Hi All,
Whenever the topic of Telangana is raised, many of us blindly support Andhra or Telangana based on
where we come
from. Not sure how many really think of why the demand for separate state has been there for such
a long time.
he 2 major reasons why the demand has been pending for so many years is WATER AND HYDERBAD.
People around the
state have earned and invested in and around Hyderabad so there is a concerns about the safety of
the investment
if the state is separated while both the major rivers in our state flow mostly through Telangana.
Below are some
facts that are few reasons for the demand. Sentiments can be foolish but not facts.
just check this below link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKe7YL3eHhk
check this also
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_0hkdBSYkA
check this also
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_0hkdBSYkA
check this also
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKe7YL3eHhk
India
Regionalism
The formation of states along linguistic and ethnic lines has occurred in
India in numerous instances since independence in 1947 (see Linguistic
States, this ch.). There have been demands, however, to form units within
states based not only along linguistic, ethnic, and religious lines but also, in
some cases, on a feeling of the distinctness of a geographical region and its
culture and economic interests. The most volatile movements are those
ongoing in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab (see Political Issues, ch. 8;
Insurgent Movements and External Subversion, ch. 9). How the central
government responds to these demands will be an area of scrutiny through
the late 1990s and beyond. It is believed by some officials that conceding
regional autonomy is less arduous and takes less time and fewer resources
than does meeting agitation, violence, and demands for concessions.
Telangana Movement
An early manifestation of regionalism was the Telangana movement in what
became the state of Andhra Pradesh. The princely ruler of Hyderabad, the
nizam, had attempted unsuccessfully to maintain Hyderabad as an
independent state separate from India in 1947. His efforts were simultaneous
with the largest agrarian armed rebellion in modern Indian history. Starting
in July 1946, communist-led guerrilla squads began overthrowing local
feudal village regimes and organizing land reform in Telugu-speaking areas
of Hyderabad, collectively known as Telangana (an ancient name for the
region dating from the Vijayanagar period). In time, about 3,000 villages
and some 41,000 square kilometers of territory were involved in the revolt.
Faced with the refusal of the nizam of Hyderabad to accede his territory to
India and the violence of the communist-led rebellion, the central
government sent in the army in September 1948. By November 1949,
Hyderabad had been forced to accede to the Indian union, and, by October
1951, the violent phase of the Telangana movement had been suppressed.
The effect of the 1946-51 rebellion and communist electoral victories in
1952 had led to the destruction of Hyderabad and set the scene for the
establishment of a new state along linguistic lines. In 1953, based on the
recommendation of the States Reorganisation Commission, Telugu-speaking
areas were separated from the former Madras States to form Andhra, India's
first state established along linguistic lines. The commission also
contemplated establishing Telangana as a separate state, but instead
Telangana was merged with Andhra to form the new state of Andhra
Pradesh in 1956.
The concerns about Telangana were manifold. The region had a less
developed economy than Andhra, but a larger revenue base (mostly because
it taxed rather than prohibited alcoholic beverages), which Telanganas
feared might be diverted for use in Andhra. They also feared that planned
dam projects on the Krishna and Godavari rivers would not benefit
Telangana proportionately even though Telanganas controlled the
headwaters of the rivers. Telanganas feared too that the people of Andhra
would have the advantage in jobs, particularly in government and education.
The central government decided to ignore the recommendation to establish a
separate Telangana state and, instead, merged the two regions into a unified
Andhra Pradesh. However, a "gentlemen's agreement" provided
reassurances to the Telangana people. For at least five years, revenue was to
be spent in the regions proportionately to the amount they contributed.
Education institutions in Telangana were to be expanded and reserved for
local students. Recruitment to the civil service and other areas of
government employment such as education and medicine was to be
proportional. The use of Urdu was to continue in the administration and the
judiciary for five years. The state cabinet was to have proportional
membership from both regions and a deputy chief minister from Telangana
if the chief minister was from Andhra and vice versa. Finally, the Regional
Council for Telangana was to be responsible for economic development, and
its members were to be elected by the members of the state legislative
assembly from the region.
