view in one page and print
TNN 10 December 2009, 12:44am IST
NEW DELHI/HYDERABAD: Eleven days after TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao began an indefinite fast for Telangana, the Centre on Wednesday announced that the process of formation of a separate state was being set into motion and that a resolution to this effect would be moved in the Andhra Pradesh assembly shortly. Though he did not specify the timing, there is speculation that it may be tabled as early as Thursday. ( Watch Video )
(P. Chidambaram making announcement)
Life has thus come full circle: the state of Andhra Pradesh was carved out of the erstwhile Madras Principality in 1953 following a fast-unto-death of Potti Sreeramulu in 1952, another fast that has endangered the life of KCR is set to result in the state being split up.
Emerging after a late-night meeting at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s residence, Union home minister P Chidambaram made the announcement, adding that the Centre had requested Andhra Pradesh chief minister K Rosaiah to withdraw cases against leaders, students and those associated with the separate Telangana agitation. He also appealed to KCR to call off his fast.
There was no announcement on what would happen to Hyderabad, but KCR’s son, K T Rama Rao, told Times Now that Telangana without Hyderabad was unimaginable. However, he said that KCR would end his fast shortly.
Earlier, the deteriorating health condition of the TRS chief as well as the worsening law and order situation in Andhra Pradesh mounted pressure on Congress president Sonia Gandhi and PM Manmohan Singh. A Congress core group that reviewed the situation claimed Maoists and those keen on dislodging the Rosaiah government may be fanning the movement.
The Congress was also vertically split on the issue, with those opposed to the division of Andhra Pradesh stepping up their resistance. Sources said 24 Congress MPs from coastal and Rayalaseema regions wrote to Sonia for a "united Andhra". But ultimately, it was decided that the decades-old movement should not be ignored any longer.
Telangana region accounts for 119 of the 294 assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh and 17 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats.
TRS, which was formed in 2001 on the plank of a separate Telangana by Rao after he quit TDP, was part of the UPA after the 2004 elections. It parted ways with the Congress in 2006, saying the UPA was doing nothing on its demand.
While in the 2004 elections his party won 5 Lok Sabha seats, in 2009 it managed only two seats and suffered severe erosion in the Assembly elections too.
The decision came on a day when in Lok Sabha leaders cutting across party lines expressed concern over the health of Rao and urged for immediate intervention by the Centre.
With the fast entering 11th day, 55-year-old Chandrasekhara Rao's health developed protein malfunction after he refused even intravenous fluids. But in the afternoon doctors said there was a "marginal improvement" in his condition after he agreed to have intravenous fluids and to be put on saline drips.
Tension mounted in the state capital and Telangana region ahead of the "march to Hyderabad" which resembled a fortress as additional police forces were deployed and hundreds of activists were rounded up to prevent any protests.
_____________________________
Map of Telangana
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telangana
Telangana region marked in white within the state of Andhra Pradesh.
Related Links:
a) State(s) of the nation
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/States-of-the-nation-/articleshow/5329710.cms
Ronojoy Sen, TOI Crest 12 December 2009, 11:45am IST
If Vallabhbhai Patel was largely responsible for the present boundaries of India by his masterful integration of the 500-odd princely states into the newly independent nation, it was a former railway employee and Gandhian from Madras who was the catalyst for a redrawing of the country's map. On October 19, 1952, Potti Sriramulu began a fast in the heart of Madras city demanding that a separate state be carved out of Madras province for Telugu-speaking people. In a repeat of history, Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) leader K Chandrasekhara Rao's 11-day fast has forced the Centre to announce a separate Telangana state consisting mainly of what was earlier the Hyderabad state.
Much before Independence, the Congress had understood that the British administrative units would not be practical in free India. Many provincial Congress committees were based on linguistic zones and not the administrative divisions of British India. Shortly after Independence, Mahatma Gandhi himself wrote that the government "should hurry up with the re-organisation of linguistic provinces" .
Jawaharlal Nehru was, however, not convinced. In the aftermath of Partition, he felt that any further division of India could undermine the stability of the country. In this Patel supported him. But the Congress's position could not prevent the movements for linguistic autonomy from gathering momentum. Kannada, Marathi, Malayalam and Gujarati speakers were all demanding separate states. The Vishala Andhra movement by Telugu speakers was by far the most vigorous.
Nehru, who had felt the ire of Telugu protesters during the election campaign for the 1952 elections, told Parliament on May 22: "Even though the formation of linguistic provinces may be desirable in some cases, this would obviously be the wrong time." It was in this backdrop that Sriramulu began his fast. When Nehru heard of Sriramulu's fast, he decided to ignore it. After keeping off food for 56 days, Sriramulu died.
All hell broke loose. Large numbers took to the streets and many were killed or injured in police firing. Several legislators resigned their seats in protest. In December 1952, Nehru was forced to concede the protesters' demands and announced the formation of a separate Andhra sate. This would lead to the setting up of the States Reorganisation Commission in 1953. On the basis of its report and under the States Reorganisation Act, 14 states - including Andhra Pradesh, which was a merger of the Andhra and Hyderabad states - and six union territories were created in 1956.
Language would continue to be the basis for formation of new states since 1956. In 1960, Bombay was split into Maharashtra and Gujarat. In this period, ethnicity, a close cousin of language, became a criterion with Nagaland being carved out of Assam. Soon administrative concerns crept in with a three-way split of Punjab into Haryana and Himachal Pradesh in 1966. There were additions to the map and changes in borders in subsequent years with statehood for Meghalaya, Manipur and Tripura in 1972 and former UTs, Mizoram, Goa and Arunachal Pradesh, being elevated to states in 1987.
The next real watershed was 2000 when three states came into being - Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Uttaranchal. The first two were the culmination of long-standing demands by tribals for a separate state while Uttaranchal was dictated more by geography with the hilly areas of Uttar Pradesh being carved out to form a separate entity.
The process is not yet complete. The promise of Telangana has been a red rag for those agitating for Gorkhaland, which represents a potent combination of ethnicity and geography. There are other smaller agitations waiting to jump out of the woodwork. In many ways, Sriramulu was the man who lit the fire. Thus Ramachandra Guha points out, "If Jawaharlal Nehru was the maker of modern India, then perhaps Potti Sriramulu should be named its Mercator."
_______________________________________
b) Telangana creation: Protests turn violent, 117 MLAs quit
c) Mayawati for trifurcation of Uttar Pradesh
IANS 11 December 2009, 06:15pm IST
LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh
Chief Minister Mayawati on Friday said she is for creation of independent states of Bundelkhand and Harit Pradesh out of an "unmanageable Uttar Pradesh". (Watch Video )
(Mayawati)
"I have written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urging him to give us clearance for creating independent states of Budelkhand and Harit Pradesh out of a giant-sized and unmanageable Uttar Pradesh," Mayawati told a hurriedly convened press conference here Friday evening.
She said her move follows the central government's nod for carving the state of Telangana in Andhra Pradesh.
She said: "I was always in favour of smaller states as they are much simpler to govern."
______________________________________________________________________________
Leave a comment
(if you having troubles, try posting your comment on this page or send an email to chronicle @ itbhuglobal.org)Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University
Varanasi 221005, UP