Telangana II

Here, I deal with some of the comments from my previous blog - Telangana - A New State.

I just don’t understand why so many people are opposed to a separate Telangana. We didn’t see the same kind of opposition when Jharkhand, Chattisgarh and Uttarkhand were created.

It is quite clear that there are many supporters for separate Telangana in Telangana. TRS, a political party, that came in to cash in on this sentiment with a single slogan of getting a separate Telangana has swept the polls in Telangana. This clearly indicates that people of Telangana overwhelmingly support a separate Telangana.

So, who are these voices who are opposed to it? And why are they opposed to formation of Telangana? Here I look at some of the excuses given by some of the detractors.

1. Andhra people will take away all their investments from Telangana.

Some time ago, the real estate prices crashed in Hyderabad when it became imminent that Telangana would be formed. Lot of people speculated that many Andhra people will move out of Hyderabad. Now, that the state has not formed yet and since so many new projects keep coming into Hyderabad, the prices have picked up again.

There are lots of people who believe that 'Andhra people moving out of Hyderabad' will be bad for Hyderabad. Therefore, they believe that Telangana should not be formed. This reasoning is quite ridiculous. First, no decision on formation of a new state should be based on fears that certain section of people will move out. Second, there are many examples from history which suggest that Andhra people could continue living in Hyderabad even after separation of Telangana. There are many Tamils still living in Mumbai even after Shiv Sainiks took on an agenda to get rid of them. When many riots broke out in Bangalore in a drive to kick out Tamils, the Tamils stood ground and continue living there. Many similar incidents took place in India. That has not changed the demographics much. Such incidents were sporadic and confined to small time frames only to further an agenda. It is unlikely that Andhra people will move out of Hyderabad just because the city goes to Telangana.

There is a ridiculous speculation that the new state would not be friendly to new investments. One guy writes:

…If we have a separate state, then projects like Fab city, Hyderabad Airport, Sky bus, Hyderabad Metro, ORR, and numerous projects will halt and eventually disappear from the state only for the reason that government will not support it after the new state.

The newly formed states in India are known for their aggressive policies to attract more investments and start new projects. Take Uttarkhand for example. They have already invited many MNCs to setup factories in their state giving them sops and tax benefits. Their economy is on an unprecedented growth.

2. Muslims will dominate if Telangana becomes a State.

This issue is never discussed in public forums but is given as an excuse by many detractors in private discussions. If you talk to these detractors, it’s hard to miss the Muslim angle in their story. There is a sense of fear amongst Hindus that in the new Telangana state Muslims will wield more power – and they don’t want that

Similar argument was used long ago when Bengal was partitioned by British. Many Hindus opposed it because they believed that new East Bengal would be completely dominated by Muslims. While that reason is quite abominable and has bigotry as its core ideal, it was still a valid reason in the sense that the new state had a Muslim-majority population.

For a minute let's consider and accept this abominable excuse as an acceptable reason and apply it in case of separate Telangana. The percentage of Muslims to Hindus in Telangana marginally improves even in a separate state of Telangana without any bearing whatsoever to affect the power equations. The Muslims will continue to be a minority as ever. Hindus will continue to dominate in the whole of Telangana as they have always done. They will continue to vote the same kind of people to power from each of their constituency as they have done all these years.

I could imagine a change in power equations if there was reconstitution of the constituencies to benefit certain communities. But if we were to stick to the same constituencies in the new state, they would continue to yield the same results whether they are part of Telangana or Andhra Pradesh or Madras Presidency.

[Of all these excuses, I hate this the most. First, this reason is quite revolting to be used as an excuse. Second, it is not even valid.]

The Muslim angle continues. For many people, the fact that Telangana was under Nizam is a disgrace. The fact that Telangana people did not revolt against Nizam only shows their good-for-nothing capability establishing their inferiority.

One guy writes [emphasis mine]:

I would have loved to see so called "Telangana Tigers" Freeing themselves from Nizam Rule without the intervention of Indian Army. What were these telangana people doing when Nizam was ruling them. Who was nizam? and where did nizam come from? Telangana people allowed nizam who was not even a part of this country to rule them and now they are fighting for seperate state. You should never be given a seperate state for you preferred the slavery of Nizams and you are talking about cultural aspects.

Look at the tone of above commenter in describing the people of Telangana. We do not deserve a separate state because we endured Nizam?

