“The Centre will initiate the process of forming the state of Telangana,” said Union home minister P. Chidambaram on the midnight of December 9. This matter-of-fact one-liner has perhaps brought to fruition the four-decade ‘on and off’ agitation. And perhaps not.
The struggle for separate Telangana, an erstwhile part of the princely Nizam state, has had a long history in which politicians and students have played an active role. This is also the case with the latest instalment which is still unfolding.
The bloody 1969 agitation, spearheaded by Marri Channa Reddy’s Telangana Praja Samiti (TPS), which led to 360 deaths, was no different. The same was the nature of the agitation ignited by the fast of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao, which has caused more than 40 deaths, including suicides.
Students, employees, writers, poets, advocates, farmers, journalists, singers, cultural troupes and others were always part of the struggle.
Telangana, comprising 10 districts, was an independent state from 1948-1956 with Hyderabad as its capital.
The Andhra state was created on October 1, 1953 from the Telugu-speaking northern districts of the then Madras Presidency. On November 1, 1956 it was merged with the Telangana region of Hyderabad state to form “Vishal Andhra” (United Andhra Pradesh).
It was the first state in the country and was formed on the linguistic basis after the Gandhian revolutionary Potti Sriramulu died fasting on December 15, 1952 for the cause of a united state.
Although people of Telangana initially resisted the merger, they subsequently gave in following several agreements and assurances (the Gentleman’s Agreement, the Presidential Order, the 6-point formula) that their interests would be protected.
However, the then Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, was sceptical about the merger and the States Reorganisation Commission was also not in its favour.
It pointed out: “The educationally backward people of Telangana fear that they may be swamped and exploited by the more advanced people of the coastal areas.”
Leaders of Telangana complained from day one that all agreements were being violated. People were angry at the lack of implementation of “local reservation” policies. The discontent reached a flashpoint in January 1969.
“The actual trouble began in the Kothagudem thermal power station where non-locals got jobs at the cost of locals,” said Prof. Kodanda Ram, a Telangana activist.
Employees went on strike and the agitation then spread to Osmania and other universities in Telangana. Political leaders stepped in and it soon snowballed into a separate Telangana movement.
Kasu Brahmananda Reddy, who was the chief minister, tried to crush it. However, the movement was intensified by Dr Channa Reddy and others. There were deaths and was widespread violence.
Simultaneously, a Jai Andhra movement was commenced by Venkaiah Naidu, N. Chandrababu Naidu and Harirama Jogaiah. They opposed the division of Andhra Pradesh and the restoration of status quo ante for Telangana.
With the Congress leadership opposing the division, Dr Channa Reddy and others quit and formed the TPS. Despite electoral successes, the TPS gave up the agitation in 1971, much to the disgust of the separatists and merged with the Congress again.
The movement subsided although academicians such as Prof. Jayashanker, Bhoopathi Krishnamurthy and Keshav Rao Jadhav continued to argue for it. It was revived when K. Chandrasekhar Rao resigned from the post of deputy speaker and formed the Telangana Rashtra Samithi on April 27, 2001.
The TRS chose the democratic political process to achieve statehood for Telangana. It forged an alliance with the Congress in 2004, winning 26 Assembly seats.
However, the TRS broke away from the Congress after UPA-1 failed to move on the issue. It joined hands with Telugu Desam in 2009, but the alliance failed at the hustings. KCR did not lose heart, however, and finally pulled out his last trump card — fast-unto-death — which was launched on November 29.
Alongside, a violent student protest also broke out. The deteriorating condition of KCR and the snowballing agitation finally forced the Centre’s hand.