By Omer Farooq
BBC News, Hyderabad
Mr Rao has been on a fast for the past 10 days
A protest fast by the leader of a regional party in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh has entered its 10th day.
K Chandrasekara Rao of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) is demanding separate state status for the Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh.
His supporters have also attacked government and private property.
The demand for a separate state for the underdeveloped and drought-prone region dates back 50 years.
But the deal has been rejected by several federal governments.
The Telangana region is spread over nine of the 23 districts of Andhra Pradesh.
The separatists say that economic development in their region has been neglected in favour of the richer and more powerful Andhra region.
Mr Rao quit the Congress-led government in 2006, saying the government had not fulfilled its "assurance" for a separate Telangana state.
He also launched a hunger strike in the capital, Delhi, during the same year to press the demand for a Telangana state.
'Worsened'
Mr Rao began his "indefinite fast" on 29 November at his home town in Medak district, 100km (62 miles) from the Andhra Pradesh capital, Hyderabad.
"Either a victory procession will come out or my funeral procession will come out. The decision will have to be taken by the government," he said.
Fearing a law and order problem, the police arrested him and sent him to a prison in Khammam district.
But as Mr Rao's health deteriorated, he was moved to a hospital in Hyderabad.
Doctors said Mr Rao was refusing to take food and they were giving him saline water and medicine.
The separatists say that their region has been neglected
TRS workers have attacked public transport, government offices and private property in the capital city and nine other districts of the region over the last 10 days.
Separately, students of two major universities - Osmania University in Hyderabad and Kakatiya University in Warangal - have also launched a movement for a Telangana state.
The state government has shut schools and universities in the state for a fortnight to try to prevent students from protesting.
More than 400 people died in violence over the demand for a Telangana state in 1969.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
India's 'Tiger of Telangana' feted
By Omer Farooq
BBC News, Hyderabad
The campaign for a separate state has been long-running and at times violent
From tension and fear to excitement and celebration and then to confusion and uncertainty, the people of Telangana region have seen many shades of emotions during the last few hours.
Ever since the Indian government made its dramatic announcement to accept their 50-year-old demand to make Telangana a state, the people of Hyderabad and the other nine districts of the region have endured a roller-coaster ride.
Thousands of supporters of Telangana came out on the streets late on Wednesday night to see history being made as the word spread like wildfire that the government had met their long-standing demands.
Men, women and the young and old came out of their homes in the dead of the night and gathered at the Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences where the leader of the regional Telangana Rashtra Samiti party, K Chandrasekara Rao was under observation by doctors.
Emotional
After 11 days of a "fast unto death" to press the demand for Telangana state, Mr Rao had emerged as a hero for the local masses.
The 55-year-old MP lost almost half of his original weight and has been suffering from many ailments and complications.
The news that his demands had finally been accepted came just as doctors were pressurising him to break the fast because his life was in grave danger. But gritty Mr Rao steadfastly refused.
It was to see this man that people had thronged around the hospital where he was being treated. Emotional youngsters armed with drums, crackers and banners descended on the building shouting slogans in honour of "KCR" - the man now known as the "Tiger of Telangana".
"No other leader endangered his life for the poor people of Telangana like KCR has done and achieved his goal," said an emotional youngster, Tayyab, who is unemployed.
"I am sure after Telangana is formed, nobody will be unemployed."
Lawyer Vivekananda Reddy, who travelled from another city to be present for the historic occasion said that the "formation of a new state will mark the end of 50 years of injustice".
"Our farmers will get their due share in water and our boys will get decent education and good jobs," he said.
Celebrations
Such sentiments seemed to be widespread, including in the intensive care unit where Mr Rao was lying in the bed. A young woman became emotional and started crying on seeing him in such a bad condition.
K Chandrasekara Rao has become a hero (Photo: Snaps India)
Many others made a beeline to fall at his feet barely a few minutes after he had broken his fast to sip a few drops of lime juice offered by his guru and ideologue Prof Jaishankar.
Outside, the crowds were swelling, and dancing and singing youths boarded passing vehicles to display the pink banners of the Telangana regional party.
"I am an IT software professional and I am sure he will get me a job soon," said another youngster as I struggled to find a way through the throng.
Everywhere people deprived of employment, housing and other facilities gathered in celebration and in the expectation that they will witness an economic miracle in their lives. But will their new hero be able to help them?
"That will be the biggest challenge," said Prof Kodanda Ram of Osmania University.
A few hours later I found myself in the same university, where activists of the right wing Hindu students' organisation, the ABVP, were holding a programme to celebrate what they called a victory.
"Hyderabad Hamara!" (This Hyderabad is ours!) they sang amid bursting crackers.
