The people of telangana were under the rule of Nizam of Hyderabad but not directly under British. This very aspect seems to be the root of the difference between the people of telangana and andhra. Though the language spoken by the people of these two regions is same, they were incompatible from the very beginning.
Firstly, when english education was introduced in India by the British, people of telangana still did not have access to it. They still had the curriculum prepared by Nizam administration where Urdu was the official language, even in the administartion and judicial structure of the state. As a result of this even after Indian independence and subsequent formation of Andhra Pradesh, people of telangana were not qualified enough for government posts across departments when compared to the people from rest of Andhra Pradesh. Though it is agreed that efficient person must hold a post, there were no immediate efforts made for the upliftment of the telangana people on education front. This resulted in the huge variations in percentage of representation of the people from three different regions in the coming years which is continuing till date.
Secondly, during the freedom struggle, the people of telangana were not fighting the British but the Nizam. The leaders from telangana region did not have enough visibility at the national level. This led to inadequate representation of the regional leaders from telangana both at the state and national level. The number of chief ministers from telangana region and their tenure in the office for the state from the formation to this date proves this.
Thirdly, on the agriculture prespective in the state, there was no doubt that coastal andhra was way ahead because of rich agricultural land between the Krishna and Godavari delta when compared to the dry and arid lands of telangana. After the state formation of the state, the policy makers of the state instead of lending a helping hand to the farmers of telangana, have continued allocating the majority of the water resources to the coastal andhra.Coming to the irrigaton projects and providing drinking water to the common people of the state, the government has been failing till date.While the difference in the agricultural output of the telangana and rest of andhra gives an insight into the irrigation projects taken up by the government, government's inablity to provide safe drinking water to the people of one of the worst fluoride hit districts in the country proves its apathy towards telangana. Even though one of the longest river in India, Krishna passes through Nalgonda district of Andhra Pradesh and a home to one of the biggest reservoirs(Nagarjun Sagar) in the country, the situation of people not having access to safe drinking water only worsens the situation.
The above factors are the important reasons for the demand of a separate state. Had the state government taken the necessary steps to address these issues, the demand would have never come up. Having said this, in any relationship where two persons or parties are involved, it is with the consent of both, that can survive and thrive. If one out of the two does not have the willingness, there is no point in forcing to stay together. Forceful co-existence can do more harm than good.
Excellent Pogs.. Nice analysis..
ReplyDeleteUr knowledge on the content is v gud. u hit the nail right on the top by pointing out the root of the problem.
Many non telangana ppl mite hv not thought abt that.. or mite hv not gone that far in the history... where actually it all started..
This is the best point of ur blog I feel...and the most genuine one..so well done for that.. :) Overall great job :) U r inspiring ppl like me (who r on bench) to do something constructive..Keep writing..
Nice write up and in-depth knowledge. But I still you are bit biased here as from Telengana region, would like you to come up with some more analysis and statistics to support the claim, as for me as a layman, Hyderabad being a part of telengana region is the capital city and most developed, so it's not like telengana is neglected. One more point, the reaction after getting telengana, asking people of Seemandhra to leave Hyderabad govt jobs, is bit overboard.
ReplyDeleteNote :- Its nothing to hurt any sentiments i am just trying to provide a different perspective from what you have given above, so as to encourage you to write/think/analyze more. I am being a outsider have a very little knowledge about the topic :)
Thanks for the comments Satish. I agree Hyderabad is developed than any other city in the state. It was developed because it is the capital of the state and people from across the state live here. But Hyderabad's development alone cannot be taken as reference for the development of the entire Telangana region. It is like working out and strengthening a single arm while neglecting the rest of the body. It does not do any good. It is pure mismanagement and administration failure from the very beginning. Infact i feel Rayalaseema is the most underdeveloped region out of all the three regions but that can be attributed to lack of natural resources. But the reason for the people of Telangana to feel cheated is although there are abundant natural resources in the region, enough has not been done by the successive governments. In a family of three children, if the parent is biased towards one child, it definitely results in animosity among the other two. This is what happened after the formation of Andhra Pradesh. If the state is going to be divided, then the demand of Rayalaseema people is to divide it into three states but not two, a separate Rayalaseema. The majority of the people of Rayalaseema want an independent state rather than stay with Coastal Andhra. The reason for this is, i atribute to the people's belief in staying independent than unite with costal andhra. I am not against the people of costal andhra or rayalaseema but against the corrupt politicians. I too am not comfortable with the bifurcation as the political leaders of Telangana are power hungry and have been deprived of power for a very long time. The absolute power after the formation of the new state can create even more damage to the people. But the fight from telangana for the division, government's indecisiveness till recent times and the current demands from seemandhra for keeping the state united are spreading hatred among the people against one another which is very dangerous. The government should have taken steps for the developement of all the three regions by giving priority to telangana and rayalaseema.I feel the situation has gone too far now to do this. And coming to the comments from Telangana leaders about threatening the government employees to leave the jobs in hyderabad is not at all acceptable. Anyone can live or work anywhere in India, that is a basic right given to its citizens. I hope better sense of the people of all three regions prevails in the coming days and the issues gets resolved in an amicable way. But one good solution would be to develop a new capital for Seemandhra and then bifurcate the state, making agreements on all common issues like sharing of river water, safety of the people living in Hyderabad.
DeleteP.S: I love coastal andhra region because of its scenic beauty of rural areas, food and few people. I have grown up in the state of Andhra Pradesh and i relate myself to it. I am not comfortable dividing the state but sometimes you have to take certain decisions which might hurt now, but in the long run it does good for both the regions.
NOM but if biased politics is the only reason, then why the state needs to be divided, change the leader. Fight for the reservation of telangana and rayalaseema ppl in govt jobs rather than demanding the separate state. This bifurcation act was justified if the state would have been divided some 50 years back as proposed by the commission incharge at that time. But that time again power hungry leaders, labelling themeselves as gandhian, went on fasts and strikes to divide the state on the basis of language, rather than worrying about common interest of the state or common ppl. Now the condition has become very complex and may be division does not seem to be much justified solution at least to the neutral ppl like me n Satish, basically bcoz of the mess and the unrest that is being created. And this may create hatredness among the common ppl which propagates through generations - a long term and a very dangerous impact. Also, if only due to mismanagement and administrative failure, some leader is asking to divide the state, then it looks like power game from his side also rather than for the cause of the common people. Do Telanagana leaders have plans for the development of the state or will they be repeating the story of chattisgarh and jharkhand? And if they have plans, why dont they start the revolution to change the biased leadership of current Andhra and implement their plans to bring more properity in Telangana and Rayalseema and in overall Andhra. Arent they biased by thinking about themselves and their power? Why are they not fighting for Rayalseema (most under developed of the 3) region?
DeleteThere should be other (than lack of development) reason(s) also to support the bifurcation which we neutral ppl do not know. Basically through ur blog we want to understand that :)