Telangana is a region in Andhra Pradesh and formerly was a part of Hyderabad State which was ruled by Qutub Shahi and Nizam dynasties for 400 years. The region corresponds to the Telugu speaking part of the erstwhile princely state of Hyderabad.
Andhra Pradesh consists of three distinct regions - Andhra, Rayalaseema, and Telangana. Andhra and Rayalaseema were part of the British-ruled Madras province till 1953. The Central Govt established unified Andhra Pradesh - with Hyderabad as capital - on November 1, 1956. Ironically, this resulted in two major agitations - Jai Telangana in 1969 and Jai Andhra in 1972, both for separate states. Telangana supporters have always felt that assurances from their MLAs and MPs have not been honoured. As a result, Telangana remained neglected, exploited, and backward.
The first battle for a separate Telangana erupted in 1969 under leadership of Marri Chenna Reddy. Several political parties, including the Telangana Praja Samithi, were formed to pursue Telangana statehood. The Congress party, however, suppressed the movement. In 1971, the Telangana Praja Samithi, the strongest among pro-Telangana parties, won 10 out of 14 Parliamentary constituencies. With this, the movement got a political backing. The activists vehemently opposed the ‘Mulki’ rules which reserved government posts for those people who have lived in Hyderabad for 15 years. Jobs were denied to people of other regions as they were not ‘locals’. In 1972, the Supreme Court upheld the ‘Mulki’ rules. The same year saw the birth of Jai Andhra movement that called for a separate Andhra. P V Narasimha Rao, the then Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, resigned in January 1973 and the state came under President’s rule. On September 21, 1973, a six-point settlement was mooted with the central government and separate state supporters as parties. According to the agreement, leaders of Telangana and Jai Andhra movements were to prevent any recurrence of agitations. The government, on its part, assured the leaders that it would address regional imbalance issues.
Trouble started for the Congress in April 2006 when the then CM of AP YS Rajashekara Reddy said there was no question of dividing the state. In September, TRS broke off from the coalition at the centre as the government failed to keep up its Telangana promise. The movement got a boost in October 2008 as the Telugu Desam Party announced its support. In February 2009, the State Govt declared that it had no objection, in principle, to the formation of separate Telangana. As a result, a joint house committee was constituted to address the issues.
In the run-up to the 2009 general elections, all major political parties in AP supported the formation of Telangana. The TRS formed a Mahakutami (grand alliance) with like-minded political parties to defeat the Congress party. However, the Congress returned to power both at the state and centre.
Sensing the statehood movement is losing steam, the TRS chief Chandrashekar Rao launched his fast-unto-death agitation in December 2009, demanding the Congress party introduce a Telangana bill in Parliament. This galvanised the movement and gained mass support. Rao’s health deteriorated and was hospitalised. The union government was forced to act.Bowing to pressure, the Congress Party, in December 2009, decided to accept the demand for Telangana and promised to initiate a process for it. Chandrashekar Rao ended his fast and told from the hospital bed that it was a 'true victory of the people of Telangana.'
By December 15 2009, at least 147 legislators (including Praja Rajyam Founder Chiranjeevi and many Members of Parliament) resigned in protest of union government’s ‘delaying tactics’. On December 23, the union government announced that no action on Telangana will be taken until a consensus is reached by all parties. In February 2010, the Congress government at the centre announced a 5-member committee under Justice Srikrishna to examine the feasibility and repercussions of dividing the state. Between November 30, 2009 and February 27 2010, 313 Telangana supporters committed suicide over the delay in the formation of Telangana state, observed the Srikrishna Commission.In a report submitted to the Commission, ministers from Seema-Andhra region said that the demand for separate Telangana on the basis of self-respect and self-rule was anti-national. They claimed that all the districts of Telangana were well-developed. This infuriated the separatists and evoked strong protests, demanding dismissal of those ministers.
Two weeks before the deadline for the submission of the Srikrishna report, the TRS organized a public meeting in Warangal. It was estimated that 1.2 to 1.5 million people attended this meeting. The Srikrishna Committee submitted its report in two volumes to the union home ministry on December 30, 2010. The ministry, in turn, announced that it would hold talks with all 8recognized political parties of Andhra Pradesh on January 6, 2011 and make the report public on the same day
Again, the central government failed to keep its promise and a Telangana Joint Action Committee (TJAC) was formed to intensify the protests. On February 17, 2011 a non-cooperation movement was launched and it lasted for 18 days. 300,000 government employees and students joined the protests resulting in huge losses to the state exchequer. In February 2011, legislators boycotted sessions and the Parliament proceedings were disrupted for several days by Telangana representatives. This agitation followed the resignations of almost all Telangana representatives. On July 4, 2011, 81 of 119 Telangana MLAs in the state and 12 out of 15 Telangana ministers resigned. On July 5, 11 MLAs from TRS, 2 from BJP, 4 from CPI and 2 from Congress resigned. On July 11, 2011, more than 200 Telangana students started a hunger strike. On September 12, 2011, a day before Sakala Janula Samme (All people's strike), TRS organized a public meeting in Karimnagar. More than one million people attended the rally. On September 19, 2011, state road transport corporation employees and state electricity board employees joined the strike. Even lawyers boycotted courts. On September 30, as the strike entered the 18th day, even as Congress central leadership met several Telangana congress leaders, TJAC called a bundh in Hyderabad city. After setting September 30 as the deadline for the Centre to announce the formation of Telangana, the TJAC called for a 'Telangana March' in Hyderabad. On that day, police closed the gates and blocked students at the Osmania University gate and other agitators at several places in the city.
