TELANGANA MOVEMENT
The Demand for a Separate State
- K. Jayashankar*
A Historical Perspective
The people of Telangana are once again restive, reiterating their demand for a separate state.
The demand of the people of this region for a separate state is not a new development. It was
voiced much before the formation of Andhra Pradesh and continues to be raised even thereafter.
The reason for the opposition of people of Telangana to join Visalandhra (metamorphosed to
Andhra Pradesh) was fear of neglect and injustice in the enlarged state and the reason for their
refusal to continue in the present state is the actual experience of becoming victims of neglect
and injustice.
The States Reorganization Commission (SRC) set up by the government of India in early 50s to
examine the question of reorganization of states of the country was, in fact, not in favour of
merging the Telangana region with the then Andhra state. After a very careful examination of
the issues involved the SRC recommended:
“... It will be in the interest of Andhra as well as Telangana if, for the
present, the Telangana area is constituted 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 two-thirds
majority the legislature of the residuary Hyderabad state expresses itself in
favour of such unification”. (SRC Report: Para 386)
The commission further recommended:
“Andhra and Telangana have common interests and we hope these interests
will tend to bring the people closer to each other. If, however, our hopes for
the development of the environment and conditions congenial to the
unification of the areas do not materialize and if public sentiment in
Telangana crystallizes itself against the unification of the two states,
Telangana will have to continue as a separate unit”. (SRC Report: Para
388)
The Commission came to this conclusion after a dispassionate assessment of feelings of the
people of Telangana and the fears entertained by them. Elaborating the reasons for
recommending statehood for the Telangana region the Commission observed:
“One of the principal causes of opposition to Visalandhra also seems to be
the apprehensions felt by the educationally backward people of Telangana
that they may be swamped and exploited by the more advanced people of the
Coastal areas...The real fear of the people of Telangana is that if they join
Andhra they will be unequally placed in relation to the people of Andhra and
in this partnership the major partner will derive all the advantages
immediately while Telangana itself may be converted into a colony by the
enterprising Andhras”. (SRC Report: para 378)
Further, the SRC cautioned the nation against the dangers involved in reorganizing the Indian
states solely on linguistic considerations. One of the rational criteria recommended by the
Commission, while reorganizing the states, was:
“…to reject the theory of ‘one language one state’ which is neither justified
on grounds of linguistic homogeneity, because there can be more than one
state speaking the same language without offending the linguistic principle,
nor practicable, since different language groups, including the vast Hindi
speaking population of the Indian Union, cannot always be consolidated to
form distinct linguistic units”. (SRC Report: para 163)
In addition, the Prime Minister of the time, Jawaharlal Nehru, also was not in favour of merging
Telangana with the Andhra state. He ridiculed the demand for Visalandhra as an idea bearing a
“tint of expansionist imperialism”. (Indian Express, October 17, 1953).
Yet, paradoxically, the state of Andhra Pradesh was formed on 1st November 1956 - ignoring the
wishes of people of Telangana, against a categorical recommendation of the SRC and contrary to
the views of the tallest leader of the time, Jawaharlal Nehru. It was the outcome of manipulative
politics.
The merger of Telangana with Andhra was, however, not unconditional. It was facilitated by a
number of solemn promises made and constitutional safeguards given to the people of the region
as a protective umbrella against the possible exploitation in the enlarged state. These promises
were made not once. They were made umpteen times (and were also broken umpteen times).
Nor the merger of Telangana with Andhra was considered eternal. No less a person than
Jawaharlal Nehru himself compared it with matrimonial alliance having “provision for divorce”
if the partners in the alliance cannot get on well. (Deccan Chronicle, March 6, 1956). As feared,
nothing could prevent the successive governments from exploiting this region in every spear –
economic, political, administrative, cultural and linguistic.
The Gentlemen’s Agreement of 1956, which was an assurance of fair play given to the people of
Telangana to facilitate the formation of Andhra Pradesh, was scuttled the very same day on
which the state was born, by the very same “Gentlemen” who were signatories to the agreement.
