Formation of Telangana: Who to blame for the current crisis in Seemandhra?

Now that the Cabinet Note on Telangana is prepared, the people of Seemandhra are in open revolt.  They launched violent agitations against bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.  For the first time in four years of agitations in the state, curfew has been imposed in Vizianagaram.   

Many Seemandhra leaders, the media channels, the activists, and the people, are blaming UPA for the current crisis in Andhra Pradesh.  They have been openly accusing UPA government for the method and process it followed.  They accuse it of acting in haste.  They accuse UPA of announcing this decision only for political gains.  They believe that the bifurcation is an insult to Telugu Jaati (Pride).  They also believe that the process followed in announcing formation of Telangana is anti-democratic and anti-federal.

In reality, there is no merit in any of these accusations.   Formation of Telangana has been a thirteen-year long process.  There have been many promises, manifestos, meetings, decisions, committees, and consultations on Telangana, and each of those steps inched Andhra Pradesh closer to the bifurcation.  In fact, there was an inordinate delay caused by activism of Seemandhras who tried to obstruct the formation of Telangana all these years.  Now that the decision is made, Seemandhras find themselves in a state of self-created crisis.

Who should be blamed for this crisis?

The blame for the current crisis in Seemandhra falls directly on Seemandhra leaders, media outfits, activists and the people.

Seemandhra Leaders

These include YS Rajashekara Reddy (late), Chandra Babu Naidu, Chiranjeevi, YS Jaganmohan Reddy, Kiran Kumar Reddy, Lagadapati Rajagopal, et al.

Seemandhra Media

These include TV9, TV5, NTV, Sakshi, Z24, Andhra Jyoti, Eenadu, et al.

Seemandhra Activists

These include Parakala Prabhakar, Nalamotu Chakravarthy, Ashok Babu, et al.

Seemandhra People

These include all sections of society – students, teachers, NGOs, farmers, et al.

The core reasons for the current crisis can be explained through phenomenon called the ‘institutionalization of lies’.. 

Institutionalization of Lies

All the above stakeholders got involved in a massive campaign of creating lies and believing in those lies.  Right now, almost entire Seemandhra is in a state of denial. 

They believed in the following lies for all these years:

• Telangana will never be formed – no matter what.   Formation of new state is ‘not like cutting a cake’.  ‘Would you give a state just because some unemployed people come onto streets and agitate?’ There are so many other regions in India which are asking statehood.  The center will never create Telangana because it will open up Pandora’s Box.
• Our leaders are capable of obstructing the formation of Telangana forever.  When needed our political leaders will use their majority power to suppress the minority in State Assembly.  If needed, they will intensely lobby in New Delhi and use their power and money to ensure Telangana will never be formed.
• Though our leaders have promised Telangana in their election manifestos, they did not actually mean any of it.  We all know that we are not serious about formation of Telangana.  All these promises are made by our political parties only to calm down the Telangana people so that Telangana Movement eventually dies its natural death.  Wait for few more years, and Telangana Movement will just fade away.
• All the issues and demands raised by Telangana people are bunch of lies.   There is no need to listen to their concerns or demands.  There is no need to address them.  Telangana people are raising bogus issues only because they are brainwashed by KCR and TRS.
• There is no popular sentiment for separate statehood in Telangana.  Very few people in Telangana want separate statehood.  There is no widespread movement.  Those who show up for agitations are incentivized with money, liquor and chicken biryani.   If they don’t come for meetings they are harassed and beaten up.  The only people who are supporting the movement are KCR, his family members and his stooges.   Very soon most of the people of Telangana will realize the real intentions of KCR, and they will abandon him - and this movement will evaporate into thin air.

Seemandhra leaders created these lies, their media propagated them into all households, and their activists legitimized them.  Over a period of time these lies were institutionalized into Seemandhra. Today, Seemandhras are not able to come out of the lies that surround them - and they don't know who to blame.  They think there is a very big conspiracy hatched by the UPA and Republic of India against Telugu pride. 

Today, Seemandhras are in a state of shock.  They don’t know how Telangana statehood could be formed.  They ask, ‘how can these lazy, incompetent, drunkards, get their own state which includes Hyderabad?’ 

They believe that Telangana people do not deserve statehood.   They believe that Seemandhra leaders are capable of obstructing Telangana at any time.  Even now they believe that the ‘game’ has only begun, and declare that ‘it is not over till the last ball is bowled’.  They believe they have ‘brahmastra’ which can be used to stall Telangana. 

Seemandhras are not ready to accept the reality

Right now, instead of preparing their own people to face the reality the Seemandhra leaders, the media, and the activists are involved in massive agitations to obstruct the formation of Telangana.   The leaders and activists clearly admit that there can be no compromise.  They believe it is a war.  They are ready to fight till the end – they are not going to accept creation of Telangana no matter what.  They want to defeat it in the State Assembly.  They want to defeat it in the Parliament.   They want to go to Supreme Court.  They want the government to roll back the decision. 

[They are so upset with New Delhi that some of them started floating an idea that Seemandhra should be a separate country.  The sane question is: If they believe they can't even have livelihood, education or water just because Telangana is separated as a state, how do they plan to get all this as a separate country?]

  

Who has to educate the Seemandhra people?

Any attempt by Telangana leaders or activists trying to reason with Seemandhra at this point of time will only backfire - as evident from some of the violent debates on TV channels. And any attempt by New Delhi to intervene will be rejected.  

It is up to the Seemandhra leaders, media channels, and activists to educate Seemandhra people.  They should tell the people that there is no reason to fear the bifurcation - that their jobs will not be all lost, that they will have food to eat, and water to drink, that their fields will not dry up, and that their region will not turn into a desert or a graveyard, if Telangana is formed.  No one else can help the people of Seemandhras at this hour but their own leaders, media and activists.  Instead of spending their energies in fomenting violent agitations, the leadership can instead focus their energies to negotiate with New Delhi and Telangana leaders to get a good deal for their own people.