A short while later a bigger rally of students belonging to the leftist organisations entered the same campus chanting revolutionary songs and slogans. But they were not celebrating the victory. "We are remembering the martyrs who laid down their lives for this day," one said.
But on one thing both the right and the left are unanimous. They agree that if anything can change the lives of people of this region, it will be the creation of Telangana state - giving people a distinct cultural, geographic and economic region.
But as I reach home, bad news awaits. As many as 93 Andhra Pradesh lawmakers have tendered their resignations to prevent the formation of Telangana state - they say that they don't want it to secede.
The fight may not have ended for Telangana and its people.
BBC News, Hyderabad
The campaign for a separate state has been long-running and at times violent
From tension and fear to excitement and celebration and then to confusion and uncertainty, the people of Telangana region have seen many shades of emotions during the last few hours.
Ever since the Indian government made its dramatic announcement to accept their 50-year-old demand to make Telangana a state, the people of Hyderabad and the other nine districts of the region have endured a roller-coaster ride.
Thousands of supporters of Telangana came out on the streets late on Wednesday night to see history being made as the word spread like wildfire that the government had met their long-standing demands.
Men, women and the young and old came out of their homes in the dead of the night and gathered at the Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences where the leader of the regional Telangana Rashtra Samiti party, K Chandrasekara Rao was under observation by doctors.
Emotional
After 11 days of a "fast unto death" to press the demand for Telangana state, Mr Rao had emerged as a hero for the local masses.
The 55-year-old MP lost almost half of his original weight and has been suffering from many ailments and complications.
The news that his demands had finally been accepted came just as doctors were pressurising him to break the fast because his life was in grave danger. But gritty Mr Rao steadfastly refused.
It was to see this man that people had thronged around the hospital where he was being treated. Emotional youngsters armed with drums, crackers and banners descended on the building shouting slogans in honour of "KCR" - the man now known as the "Tiger of Telangana".
"No other leader endangered his life for the poor people of Telangana like KCR has done and achieved his goal," said an emotional youngster, Tayyab, who is unemployed.
"I am sure after Telangana is formed, nobody will be unemployed."
Lawyer Vivekananda Reddy, who travelled from another city to be present for the historic occasion said that the "formation of a new state will mark the end of 50 years of injustice".
"Our farmers will get their due share in water and our boys will get decent education and good jobs," he said.
Celebrations
Such sentiments seemed to be widespread, including in the intensive care unit where Mr Rao was lying in the bed. A young woman became emotional and started crying on seeing him in such a bad condition.
K Chandrasekara Rao has become a hero (Photo: Snaps India)
Many others made a beeline to fall at his feet barely a few minutes after he had broken his fast to sip a few drops of lime juice offered by his guru and ideologue Prof Jaishankar.
Outside, the crowds were swelling, and dancing and singing youths boarded passing vehicles to display the pink banners of the Telangana regional party.
"I am an IT software professional and I am sure he will get me a job soon," said another youngster as I struggled to find a way through the throng.
Everywhere people deprived of employment, housing and other facilities gathered in celebration and in the expectation that they will witness an economic miracle in their lives. But will their new hero be able to help them?
"That will be the biggest challenge," said Prof Kodanda Ram of Osmania University.
A few hours later I found myself in the same university, where activists of the right wing Hindu students' organisation, the ABVP, were holding a programme to celebrate what they called a victory.
"Hyderabad Hamara!" (This Hyderabad is ours!) they sang amid bursting crackers.
A short while later a bigger rally of students belonging to the leftist organisations entered the same campus chanting revolutionary songs and slogans. But they were not celebrating the victory. "We are remembering the martyrs who laid down their lives for this day," one said.
But on one thing both the right and the left are unanimous. They agree that if anything can change the lives of people of this region, it will be the creation of Telangana state - giving people a distinct cultural, geographic and economic region.
But as I reach home, bad news awaits. As many as 93 Andhra Pradesh lawmakers have tendered their resignations to prevent the formation of Telangana state - they say that they don't want it to secede.
The fight may not have ended for Telangana and its people.
From BBC...
Monday, July 6, 1998 Published at 15:24 GMT 16:24 UK
World: South Asia
Separatist movement in Andhra Pradesh
Fifty organisations in Andhra Pradesh have launched a new movement to campaign for the creation of a separate state of Telangana.
The Telangana region is spead over nine of the twenty-three districts of Andhra Pradesh and the separatists say economic development in their region has been neglected in favour of the richer and more powerful Andhra region.
The movement was launched at a two-day conference in Hyderabad presided over by a leading civil rights activist, M T Khan, who said they were prepared for a long struggle.