On 28 December 2012, a meeting was organized by the union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and it was attended by 8 political parties. After hearing views of all the parties, the minister said that this would be the last such meeting on the issue and that the government will come up with a decision within 30 days.
Seeing nothing was progressing, the TJAC gave a call to lay siege to the state legislative Assembly in Hyderabad on June 14 2013. On that day, police could not totally prevent Telangana activists from sneaking into prime locations and making a vain bid to rush towards the Assembly. Hundreds of people including state legislators were arrested. Osmania University campus witnessed pitched battles as police closed the campus gate to stop students leaving campus in a rally then resorted to tear gas shelling when students started stone pelting. On June 30, Congress leaders belonging to Telangana region organized a public meeting in Hyderabad with a turnout of over 100,000.
On July 1, Congress party's in-charge of the state, Digvijay Singh said that party was at the final stages of taking decision on Telangana issue. On July 29, Andhra Pradesh chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy met several MPs, MLAs and MLCs at his secretariat and opposed bifurcation of the state.
Telangana will be 29th State -The Congress and the UPA coalition on Wednesday unanimously endorsed the creation of a separate Telangana State from out of Andhra Pradesh. “It is resolved to request the Central Government to make steps in accordance with the Constitution to form a separate State of Telangana……within a definite timeframe,” said a resolution of the Congress Working Committee, the highest policy-making body of the party, after over an hour-long meeting.
The Congress also decided to recommend to the Government that Hyderabad be made the joint capital of the newly-proposed State and the other regions–Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra–for a period of 10 years. The momentous decisions by the CWC and the UPA came after hectic consultations for the last over a week on creation of the 29th state of the country that will have a geographical area of 10 of the 23 districts of undivided Andhra Pradesh.
(Source-MSN News)
Andhra Pradesh consists of three distinct regions - Andhra, Rayalaseema, and Telangana. Andhra and Rayalaseema were part of the British-ruled Madras province till 1953. The Central Govt established unified Andhra Pradesh - with Hyderabad as capital - on November 1, 1956. Ironically, this resulted in two major agitations - Jai Telangana in 1969 and Jai Andhra in 1972, both for separate states. Telangana supporters have always felt that assurances from their MLAs and MPs have not been honoured. As a result, Telangana remained neglected, exploited, and backward.
The first battle for a separate Telangana erupted in 1969 under leadership of Marri Chenna Reddy. Several political parties, including the Telangana Praja Samithi, were formed to pursue Telangana statehood. The Congress party, however, suppressed the movement. In 1971, the Telangana Praja Samithi, the strongest among pro-Telangana parties, won 10 out of 14 Parliamentary constituencies. With this, the movement got a political backing. The activists vehemently opposed the ‘Mulki’ rules which reserved government posts for those people who have lived in Hyderabad for 15 years. Jobs were denied to people of other regions as they were not ‘locals’. In 1972, the Supreme Court upheld the ‘Mulki’ rules. The same year saw the birth of Jai Andhra movement that called for a separate Andhra. P V Narasimha Rao, the then Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, resigned in January 1973 and the state came under President’s rule. On September 21, 1973, a six-point settlement was mooted with the central government and separate state supporters as parties. According to the agreement, leaders of Telangana and Jai Andhra movements were to prevent any recurrence of agitations. The government, on its part, assured the leaders that it would address regional imbalance issues.
The movement was dormant till 1997 but was waiting to erupt. In 1997, the state BJP passed a resolution seeking a separate Telangana. The resolution failed as there was no consensus with the dominant Telugu Desam Party.
2001 saw the birth of Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) led by Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao (KCR). The party was formed with the sole purpose of creating a separate Telangana with Hyderabad as its capital. In the 2004 assembly elections, the TRS formed an alliance with the Congress. The alliance won 26 assembly seats and 5 Parliament seats. Congress came to power in the state and formed a coalition government at the centre. TRS joined the coalition and was successful in making a separate Telangana state a part of the Govt 's common minimum programme.
Trouble started for the Congress in April 2006 when the then CM of AP YS Rajashekara Reddy said there was no question of dividing the state. In September, TRS broke off from the coalition at the centre as the government failed to keep up its Telangana promise. The movement got a boost in October 2008 as the Telugu Desam Party announced its support. In February 2009, the State Govt declared that it had no objection, in principle, to the formation of separate Telangana. As a result, a joint house committee was constituted to address the issues.