In the following years, however, the Telangana people had a number of
complaints about how the agreements and guarantees were implemented.
The deputy chief minister position was never filled. Education institutions in
the region were greatly expanded, but Telanganas felt that their enrollment
was not proportionate to their numbers. The selection of the city of
Hyderabad as the state capital led to massive migration of people from
Andhra into Telangana. Telanganas felt discriminated against in education
employment but were told by the state government that most non-
Telanganas had been hired on the grounds that qualified local people were
unavailable. In addition, the unification of pay scales between the two
regions appeared to disadvantage Telangana civil servants. In the
atmosphere of discontent, professional associations that earlier had
amalgamated broke apart by region.
Discontent with the 1956 gentlemen's agreement intensified in January 1969
when the guarantees that had been agreed on were supposed to lapse.
Student agitation for the continuation of the agreement began at Osmania
University in Hyderabad and spread to other parts of the region.
Government employees and opposition members of the state legislative
assembly swiftly threatened "direct action" in support of the students. The
Congress-controlled state and central governments offered assurances that
non-Telangana civil servants in the region would be replaced by Mulkis,
disadvantaged local people, and that revenue surpluses from Telangana
would be returned to the region. The protestors, however, were dissatisfied,
and severe violence, including mob attacks on railroads, road transport, and
government facilities, spread over the region. In addition, seventy-nine
police firings resulted in twenty-three deaths according to official figures,
the education system was shut down, and examinations were cancelled.
Calls for a separate Telangana state came in the midst of counter violence in
Andhra areas bordering Telangana. In the meantime, the Andhra Pradesh
High Court decreed that a central government law mandating replacement of
non-Telangana government employees with Mulkis was beyond
Parliament's constitutional powers.
Although the Congress faced dissension within its ranks, its leadership stood
against additional linguistic states, which were regarded as "antinational."
As a result, defectors from the Congress, led by M. Chenna Reddy, founded
the Telangana People's Association (Telangana Praja Samithi). Despite
electoral successes, however, some of the new party leaders gave up their
agitation in September 1971 and, much to the disgust of many separatists,
rejoined the safer political haven of the Congress ranks.
In 1972 the Supreme Court reversed the Andhra Pradesh High Court's ruling
that the Mulki rules were unconstitutional. This decision triggered agitation
in the Andhra region that produced six months of violence.
Throughout the 1970s, Andhra Pradesh settled into a pattern of continuous
domination by Congress (R) and later Congress (I), with much instability
and dissidence within the state party and constant interference from Indira
Gandhi and the national party. Chenna Reddy, the erstwhile opposition
leader, was for a time the Congress (I) state chief minister. Congress
domination was only ended by the founding of the Telugu National Party by
N.T. Rama Rao in 1982 and its overwhelming victory in the state elections
in 1983.
Polls taken after the end of the Telangana movement showed a certain lack
of enthusiasm for it, and for the idea of a separate state. Although urban
groups (students and civil servants) had been most active in the movement,
its support was stronger in rural areas. Its supporters were mixed: low and
middle castes, the young and the not so young, women, illiterates and the
poorly educated, and rural gentry. Speakers of several other languages than
Telugu were heavily involved. The movement had no element of religious
communalism, but some observers thought Muslims were particularly
involved in the movement. Other researchers found the Muslims were
unenthusiastic about the movement and noted a feeling that migration from
Andhra to Telangana was creating opportunities that were helping non-
Telanganas. On the other hand, of the two locally prominent Muslim
political groups, only one supported a separate state; the other opposed the
idea while demanding full implementation of the regional safeguards.
Although Urdu speakers were appealed to in the agitation (e.g., speeches
were given in Urdu as well as Telugu), in the aftermath Urdu disappeared
from the schools and the administration.