From the newsroom of the BBC World Service
World: South Asia
Separatist movement in Andhra Pradesh
Fifty organisations in Andhra Pradesh have launched a new movement to campaign for the creation of a separate state of Telangana.
The Telangana region is spead over nine of the twenty-three districts of Andhra Pradesh and the separatists say economic development in their region has been neglected in favour of the richer and more powerful Andhra region.
The movement was launched at a two-day conference in Hyderabad presided over by a leading civil rights activist, M T Khan, who said they were prepared for a long struggle.
From the newsroom of the BBC World Service
Monday, May 10, 2010
Friday, April 30, 2010
I got the SUN in theMORNING n the MOON atNIGHT...
Taking stock of what I have
and what I haven't
What do I find?
The things I've got will keep me satisfied
Checking up on what I have
and what I haven't
What do I find?
A healthy balance on the credit side.
Got no diamond
Got no pearl
Still I think I'm a lucky girl
I got the sun in the morning and the moon at night
(I got the sun in the morning and the moon at night)
Got no mansion g
Got no yacht
Still I'm happy with what I've got
I got he sun in the morning and the moon at night
(I got the sun in the morning and the moon at night)
Sunshine gives me a lovely day
Moonlight gives me the milkyway
Got no checkbooks
Got no banks
Still I'd like to express my thanks
I got the sun in the morning and the moon at night
(I got the sun in the morning and the moon at night)
And with the sun in the morning and the moon in the evening
I'm all right
Monday, April 26, 2010
People’s Movement
Telangana Movement is a real people’s movement, created by the people, for the people, and of the people of Telangana. Its politicians are just one aspect of the whole movement. They are not even in the lead and might have contributed little to the whole movement. The movement is led by the people of Telangana. People outside Telangana have to confront this reality and accept it.
Some of you Andhras who fail to understand Telangana quickly think it is KCR that created this agitation. The actual message is carried by Telanganas through their ballads, pamphlets, stories, booklets, and street-side plays.
Please give credit to the people of Telangana for this movement, not KCR or TRS. And also do acknowledge that Telangana Movement is a people’s movement. Not acknowledging will not allow us to talk on the same table, because you are in a denial mode.
Andhra Pradesh Formation Day
The Andhra Pradesh of today is a state of 20 districts, which corresponds fairly accurate to the area in which Telugu language and culture are dominant. The state is divided into three well-defined regions: the Delta, Rayalaseema, and Telangana.
For administrative purposes, the Delta and Rayalaseema are treated as one. The Delta, well irrigated and fertile, is the most prosperous and wealthy of three regions.
Rayalaseema is a dry, infertile area, subject to frequent droughts and famine. The nine districts, which comprise Telangana, are relatively backward economically.
For administrative purposes, the Delta and Rayalaseema are treated as one. The Delta, well irrigated and fertile, is the most prosperous and wealthy of three regions.
Rayalaseema is a dry, infertile area, subject to frequent droughts and famine. The nine districts, which comprise Telangana, are relatively backward economically.
For 200 years, Telangana was separate from the rest of the Telugu country, maintained in a rather backward feudal condition by the Nizams of the Asaf Jahi dynasty. The jagirdar system of landholding seems to have stood in the way of agriculture development.
The book's first chapter comprises sections covering broad issues related to understanding of regional inequalities in general history of discrimination towards Telangana in particular, and the ongoing movement vis-a-vis the Telangana Rashtra Samithi.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Why we need Telangana as a Separate State
The development scenario of Telangana is very depressing. There is not even a single sector in which this region has not been ignored. We would, however, like to bring to your notice only a few areas to underscore the gravity of the situation.
EDUCATION
- The literacy rate in Telangana is 37% as against 46% in Coastal Andhra, 45% in Rayalaseema and 72% in the Capital City.
- Enrollment of students at the school level in Telangana is 30% instead of 40%, based on the size of population. Over 75% of the expenditure on government and government-aided colleges is incurred in the other two regions.
- Out of 21 Universities and University level Institutions funded either by the State or the Central Government, 3 are located in Coastal Andhra, 7 in Rayalaseema, 10 in the Capital city and just one in the entire Telangana region.
IRRIGATION
- 69% percent of catchments area of river Krishna and 79% percent of catchments area of river Godavari are in the Telangana, and Telangana region gets less than 15% of the river waters.
- The Coastal Andhra has usurped 80% of assured waters of Krishna allocated to the State by the Bachawat Tribunal. 90% of surplus waters, yet to be allocated, are reserved for the Rayalaseema, denying the Telangana its rightful share.
- The Godavari waters have already been harnessed to irrigate more than 12 lakh acres in Coastal Andhra while the corresponding figure for Telangana is 4 lakh acres. The proposed Polavaram Project on Godavari is to serve the Coastal Andhra region is planned to be six times larger than the proposed Ichampalli Project to serve the backward Telangana region.