In the run-up to the 2009 general elections, all major political parties in AP supported the formation of Telangana. The TRS formed a Mahakutami (grand alliance) with like-minded political parties to defeat the Congress party. However, the Congress returned to power both at the state and centre.
Sensing the statehood movement is losing steam, the TRS chief Chandrashekar Rao launched his fast-unto-death agitation in December 2009, demanding the Congress party introduce a Telangana bill in Parliament. This galvanised the movement and gained mass support. Rao’s health deteriorated and was hospitalised. The union government was forced to act.Bowing to pressure, the Congress Party, in December 2009, decided to accept the demand for Telangana and promised to initiate a process for it. Chandrashekar Rao ended his fast and told from the hospital bed that it was a 'true victory of the people of Telangana.'
By December 15 2009, at least 147 legislators (including Praja Rajyam Founder Chiranjeevi and many Members of Parliament) resigned in protest of union government’s ‘delaying tactics’. On December 23, the union government announced that no action on Telangana will be taken until a consensus is reached by all parties. In February 2010, the Congress government at the centre announced a 5-member committee under Justice Srikrishna to examine the feasibility and repercussions of dividing the state. Between November 30, 2009 and February 27 2010, 313 Telangana supporters committed suicide over the delay in the formation of Telangana state, observed the Srikrishna Commission.In a report submitted to the Commission, ministers from Seema-Andhra region said that the demand for separate Telangana on the basis of self-respect and self-rule was anti-national. They claimed that all the districts of Telangana were well-developed. This infuriated the separatists and evoked strong protests, demanding dismissal of those ministers.
Two weeks before the deadline for the submission of the Srikrishna report, the TRS organized a public meeting in Warangal. It was estimated that 1.2 to 1.5 million people attended this meeting. The Srikrishna Committee submitted its report in two volumes to the union home ministry on December 30, 2010. The ministry, in turn, announced that it would hold talks with all 8recognized political parties of Andhra Pradesh on January 6, 2011 and make the report public on the same day
Again, the central government failed to keep its promise and a Telangana Joint Action Committee (TJAC) was formed to intensify the protests. On February 17, 2011 a non-cooperation movement was launched and it lasted for 18 days. 300,000 government employees and students joined the protests resulting in huge losses to the state exchequer. In February 2011, legislators boycotted sessions and the Parliament proceedings were disrupted for several days by Telangana representatives. This agitation followed the resignations of almost all Telangana representatives. On July 4, 2011, 81 of 119 Telangana MLAs in the state and 12 out of 15 Telangana ministers resigned. On July 5, 11 MLAs from TRS, 2 from BJP, 4 from CPI and 2 from Congress resigned. On July 11, 2011, more than 200 Telangana students started a hunger strike. On September 12, 2011, a day before Sakala Janula Samme (All people's strike), TRS organized a public meeting in Karimnagar. More than one million people attended the rally. On September 19, 2011, state road transport corporation employees and state electricity board employees joined the strike. Even lawyers boycotted courts. On September 30, as the strike entered the 18th day, even as Congress central leadership met several Telangana congress leaders, TJAC called a bundh in Hyderabad city. After setting September 30 as the deadline for the Centre to announce the formation of Telangana, the TJAC called for a 'Telangana March' in Hyderabad. On that day, police closed the gates and blocked students at the Osmania University gate and other agitators at several places in the city.
On 28 December 2012, a meeting was organized by the union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and it was attended by 8 political parties. After hearing views of all the parties, the minister said that this would be the last such meeting on the issue and that the government will come up with a decision within 30 days.
Seeing nothing was progressing, the TJAC gave a call to lay siege to the state legislative Assembly in Hyderabad on June 14 2013. On that day, police could not totally prevent Telangana activists from sneaking into prime locations and making a vain bid to rush towards the Assembly. Hundreds of people including state legislators were arrested. Osmania University campus witnessed pitched battles as police closed the campus gate to stop students leaving campus in a rally then resorted to tear gas shelling when students started stone pelting. On June 30, Congress leaders belonging to Telangana region organized a public meeting in Hyderabad with a turnout of over 100,000.
On July 1, Congress party's in-charge of the state, Digvijay Singh said that party was at the final stages of taking decision on Telangana issue. On July 29, Andhra Pradesh chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy met several MPs, MLAs and MLCs at his secretariat and opposed bifurcation of the state.
Telangana will be 29th State -The Congress and the UPA coalition on Wednesday unanimously endorsed the creation of a separate Telangana State from out of Andhra Pradesh. “It is resolved to request the Central Government to make steps in accordance with the Constitution to form a separate State of Telangana……within a definite timeframe,” said a resolution of the Congress Working Committee, the highest policy-making body of the party, after over an hour-long meeting.
The Congress also decided to recommend to the Government that Hyderabad be made the joint capital of the newly-proposed State and the other regions–Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra–for a period of 10 years. The momentous decisions by the CWC and the UPA came after hectic consultations for the last over a week on creation of the 29th state of the country that will have a geographical area of 10 of the 23 districts of undivided Andhra Pradesh.
(Source-MSN News)
No comments:
Post a Comment