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Political
Telangana Issue
History
Telangana region was mentioned in the Mahabharata as the Telinga Kingdom which said to be inhabited by the tribe known as Telavana and said to have fought on the Pandava side in the great war of Mahabharata. It is also evident from the fact that there is Pandavula Guhalu in warangal district (wherein Pandavas spent their life in exile (Lakkha Gruham)).
And, in Treta yuga, it is believed that Lord Sri Rama along with his consort Sita Devi and brother Lakshmana, spent their life in exile at Parnashala on the banks of Godavari river which is about 25 km from Bhadrachalam in Khammam District of Telangana.
Telangana region has been ruled by many great dynasties like Sathavahanas, Chalukyas, Kakatiyas. Telangana came under Muslim rule in 14th century for the first time by Delhi Sultanate followed by Bahmanis, Qutb Shahis and Mughals. As the Mughal Empire began to disintegrate in the early 18th century, the Muslim Asafjahi dynasty established a separate state known as Hyderabad. Later Hyderabad entered into a treaty of subsidiary alliance with the British Empire, and was the largest and most populous princely state in India. Telangana was never under direct British rule, unlike Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions of Andhra Pradesh, which were part of British India’s Madras Presidency.
Post-independence history
India became independent from the British Empire in 1947. The Nizam of Hyderabad wanted to retain his independence from India, but his state of Hyderabad was forced to become part of India in 1948 as the Hyderabad State. When India became independent, the Telugu-speaking people (although Urdu is spoken in some parts of Telangana districts) were distributed in about 22 districts; 9 of them in the Telangana region of Nizam’s Dominions (Hyderabad State), 12 in the Madras Presidency and one in French-controlled Yanam. Andhra State was the first state in India that has been formed on a purely linguistic basis by carving it out from Madras State in 1953. Andhra State was later merged with Telugu speaking area of Hyderabad State (Telangana), to create Andhra Pradesh state in 1956.
Merger of Telangana and Andhra
In December 1953, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru appointed the States Reorganization Commission to prepare for the creation of states on linguistic lines. This was headed by Justice Fazal Ali and the commission itself was also known as the Fazal Ali Commission. The efforts of this commission were overseen by Govind Ballabh Pant, who served as Home Minister from December 1954. The commission created a report in 1955 recommending the reorganization of India’s states.
The States Reorganization Commission (SRC) was not in favour of merging the Telangana region with the then Andhra state. Para 382 of States Reorganization Commission Report (SRC) said “Opinion in Andhra is overwhelmingly in favour of the larger unit, public opinion in Telangana has still to crystallize itself”. The concerns of Telanganas 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. Para 386 of States Reorganization Commission Report (SRC) said “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 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.”
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.
Separate Telangana movement
1969 Movement
In the following years after the formation of Andhra Pradesh state, however, the Telangana people had a number of complaints about how the agreements and guarantees were implemented. Discontent with the 1956 Gentleman’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. This movement is also known as Jai Telangana movement led to widespread violence and deaths of hundreds of people and students of this Telangana region. Approximately 360 students gave their lives in this movement.
Although the Congress faced dissension within its ranks, its leadership stood against additional linguistic states, which were regarded as “anti-national.” 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.
Movement in 1990-2004
The emotions and forces generated by the movement were not strong enough, however, for a continuing drive for a separate state until 1990s when Bharatiya Janata Party, promised separate Telangana state if they come to power. But the BJP could not create separate Telangana state because of the opposition from its coalition partner, Telugu Desam Party. These developments brought new life into separate Telangana movement by year 2000. Congress party MLAs from Telangana region, supported the separate Telangana state and formed a Telangana Congress Legislators Forum.In another development, a new party called Telangana Rashtra Samithi (or TRS) was formed with the single agenda of creating a separate Telangana state, with Hyderabad as its capital.
Proponents of separate Telangana state feel .. all the agreements, accords, formulas, plans and assurances on the floor of legislature and Lok Sabha, in last 50+ years, could not be honoured and Telangana was forced to remain neglected, exploited and backward. The experiment to remain as one State proved to be a futile exercise and therefore, separation is found to be the best solution.
2004 and later
In 2004, for Assembly and Parliament elections, Congress party and TRS had an electoral alliance in Telangana region with the promise of separate Telangana State. Congress came to power in the state and formed coalition government at the centre. TRS joined the coalition government in 2004 and was successful in making Separate Telangana state as part of the common minimum program (CMP) of the coalition government. In September 2006 TRS withdrew support for the Congress led coalition government at center on the grounds of indecision by the government over the delivery of its electoral promise to create Telangana.
In December 2006, TRS won the by-election to Karimnagar parliamentary constituency, which is considered by many as referendum on Telangana state, with a record margin
There is lot of pressure on Congress party to create Telangana state in 2008.
All TRS legislatures in Parliament and in State (4MPs, 16MLAs, and 3MLCs) resigned in the 1st week of March 2008 and forcing by-elections which can be viewed as referendum on Telangana state; to increase the pressure on Congress party and to intensify the movement.
By-elections for the 16 MLA seats, 4 MP seats were held May 29, 2008. During election campaign TRS party said it is referendum on Telangana state but Both Congress and TDP parties said its not referendum on Telangana and also said they are not opposed to formation of Telangana state. To the disappointment of Telangana proponents TRS retained only 7 out of 16 MLA seats and 2 out of 4 MP seats after the by-elections. Telangana proponents are also happy that all major parties in the state said that they are not opposed to the formation of separate Telangana state.
In June 2008, Devender Goud, who is considered number two in the TDP, a polit bureau member and Deputy Leader of the Telugu Desam Legislature Party, resigned from the party saying he would devote his time and energy to the formation of a separate Telangana state. In July 2008, Mr Goud formed a new party called Nava Telangana Praja Party.
Geography
Of the three regions of the state, Telangana has the largest area, with 1, 14,800 Square kilometres.The Telangana plateau is composed of Archean Gneissic rocks and drained by Godavari and Krishna rivers. The entire region is divided into two main regions namely ghats and peneplains. The surface is dotted with low depressions
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Irrigation
Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh is situated in the central stretch of the eastern seaboard of the Indian Peninsula. Deccan plateau is situated at a high altitude in an up-land area. The river Godavari is flowing on the North and the river Krishna is flowing on the South. Apart from the major rivers, there are other small rivers such as Bhima, Dindi, Kinnerasani, Manjeera, Manair, Penganga, Praanahita, and Peddavagu and Taliperu.
Culture and Identity
Centuries of independent existence has given Telangana its own distinctive culture and identity. The telugu language spoken here has evolved into a new dialect with a liberal mixture of words from Urdu. Hindi, unlike in the Andhra part of Andhra Pradesh is also widely spoken and understood in Telangana.
Festivals: Dassera and Ugadi are prominent festivals in Telangana. The region celebrates distinctive festivals like Bathukamma, and Bonalu. The other Hindu festivals, such as, Deepawali, Holi, and Vinayaka chaturthi, are also celebrated with equal enthusiasm as in northern India. The national festival Sankranti is also celebrated in the beginning of harvest season on 14th of January every year. Jathra is an integral part of Telugu calendar. They happen in all important holy towns annually marking a local festival. The Samakka sarakka jathra sees the biggest tribal congregation in the world. An estimated 6 million people take part in the biennial festival. |
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