Last couple of days have been emotional for many Telugu speaking people. Telugu is arguably the second largest spoken language in India after Hindi. The state of Telugu people i.e. Andhra Pradesh would be divided into Telangana and Andhra Pradesh (Andhra + Rayalseema). After independence, Sardar Patel unified India into many states, but there was another problem from South India where a man named “Potti Sriramulu” demanded a separate state for Telugu speaking people from the state of Madras. Thus began the formation of Indian states on linguistic basis and Andhra Pradesh being the first one. Irony was about to appear, the doubts over the separate state were cleared on 30th July and the birthday of Jnanpith Awardee “Cingireddy Narayana Reddy” was on 29th July who is well known for his song “Telugu Jaati manadi” which endorses the greater association of Telugu people from all the regions of present Andhra Pradesh.
When Andhra Pradesh was being pushed into backwardness, thanks to the governance of Congress and there was no challenging opposition to counter Congress, NT Rama Rao formed the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), he attracted intellectuals, Anti-Congress and youth, and K.Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) was one of the many who joined the TDP, later he would name his son as Rama Rao. Chandra Babu Naidu was at the helm of affairs when he removed KCR as the Transport Minister who would later form a new party by the name Telangana Rashtriya Samithi (TRS) which would fight for the cause of separate state of Telangana.
After more than a decade of formation of TRS and several other national regional and national parties agreed for the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, the roads for a separate state of Telangana are now cleared but the split of state is not an easy pill to swallow. The financial angle related the Hyderabad city, the migrants from various parts of Andhra + Rayalseema to Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy are in a dilemma, the investments done by people from Andhra + Rayalseema in Hyderabad and the emotional content of people who got settled in Hyderabad very long back but their native is in either Andhra or Rayalseema.
The city of Hyderabad, which was under the draconian rule of Nizam until the iron man of India, Sardar Patel decided to take military action when Nizam was thinking of acceding the Hyderabad state to Pakistan and threatened India by saying that, Saudi Arabia would drop bombs in Bombay if Indian Army steps into Hyderabad. Of Course, Nehru didn’t even show interest and almost gave away Telangana but thanks to Sardar Patel who took on the cold-blooded Razzakars.
From the day of Telangana independence, Hyderabad has seen a lot of changes. The city got expanded, Hyderabad was made the new capital for Telugu people, people from different areas of Andhra Pradesh got migrated to Hyderabad, it has also seen riots and it is an open secret that who orchestrated those riots, the growth of IT sector, Microsoft opened a research and development center, the agitations for separate statehood for Telangana, the rise of Islamic terrorism and the Islamic radicalization by a political party.
The proposal which says that Hyderabad would be made a joint capital for Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for 10 years is a devil in disguise, it is nothing less than a poison to the people of Andhra+Rayalseema. People who have made investments in Hyderabad are appeased and get a temporary relief for their apprehensions with it but I digress. The point about revenue sharing of Hyderabad with other regions is a genuine concern and a matter of debate, the irrigation water problem would be crucial, it is the most important thing that has to be taken care before the state is officially divided, and this would determine the future relations between the people of Telangana and Andhra.
The emotional feeling of seeing the state being divided is a small factor but it has a lot of bearing on many individuals. Many middle class people migrated from various regions of Andhra+Rayalseema in search of work, many people migrated to Hyderabad for a better living, non-local families got settled in Hyderabad more than 3 decades back. It is the previous mentioned category people who feel the emotional pain. The physiological prick of bifurcation of state would be limited to individuals, it doesn't foster any movements or agitations, and it is a melancholy which many people have to digest.
The emotional feeling is annotated with the identity crisis. The sense of belonging is suddenly got swindled from many individuals, they have no identity of their own, the migratory status would only add questions and less answers. A software engineer who is migrated from a Non-Telangana region and got settled in Hyderabad has to face more internal questions of identity when compared to a guy who migrated from a Non-Telangana region to Bangalore. Innumerable families from different regions of Andhra+Rayalseema got settled in Hyderabad and their kids are married to Telangana families, how would they feel with the bifurcation of the state?
The golden age of Telugu people was during the rule of Krishna Deva Raya who was the emperor of Vijayanagara Empire. The Telugu literature was at its peak, produced many Telugu poets, writers and thinkers from all the regions of Andhra Pradesh. But, did Telugu people ever show the gratitude towards Krishna Deva Raya? Kannadigas are more proud of Krishna Deva Raya than telugites. Veturi once said “Manaki parabasha vyamoham ekkuva” (మనకి పరబాష వ్యామోహం ఎక్కువ). Let us leave this Telugu jingoism here.