3. Hyderabad will become a Union Territory; away from both Andhra and Telangana.

There was a rumor floating around suggesting that Hyderabad will be made a Union Territory and hence both Telangana and Andhra people will lose the city, making the separation a zero-sum game for everyone. This was indeed a good rumor benefiting the detractors who started to tell everyone to oppose separation. The importance of Hyderabad cannot be missed in this opposition to Telangana formation. In fact, it could be the foremost reason why rest of Andhra Pradesh does not want to grant Telangana people a separate statehood. In the case of Chattisgarh, Jharkhand or Uttarkhand, important cities were not lost to these newly created states - and that's why we saw little resistance. However, in case of Telangana, Hyderabad plays a vital role. The newly formed state is about to bag the crown jewel, and hence we see a bitter opposition to stop that separation.

One guy writes:

Hyderabad is on developement road if you break the state its absolutely problem for both of us.

They are hell bent on not giving up Telangana. You start to wonder why there is such great opposition. Is there an ulterior motive? Even Winston Churchill never wanted to part with India. He wanted India to be there as a crown jewel feeding his nation with raw material. Here, Hyderabad is access to capital, opportunity and investment, and they don’t want to let go.

And some people come with sillier excuses such as:

4. Andhra people are hardworking, enterprising and well-educated.

One Telangana guy writes [emphasis mine]:

We are best at what we do if we put our mind to it and let's for god's sake not separate from our telugu brethern by hiding our laggard nature.

To oppose the separation citing such silly reasons is actually quite dangerous. Should we ally with the efficient German people and merge with them just because they are hard-working, enterprising and well-educated?

Many Telangana people believe that Andhra people are better than them because 'Andhra people are hardworking, enterprising and well-educated'. They think that people of Telangana are lazy, job-shirkers and usually less hardworking. This they believe was the main reason why Andhra people seem to do so well. And they see no reason why Telangana should be rewarded (or punished) with a new state just because one is lazy.

One guy writes:

Let us think telangana is formed and according to your dreams you now have huge req. in state for jobs.. Are you going to recruit educted guys of telangana or non-educated guys ??

If your answer is "educated" guys then that what happened when AP state was formed.Andhra guys who are educated got the job.

This is the exact mindset we are trying to counter here. In addition to mere qualifications endowed by educational degrees, we want local people to prosper by controlling the competition from people of well-to-do regions. That’s why we create different administrative regions and states in the first place.

For many reasons separation really helps. By restricting certain jobs in a State to its own people, thereby making people from other states ineligible, we pave the way for benefiting people of that state, providing them with more opportunities. If we did not have such constituents (as states) and if whole of India was one single state where anyone from any place could get any government post anywhere, we can easily imagine a situation wherein certain well-to-do region people getting all employment opportunities sidelining people from backward regions forever (like Orissa) thus perpetuating and widening that gap forever. The people of such backward regions will never get jobs in their own lands and therefore will not prosper. To avoid such disparities existing between two kinds of people, we have different constituent units. Therefore, separation comes as an important tool and it definitely helps to put certain homogenous groups- social, economic, cultural, linguistic, religious, whatever be the basis for an identity or common grief, into units called states so that they can provide opportunities indigenously.

Did not Telugu people fight for a separate state citing the same reasons to form Andhra Pradesh out of Madras Presidency?

If for certain reason we see two lopsided units in the same state, and for a prolonged period certain people are getting sidelined consistently, one has to wake up and take a second look to see if that state needs to be divided. And that time has come for people of Telangana.

5. Andhra Telugu is superior – everyone should become like them.

There are many Telangana people who are very ashamed to speak Telangana. They see it as lowly language something more suitable for a coolie, a worker or a sweeper. To be sophisticated and chic and to reach higher echelons of society, one has to speak Andhra Telugu.

This feeling goes around a lot, mostly in Telangana. And there is a reason for that. Take a government organization like BHEL, ECIL, or any university in Telangana. You will find most high positions occupied by people from Andhra, while people of Telangana comprise low positions. Therefore, there is a tendency to attach Andhra people’s accent and dialect with superiority since it goes with those high positions. Even the Telugu Movies perpetuate the same image- the goon, the villain and the comedian speak Telangana while invariably all protagonists (the 'Hero' and 'Heroine'), even if the setting is in Telangana region, speak Andhra Telugu. This notion is palpable in all those environments where Telangana people and Andhra people rub shoulders- there is a continuous image being beamed which suggest that Telangana is inferior. So some of these middle class Telangana people who want to get rid of this ignominy inculcate a sense of shame into their kids for being Telangana, and they do their best to get rid of Telangana tag by teaching their kids to speak Andhra Telugu. You will see some middle class Telangana people who aspire to grow ranks in society speaking Andhra Telugu.