The Telangana movement grew out of a sense of regional identity as such,
rather than out of a sense of ethnic identity, language, religion, or caste. The
movement demanded redress for economic grievances, the writing of a
separate history, and establishment of a sense of cultural distinctness. The
emotions and forces generated by the movement were not strong enough,
however, for a continuing drive for a separate state. In the late 1980s and
early 1990s, the People's War Group, an element of the Communist Party of
India (Marxist-Leninist), renewed violence in Andhra Pradesh but was dealt
with by state police forces. The Telangana movement was never directed
against the territorial integrity of India, unlike the insurrections in Jammu
and Kashmir and some of the unrest in northeastern India.
Data as of September 1995
Regionalism
The formation of states along linguistic and ethnic lines has occurred in
India in numerous instances since independence in 1947 (see Linguistic
States, this ch.). There have been demands, however, to form units within
states based not only along linguistic, ethnic, and religious lines but also, in
some cases, on a feeling of the distinctness of a geographical region and its
culture and economic interests. The most volatile movements are those
ongoing in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab (see Political Issues, ch. 8;
Insurgent Movements and External Subversion, ch. 9). How the central
government responds to these demands will be an area of scrutiny through
the late 1990s and beyond. It is believed by some officials that conceding
regional autonomy is less arduous and takes less time and fewer resources
than does meeting agitation, violence, and demands for concessions.
Telangana Movement
An early manifestation of regionalism was the Telangana movement in what
became the state of Andhra Pradesh. The princely ruler of Hyderabad, the
nizam, had attempted unsuccessfully to maintain Hyderabad as an
independent state separate from India in 1947. His efforts were simultaneous
with the largest agrarian armed rebellion in modern Indian history. Starting
in July 1946, communist-led guerrilla squads began overthrowing local
feudal village regimes and organizing land reform in Telugu-speaking areas
of Hyderabad, collectively known as Telangana (an ancient name for the
region dating from the Vijayanagar period). In time, about 3,000 villages
and some 41,000 square kilometers of territory were involved in the revolt.
Faced with the refusal of the nizam of Hyderabad to accede his territory to
India and the violence of the communist-led rebellion, the central
government sent in the army in September 1948. By November 1949,
Hyderabad had been forced to accede to the Indian union, and, by October
1951, the violent phase of the Telangana movement had been suppressed.
The effect of the 1946-51 rebellion and communist electoral victories in
1952 had led to the destruction of Hyderabad and set the scene for the
establishment of a new state along linguistic lines. In 1953, based on the
recommendation of the States Reorganisation Commission, Telugu-speaking
areas were separated from the former Madras States to form Andhra, India's
first state established along linguistic lines. The commission also
contemplated establishing Telangana as a separate state, but instead
Telangana was merged with Andhra to form the new state of Andhra
Pradesh in 1956.
The concerns about Telangana were manifold. The region had a less
developed economy than Andhra, but a larger revenue base (mostly because
it taxed rather than prohibited alcoholic beverages), which Telanganas
feared might be diverted for use in Andhra. They also feared that planned
dam projects on the Krishna and Godavari rivers would not benefit
Telangana proportionately even though Telanganas controlled the
headwaters of the rivers. Telanganas feared too that the people of Andhra
would have the advantage in jobs, particularly in government and education.
The central government decided to ignore the recommendation to establish a
separate Telangana state and, instead, merged the two regions into a unified
Andhra Pradesh. However, a "gentlemen's agreement" provided
reassurances to the Telangana people. For at least five years, revenue was to
be spent in the regions proportionately to the amount they contributed.
Education institutions in Telangana were to be expanded and reserved for
local students. Recruitment to the civil service and other areas of
government employment such as education and medicine was to be
proportional. The use of Urdu was to continue in the administration and the
judiciary for five years. The state cabinet was to have proportional
membership from both regions and a deputy chief minister from Telangana
if the chief minister was from Andhra and vice versa. Finally, the Regional
Council for Telangana was to be responsible for economic development, and
its members were to be elected by the members of the state legislative
assembly from the region.
In the following years, however, the Telangana people had a number of
complaints about how the agreements and guarantees were implemented.