Many ugly things were said and mud was thrown by all the regions, no exceptions here. People of some regions were made fun of their dialect, people were asked to leave indirectly, people were labelled as cunning wolves, some people made fun of other regions customs and many more. The baseless accusations and vulgar attacks on culture could easily turn into an atmosphere filled with passions and would get ignited with unwanted elements of society. Some incorrect sweeping comments like saying that people from Andhra+Rayalseema have just increased the size of Hyderabad and didn't contribute to the development or it is the people of Andhra+Rayalseema who developed Hyderabad and not the locals are equally wrong. Everyone contributes to the development of a city and society exception being Socialists, Communists and Terrorists.
The Telangana agitation on March 2011 on tank bund ended with the destruction of statues of prominent Telugu people, if such acts hooliganism are not checked it can go on similar to China’s Cultural Revolution. Some people ridicule the culture of other region, this has been one of the reason of animosity among Telugu people from different regions, and it is totally unacceptable for people of a region to claim to be the stake holders of a language or culture. If one really knows the in-depth of Andhra Pradesh, every district has its own colloquialism to their region dialect and almost for every 200 sqm we can find a unique custom.
People from all the three regions of Andhra Pradesh will have the emotional sentiment in regard to the division of the state but this should not be an obstructive force for a rational political process. The emotional sentiment should not be allowed to be exploited by political parties, if allowed it would be followed by MIM doing its own dirty social engineering to create troubles in Hyderabad and elsewhere. A smaller state has a scope for good governance, security and administration. Period.
We may see people travelling less to the Seven Hills, the appetite for films might get decreased or increased, IRCTC and Redbus might see the dropdown of online booking, increase in toll gates, increase in price of rice, water and power and increase or decrease in corruption. But, I hope that none of the regions would abandon our traditions of worshipping nature, the beautiful poetry dedicated to rivers Godavari and Krishna, the folk stories, the heroism of Alluri Sitarama Raju or the freedom fighters against Nizam, the movements against feudalism, the sacrifice of Potti Sriramaulu and many more….. Lastly, I would to say one thing which saddens me, do we need a special law to protect people from other regions? After all, we are Telugu people.
“దేశ భాషలందు తెలుగు లెస్స” – శ్రీకృషణదేవరాయ
When Andhra Pradesh was being pushed into backwardness, thanks to the governance of Congress and there was no challenging opposition to counter Congress, NT Rama Rao formed the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), he attracted intellectuals, Anti-Congress and youth, and K.Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) was one of the many who joined the TDP, later he would name his son as Rama Rao. Chandra Babu Naidu was at the helm of affairs when he removed KCR as the Transport Minister who would later form a new party by the name Telangana Rashtriya Samithi (TRS) which would fight for the cause of separate state of Telangana.
After more than a decade of formation of TRS and several other national regional and national parties agreed for the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, the roads for a separate state of Telangana are now cleared but the split of state is not an easy pill to swallow. The financial angle related the Hyderabad city, the migrants from various parts of Andhra + Rayalseema to Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy are in a dilemma, the investments done by people from Andhra + Rayalseema in Hyderabad and the emotional content of people who got settled in Hyderabad very long back but their native is in either Andhra or Rayalseema.
The city of Hyderabad, which was under the draconian rule of Nizam until the iron man of India, Sardar Patel decided to take military action when Nizam was thinking of acceding the Hyderabad state to Pakistan and threatened India by saying that, Saudi Arabia would drop bombs in Bombay if Indian Army steps into Hyderabad. Of Course, Nehru didn’t even show interest and almost gave away Telangana but thanks to Sardar Patel who took on the cold-blooded Razzakars.
From the day of Telangana independence, Hyderabad has seen a lot of changes. The city got expanded, Hyderabad was made the new capital for Telugu people, people from different areas of Andhra Pradesh got migrated to Hyderabad, it has also seen riots and it is an open secret that who orchestrated those riots, the growth of IT sector, Microsoft opened a research and development center, the agitations for separate statehood for Telangana, the rise of Islamic terrorism and the Islamic radicalization by a political party.
The proposal which says that Hyderabad would be made a joint capital for Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for 10 years is a devil in disguise, it is nothing less than a poison to the people of Andhra+Rayalseema. People who have made investments in Hyderabad are appeased and get a temporary relief for their apprehensions with it but I digress. The point about revenue sharing of Hyderabad with other regions is a genuine concern and a matter of debate, the irrigation water problem would be crucial, it is the most important thing that has to be taken care before the state is officially divided, and this would determine the future relations between the people of Telangana and Andhra.