- The net area under tank irrigation in the Telangana region had declined by 76% between 1956 and 1998. The Telangana farmers mostly depend on well irrigation. The farmers of Coastal Andhra get cheap canal water subsidized by the State, while the Telangana farmers are forced to pay higher electric pump bills.
AGRICULTURE
- The net cultivated area in the Telangana region has decreased by 22% during the period 1956 and 1998, while it has increased by 4.25% in Coastal Andhra region.
- 40% of the cultivated area in the State is in the Telangana region, and the institutional credit available to the Telangana farmers is far less. They get 18%, 23% and 28% of the total credit provided by the District Cooperative Central Banks (short-term), the A.P. Cooperative Central Bank (long-term) and the Scheduled Commercial Banks.
- Inadequate Institutional credit is forcing the Telangana farmers to fall into the debt trap laid by the private moneylenders, leading to an unprecedented number of suicides during the last five years.
INDUSTRIES
- No major industry worth its name has been setup in any of the districts of the Telangana region as compared to the establishment of several industries in Visakapatnam, Vijayawada, Kakinada, Nellore, Tirupati, and Cuddapah.
- Quite a few major industries established in the Telangana region during the rule of Nizams are being closed one after the other by the successive governments. Important among the closed industries are Azamjahi Mills (Warangal), Sir Silk Factory (Sirpur), Antargaon Spinning Mills (Adilabad), DBR Mills, and Allwyn Factory. Further the famous Nizam Sugar Factory (Nizamabad) is on the verge of closure.
EMPLOYEMENT
- There are about 15 lakh jobs in the government and government-funded offices and establishments. Based on the size of population, 40% of these jobs, i.e. 6 lakhs, should have been filled in by the Telangana job seekers. But the total number of jobs now occupied by them is less than 2 lakhs.
- The State Government issued orders as back as in the year 1984 to remove all the non-locals appointed and to appoint only Telangana locals against the vacancies created. Besides not implementing these orders, further recruitment of non-locals in the Telangana region is going on.
FINANCES
- The contribution of Telangana region to the State’s Exchequer has all along been around 43%. But the expenditure incurred on the development of this region has never been more than 25%.
- The lower per capita income of the Telangana region enabled the State Government to get higher allocation of funds from the successive Finance Commissions. But the benefit of such higher allocation of funds never materialized for the Telangana region.
- More than 80% of loans taken from the World Bank and other International and National agencies are being spent for the development of Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema. But the burden of repayment of these loans and interest on them is being borne by the people of Telangana to the extent of 40 to 43%.
- A cumulative effect of these and similar factors, over the years, has been the diversion of thousands of crores of rupees meant for the development of Telangana region, for the development of other regions.
Natural Resources
Telangana region Andhra Pradesh is situated in the central stretch of the eastern seaboard of the Indian Peninsula. The river Godavari is flowing on the North and the river Krishna is flowing on the South. 69% of Krishna River and 79% of Godavari River catchment area is in Telangana. Apart from the major rivers, there are other small rivers such as Manair, Bhima, Dindi, Kinnerasani, Manjeera, Munneru, Moosi, Penganga, Praanahita, and Peddavagu and Taliperu.
Forests: 45% of the forest area in the state is in Telangana region spread across five districts.
Coal: 20% of the coal deposits in the country is in Telangana region. Singareni Collaries excavate Coal and used it for industrial purposes and for thermal power stations. The coal supplied from this region, and the power produced is supplied to entire south india.
Limestones: There are limestone deposits in the region, which cater to cement factories in the region. Telangana also has got other resources like bauxite, and mica.
TELANGANA STATE
Telangana (Telugu: తెలంగాణ), is a region of Andhra Pradesh state in India. It has area of 1,14,840 km2. and it's population is 3,06,96,520[2001 sensus].The name means "land of Telugu people". It consits of the Telugu speaking parts of the erstwhile princely state of Hyderabad. The region lies on the Deccan plateau to the west of the Eastern Ghats range, and includes the northwestern interior districts of Warangal, Adilabad, Khammam, Mahabubnagar, Nalgonda, Rangareddy, Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Medak, and the state capital of Andhra Pradesh of which telangana is a region is Hyderabad. The Krishna and Godavari rivers flow through the region from west to east.
On December 9, 2009, the Government of India announced that the process for the formation of Telangana state will be initiated upon introduction and passage of a separation statement by the state assembly of AP.[1] However, on December 23, 2009, the Government of India announced that the issue of a new state will be addressed only after a consensus is reached, thus effectively putting the formation of the new state in abeyance.
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