take a decision about their future."

Para 386

"After taking all these factors into consideration we have come to the conclusions that it will be in the interests of Andhra as well as Telangana, if for the present, the Telangana area is 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."

This was the conclusion by the SRC. Telangana wasn't allowed to remain a separate Telugu state, she was not given a chance to crystallize her opinion, she was not given a chance to express her opinion through the democratic process of elections (as suggested in the report). What happens? People rebel. And politicians (including Telanganites) suppress. People die. This is what happened in 1956. And thus never was Telangana's opinion heard.

Chapter 3: The marriage

Even after the suggestions by the report of the Fazal Ali Commission, and opposition from the most influential leader of his time, the state of Andhra Pradesh was formed on the 1st November, 1956.

Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru said "Today I am performing a marriage between a naughty boy and an innocent girl. I hope the boy takes good care of the girl. But, like any other marriage, this marriage too has the provision of a divorce". The merger was done after the tallest leaders of both the sides came into an agreement regarding the safeguards to be offered to the unwilling and to-be-minoritified Telangana region. The very famous Gentlemen's agreement of 1956 was signed. It is called "Peddhala oppandam" in Telugu.

Here is the agreement (source: Wikipedia)

"

1. There will be one legislature for the whole of Andhra Pradesh which will be the sole law

making body for the entire state and there be one Governor for the State aided and advised

by the Council of Ministers responsible to the State Assembly for the entire field of

Administration.

2. For the more convenient transaction of the business of Government with regard to some

specified matters the Telangana area will be treated as one region.

3. For the Telangana region there will be a Regional Standing Committee of the state assembly consisting of the members of the State Assembly belonging to that region including the Ministers from that region but not including the Chief Minister.

4. Legislation relating to specified matters will be referred to the Regional committee. In respect of specified matters proposals may also be made by the Regional Committee to the State Government for legislation or with regard to the question of general policy not involving any financial commitments other than expenditure of a routine and incidental character.

5. The advice tendered by the Regional Committee will normally be accepted by the Government

and the State Legislature. In case of difference of opinion, reference will be made to the Governor whose decision will be binding.

6. The Regional Committee will deal with following matters:

--Development and economic planning within the framework of the general development plans

formulated by the State Legislature.

--Local Self Government, that is to say, the Constitutional powers of Municipal

Corporations, Improvement Trusts, District Boards and district authorities for the purpose

of Local Self Government or Village Administration.

--Public health and sanitation, local hospitals and dispensaries.

--Primary and secondary education.

--Regulation of admission to the educational institutions in the telangana region.

--Prohibition—Sale of agricultural lands.

--Cottage and small scale Industries, and Agriculture, Cooperative Societies, Markets and Fairs. Unless revised by agreement earlier this arrangement will be reviewed after ten years.

7. Domicile Rules : A temporary provision be made to ensure that for a period of five years, Telangana is regarded as a unit as far as recruitment to subordinate services is concerned; posts borne on the cadre of these services may be reserved for being filled up by persons who satisfy the domicile conditions as prescribed under the existing Hyderabad Mulki Rules. ( 12 years of Stay in Telangana area)

8. Distribution of expenditure between Telangana and Andhra Regions--- Allocation of expenditure with the resources of the state is a matter which falls within the purview of the State Government and the State Legislature.. Since , however, it has been agreed to the representatives of Andhra and Telangana that the expenditure of the new state on central and general administration should be borne proportionately by the two regions and the balance of income should be reserved for expenditure on the development of Telangana area, it is open to the state government to act in accordance with the terms of agreement in making budgetary allocations. The Government of India propose to invite the attention of the Chief Minister of Andhra to this particular understanding and to express the hope that it will be implemented.

9. The existing educational facilities including Technical Education in Telangana should be secured to the students of Telangana and further improved.

10. The cabinet will consist of members in proportion of 60:40 percent for Andhra and Telangana respectively, out of 40 % of Telangana ministers, one will be a Muslim from Telangana. If the Chief Minister is from one region the other region should be given Dy Chief Ministership.

"

Signatories

Andhra region	Telangana Region
B. Gopal Reddy Chief Minister, Andhra State	B. Rama Krishna Rao Chief Minister, Hyderabad state
N. Sanjeeva Reddy	K.V. Ranga Reddy
G.Lachanna	M. Channa Reddy
Alluri Satyanarayana Raju	J.V. Narsing Rao

Chapter 4: To be continued...

Thus was formed the state of Andhra Pradesh. In this post, I have been as faithful to the facts as I could be. There was much more I could write for which I couldn't find enough substantial proof. Like the rumor that the name of the state was decided to be "Andhra Telangana" and not Andhra Pradesh. Like the rumor that the Andhra state (before the merger) used to allocate budget for pig-control measures because there were pigs which entered government offices and damaged files, and during the rainy season, the offices used to be temporarily shifted to Madras to prevent being drenched. Like the rumor that it was the political lobbying of caste-crazy pigs (supposed to be a metaphor) of Telangana, Andhra, and Rayalaseema regions that lead to the nod from the Centre.

The most disgusting part of all this is that there are people, Telugu people, who are very outspoken about their opinion on Telangana, who don't even know that Telangana was a separate entity in independent India. They are the people who don't know that there was(or is.. If I dare say that) something called the Gentlemen's agreement. How am I supposed to, as a human being, respect their opinion in the first place? That is what fueled my will to write this series of posts. Apart from these people, I hope this will be, at least minimally, informative to non-Telugu people who are scratching their heads and want to utilize their right to having an opinion on this issue as Indians. But let not that opinion be a misinformed one for God's, no, India's sake.

One more thing I would like to point out. All that I have researched and presented in this post might be true, to whatever extent that may be, but is fortunately or unfortunately, immaterial. Even after all this, there was still hope. There was still a chance for people to say then, "All is well" and people like me say now, All was well (or was it?... To be continued).