In all social circles, to speak Telangana is considered lowly and to speak Andhra Telugu is considered sophisticated. This feeling is not only prevalent amongst Andhra people, but is also carried out by many Telangana people who look down upon their dialect as inferior.

One Telangana guy writes about Andhras:

but take inspiration from them in is it that is good about them(they speak telugu which is less arabic, turkish influenced) and at the same time preserve and nourish our own dialect. Jai Telugu!

On the issue of Andhras ridiculing Telangana dialect, one guy writes [emphasis mine]:

You will be ridiculed when you deserve to be ridiculed. Nobody will praise you when you are in a position to be ridiculed. Did'nt the Britishers and Mughals ridicule the entire nation and why did they ridicule because you yourselves put yourself in a situation to be ridiculed.

6. We will lose our identity as Telugu people

Another common refrain is that we will lose our identity as Telugu people. They see the State as one single family and breaking it is like breaking asunder a nice little family- which, according to them, is a bad thing to do – just watch any Telugu movie – they all portray a son moving out of the home as a very bad thing to do. One guy writes:

This is my land n I dont like leaders breaking my ANDHRA PRADESH for there own cause . Even now we r recognosied as MADRASI by others,by breaking the state we will not have recognition also.

What this guy doesn’t realize is that the reason why we formed Andhra Pradesh out of Madras Presidency is also why Telangana people want a separate state. The rationale that was applied back then is somehow not applied now. There is a gimmick to rally people to unify under one language to oppose this separation.

One guy writes [translation mine]:

Telugu mundhu [Telugu first]. Atharavathe edhaina [Everything else is secondary]. Person who started this blog should know that Telugus have come under one banner after thousands of years. Let's not waste this opportunity by separating ourselves into distinct identities by exaggerating them.

He believes that TELUGU as a language comes above everything else and that reason is enough to keep this a single state. Don’t we have many states speaking Hindi? Should they all be under one banner and therefore under one state? Don’t we have many states speaking Bengali, should we bring back Bangladesh into West Bengal to keep them under one banner? The number of people who speak Telugu is more than 70 million. There are many countries which are one-tenth of that size in Europe maintaining their identity. There are many countries which speak English as their main language – they continue to maintain their identities in spite of different national flags.

Conclusion:

I notice a sense of exasperation from these detractors. They tell us not to break the region as if it is a crime. They equate separation of state to creation of a new nation – and this analogy is quite ridiculous. We will continue to evolve as a nation and that would mean we will have new reorganizations of all kinds to suit the changing aspirations of its people. There are many detractors in this country who oppose all kinds of change. They are just opposed to any change of any kind. One reason is fear of change and fear of unknown. The other reason is arrogance that the present status is really the best. They just cannot comprehend why certain people would demand a separate identity or a state.

Then there are vested interests who do not want to part with Hyderabad to Telangana people and hence they posit all kinds of arguments which do not stand ground. They cite many frivolous and some ridiculous reasons to oppose this separation. They say- lets stay united, as if it is a family. They say- Telangana will suffer more, as if it got a chance to improve in the first place. They resort to ridiculing Telangana people while continuing to object a separate state.

Some Telangana people who reached higher social circles aping Andhra people harbor very low opinion of their own people and hence oppose the creation of a new state- just the way so many princes, rajahs and babus of India who were aping British opposed Independence of India because they just could not believe an Indian was qualified to rule himself.

A separate Telangana makes sense for one reason alone- that its people want it. One should not suppress the voice of so many people who want to have their own identity and a new state within the legal framework of this nation. Their wants are not illegal or illegitimate. Their wishes do not harm other people. Their aspirations are not taking away rights of others.

A separate Telangana is an eventuality. Prolonging this outcome will only increase the animosity of Telangana people towards those who oppose it. Already we have seen many such protests in Telangana which target Andhra people for their woes. Delaying this eventuality will only cause more pain to the region and will not be good for the future of the two states which share the same language. The people of Andhra Pradesh should welcome this aspiration of its people, respect it and make way for a new Telangana.

When you see the wave of change as an eventuality, you should just embrace it and ride the wave - that's what mature people do.

Update: The later parts of this blog are at Telangana III, Telangana IV.