The emotional feeling of seeing the state being divided is a small factor but it has a lot of bearing on many individuals. Many middle class people migrated from various regions of Andhra+Rayalseema in search of work, many people migrated to Hyderabad for a better living, non-local families got settled in Hyderabad more than 3 decades back. It is the previous mentioned category people who feel the emotional pain. The physiological prick of bifurcation of state would be limited to individuals, it doesn't foster any movements or agitations, and it is a melancholy which many people have to digest.
The emotional feeling is annotated with the identity crisis. The sense of belonging is suddenly got swindled from many individuals, they have no identity of their own, the migratory status would only add questions and less answers. A software engineer who is migrated from a Non-Telangana region and got settled in Hyderabad has to face more internal questions of identity when compared to a guy who migrated from a Non-Telangana region to Bangalore. Innumerable families from different regions of Andhra+Rayalseema got settled in Hyderabad and their kids are married to Telangana families, how would they feel with the bifurcation of the state?
The golden age of Telugu people was during the rule of Krishna Deva Raya who was the emperor of Vijayanagara Empire. The Telugu literature was at its peak, produced many Telugu poets, writers and thinkers from all the regions of Andhra Pradesh. But, did Telugu people ever show the gratitude towards Krishna Deva Raya? Kannadigas are more proud of Krishna Deva Raya than telugites. Veturi once said “Manaki parabasha vyamoham ekkuva” (మనకి పరబాష వ్యామోహం ఎక్కువ). Let us leave this Telugu jingoism here.
Many ugly things were said and mud was thrown by all the regions, no exceptions here. People of some regions were made fun of their dialect, people were asked to leave indirectly, people were labelled as cunning wolves, some people made fun of other regions customs and many more. The baseless accusations and vulgar attacks on culture could easily turn into an atmosphere filled with passions and would get ignited with unwanted elements of society. Some incorrect sweeping comments like saying that people from Andhra+Rayalseema have just increased the size of Hyderabad and didn't contribute to the development or it is the people of Andhra+Rayalseema who developed Hyderabad and not the locals are equally wrong. Everyone contributes to the development of a city and society exception being Socialists, Communists and Terrorists.
The Telangana agitation on March 2011 on tank bund ended with the destruction of statues of prominent Telugu people, if such acts hooliganism are not checked it can go on similar to China’s Cultural Revolution. Some people ridicule the culture of other region, this has been one of the reason of animosity among Telugu people from different regions, and it is totally unacceptable for people of a region to claim to be the stake holders of a language or culture. If one really knows the in-depth of Andhra Pradesh, every district has its own colloquialism to their region dialect and almost for every 200 sqm we can find a unique custom.
People from all the three regions of Andhra Pradesh will have the emotional sentiment in regard to the division of the state but this should not be an obstructive force for a rational political process. The emotional sentiment should not be allowed to be exploited by political parties, if allowed it would be followed by MIM doing its own dirty social engineering to create troubles in Hyderabad and elsewhere. A smaller state has a scope for good governance, security and administration. Period.
We may see people travelling less to the Seven Hills, the appetite for films might get decreased or increased, IRCTC and Redbus might see the dropdown of online booking, increase in toll gates, increase in price of rice, water and power and increase or decrease in corruption. But, I hope that none of the regions would abandon our traditions of worshipping nature, the beautiful poetry dedicated to rivers Godavari and Krishna, the folk stories, the heroism of Alluri Sitarama Raju or the freedom fighters against Nizam, the movements against feudalism, the sacrifice of Potti Sriramaulu and many more….. Lastly, I would to say one thing which saddens me, do we need a special law to protect people from other regions? After all, we are Telugu people.
“దేశ భాషలందు తెలుగు లెస్స” – శ్రీకృషణదేవరాయ
Thus any were in world do required any laws for people who are migrated. Laws been made on lack of social and economical backwardness. Simple concept " Be like a Roman When you are in rome".
ReplyDeleteIts really very sad that the act of bifurcation is going on against the wishes of almost 70% of the state. Is this democracy?
ReplyDeleteKakatiya Prataparudra was the first king to unite all Telugu speaking people under a single polity, but he happens to be from Telangana so you Andhras chose to ignore hims and instead hype the Kannadiga/Rayalaseema Deva Raya, rather a historical figure from Telangana due to your cultural arrogance. So thanks to you seemandrhas, AP' govt didn't promote a 'unifying historical figure' like any other Indian state. & now how history is biting back , suits your andhra race.
ReplyDelete