The deputy chief minister position was never filled. Education institutions in
the region were greatly expanded, but Telanganas felt that their enrollment
was not proportionate to their numbers. The selection of the city of
Hyderabad as the state capital led to massive migration of people from
Andhra into Telangana. Telanganas felt discriminated against in education
employment but were told by the state government that most non-
Telanganas had been hired on the grounds that qualified local people were
unavailable. In addition, the unification of pay scales between the two
regions appeared to disadvantage Telangana civil servants. In the
atmosphere of discontent, professional associations that earlier had
amalgamated broke apart by region.
Discontent with the 1956 gentlemen's agreement intensified in January 1969
when the guarantees that had been agreed on were supposed to lapse.
Student agitation for the continuation of the agreement began at Osmania
University in Hyderabad and spread to other parts of the region.
Government employees and opposition members of the state legislative
assembly swiftly threatened "direct action" in support of the students. The
Congress-controlled state and central governments offered assurances that
non-Telangana civil servants in the region would be replaced by Mulkis,
disadvantaged local people, and that revenue surpluses from Telangana
would be returned to the region. The protestors, however, were dissatisfied,
and severe violence, including mob attacks on railroads, road transport, and
government facilities, spread over the region. In addition, seventy-nine
police firings resulted in twenty-three deaths according to official figures,
the education system was shut down, and examinations were cancelled.
Calls for a separate Telangana state came in the midst of counter violence in
Andhra areas bordering Telangana. In the meantime, the Andhra Pradesh
High Court decreed that a central government law mandating replacement of
non-Telangana government employees with Mulkis was beyond
Parliament's constitutional powers.
Although the Congress faced dissension within its ranks, its leadership stood
against additional linguistic states, which were regarded as "antinational."
As a result, defectors from the Congress, led by M. Chenna Reddy, founded
the Telangana People's Association (Telangana Praja Samithi). Despite
electoral successes, however, some of the new party leaders gave up their
agitation in September 1971 and, much to the disgust of many separatists,
rejoined the safer political haven of the Congress ranks.
In 1972 the Supreme Court reversed the Andhra Pradesh High Court's ruling
that the Mulki rules were unconstitutional. This decision triggered agitation
in the Andhra region that produced six months of violence.
Throughout the 1970s, Andhra Pradesh settled into a pattern of continuous
domination by Congress (R) and later Congress (I), with much instability
and dissidence within the state party and constant interference from Indira
Gandhi and the national party. Chenna Reddy, the erstwhile opposition
leader, was for a time the Congress (I) state chief minister. Congress
domination was only ended by the founding of the Telugu National Party by
N.T. Rama Rao in 1982 and its overwhelming victory in the state elections
in 1983.
Polls taken after the end of the Telangana movement showed a certain lack
of enthusiasm for it, and for the idea of a separate state. Although urban
groups (students and civil servants) had been most active in the movement,
its support was stronger in rural areas. Its supporters were mixed: low and
middle castes, the young and the not so young, women, illiterates and the
poorly educated, and rural gentry. Speakers of several other languages than
Telugu were heavily involved. The movement had no element of religious
communalism, but some observers thought Muslims were particularly
involved in the movement. Other researchers found the Muslims were
unenthusiastic about the movement and noted a feeling that migration from
Andhra to Telangana was creating opportunities that were helping non-
Telanganas. On the other hand, of the two locally prominent Muslim
political groups, only one supported a separate state; the other opposed the
idea while demanding full implementation of the regional safeguards.
Although Urdu speakers were appealed to in the agitation (e.g., speeches
were given in Urdu as well as Telugu), in the aftermath Urdu disappeared
from the schools and the administration.
The Telangana movement grew out of a sense of regional identity as such,
rather than out of a sense of ethnic identity, language, religion, or caste. The
movement demanded redress for economic grievances, the writing of a
separate history, and establishment of a sense of cultural distinctness. The
emotions and forces generated by the movement were not strong enough,
however, for a continuing drive for a separate state. In the late 1980s and
early 1990s, the People's War Group, an element of the Communist Party of
India (Marxist-Leninist), renewed violence in Andhra Pradesh but was dealt
with by state police forces. The Telangana movement was never directed
against the territorial integrity of India, unlike the insurrections in Jammu
and Kashmir and some of the unrest in northeastern India.
Data as of September 1995