The result was a massive revolt of the people of the region in 1968-69 demanding separation of
Telangana from the state of Andhra Pradesh. It has come to be known as Jai Telangana
Movement. The governments of the time in the state and at the centre then woke up and tried
(or pretended) to undo the damage done to the region. The first step taken in that direction was
the All Party Accord of January 1969 arrived at a meeting of the leaders of all political parties in
the state convened by the then chief minister Brahmananda Reddy. But it was shelved in less
than six months time. Thereafter, a couple of packages were announced by the prime minister of
the time, Indira Gandhi, styled as Eight Point Formula and Five Point Formula. When the
modalities of giving effect to these packages were being worked out the supreme court of India
gave a historic judgement validating, what were then known as, Mulki Rules. This judgement
upheld the rule of reserving employment and educational opportunities available in Telangana
exclusively for the residents of this region. But the political elite of Andhra region did not digest
these corrective measures. The result was another agitation for a separate state, and this time for
a separate Andhra state. It is referred to as Jai Andhra Movement. The leaders of Jai Andhra
Movement demanded either scrapping all the safeguards given to the people of Telangana
including the judgement of supreme court of India on the validity of Mulki Rules or bifurcating
Andhra Pradesh into Andhra and Telangana states. It may not be out of place to recall that
Venkaiah Naidu and Chandrababu Naidu, among others, were in the forefront of Jai Andhra
Movement. The government of India yielded to the pressure of political might and money power
of the majority region and nullified, by an act of parliament, almost all the safeguards given to
the people of Telangana including the annulment of judgement of the highest judicial authority
of the country on Mulki Rules. As an alternative, the so-called Six Point Formula, a diluted form
of safeguards, was foisted on the people. Even this formula has been, and continues to be,
violated with impunity, robbing the people of Telangana of whatever little was left in the name
of safeguards.
All these exercises ultimately turned out to be futile as they were, at best, attempts to treat the
symptoms rather than the malady. Consequently, the exploitation of the region and its people
continued (and still continues) unabated under the patronage of political leadership irrespective
of the region it hailed from and irrespective of the party it belonged to. In this process the socalled
concept of Telugu Brotherhood has become an empty rhetoric placing the people of
Telangana in an extremely unenviable position. Deprived of their legitimate share in the fruits of
development, marginalized in the political process and administrative setup, belittled on the
cultural and linguistic fronts they are virtually reduced to the status of second-rate citizens in
their own homeland. Therefore, the demand for a separate state continues to persist.
The objective of following paragraphs is to present a comparative account of region-wise
development achieved in some of the vital sectors. The sources of data are the reports published
by the state government and other official agencies.
It is to be noted in this context that when the state of Andhra Pradesh was formed there were
only two recognized regions - Andhra and Telangana - since Rayalaseema was considered a part
of Andhra. After the Andhra Agitation of 1972 and the resultant imposition of Six Point
Formula, the state was divided into seven zones, within the framework of three regions, namely,
Coastal Andhra, Rayalaseema, and Telangana, treating the capital city as a separate entity. The
rationale underlying this decision was to make the capital city equally accessible to the people
living in all parts of the state. This has the appearance of fairness, but in reality it has deprived
the people of Telangana of their legitimate right by a subtle play, which made the twin cities of
Hyderabad and Secunderabad more accessible to the people of Coastal Andhra and
Rayalaseema, and more inaccessible to the people of Telangana. It is, therefore, necessary not to
mistake the development of capital city with the development of Telangana region or any other
region for that matter.
The main factors that generally form a basis for evolving strategies of development of a region
are its geographical area and population, besides resource endowment and levels of development
already achieved. Geographically, Telangana is the largest region of the state covering 41.47%
of its total area, while Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema Cover 33.75% and 24.51%,
respectively. It is inhabited by 40.54% of the state’s population, coastal Andhra accounting for
41.69% and Rayalaseema for 17.77%. The contribution of Telangana to the state’s revenues has
all along been more than 50%. The region is literally encircled by two major rivers of south
India, Krishna and Godavari, and is traversed by a large number of tributaries of these rivers. It is
one of the largest coal producing areas of the country and is rich in forest wealth and other
natural resources. It has inherited from the much-maligned feudal regime fairly well developed.................................
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A Demand For A Separate State: Dr. K.Jayashankar
