Why Anna Hazare will fail!

Two days ago, lakhs of urban middle class Indians have come onto the streets in a show of support for Anna Hazare’s victory against Government of India when the latter conceded Anna’s demand to form a committee with some civilians in it.  While this outpouring from these yuppie Indians looks good on TV and internet campaigns, I ask myself some basic questions.  Are we really on our way to root out corruption with this show of support and introduction of Lokpal Bill?  Are we about to change the system?  Unfortunately, the answer I get from myself is a big No. 

To give a perspective, imagine a rally or a fast taken up by a Gandhian to stem out casteism from our lives.  We may see a similar response from many Indians who are ‘fed up’ with casteism in this country.  We may naively believe that such rallies and fasts may be the first step towards extirpating casteism from our society.  But the reality is that casteism is so deeply entrenched into our system that a mere fast or rally will not make a dent in its solid structure.   At the most, such rallies and fasts combating such deep-rooted problems will have a symbolic value.  I don’t underestimate such symbols.  I believe they are quite important.  But it would be unrealistic to believe that a single legislation or law will somehow curb casteism from this country.   The same holds true for corruption. 

To all those yuppie Indians who actually believe that this event from Anna Hazare is going to actually bring any change, here is the bad news – nothing is going to change.  I write this not out of cynicism but with a sense of realism to exhort the anti-corruption activists to do much more than what they are currently doing if they are really serious about the cause.  

Anna Hazare: Lessons for future

Anna Hazare, a noted ‘Gandhian’ and an activist, who has earlier played a role in fighting for Right to Information Act has taken up fast to bring more teeth to Lokpal Bill, an instrument to curb the corruption at highest offices in this country.   Many urban middle class Indians have come forward to support him in this cause.  Relay hunger strikes have sprung up in many cities in India.  Artists and intellectuals lent support.  It is heartening to see so many yuppie Indians coming out onto streets to voice their opinion against corruption.  Not many movements in the recent history have seen the urban middle class coming out of their secure careers and gated communities to take the streets in protest on a universal and overarching cause.    At the most, the urban middle families are known to fight for their selfish needs like parks for their kids, or against reservations for lower castes, or for stopping the government from demolishing their illegal houses. 

A phenomenon like this, where urban middle class across the entire country has participated and expressed opinion on the streets or on the internet for a cause that is not just selfish but helps even the common man should be celebrated as truly historic.  But some hard questions remain, as to how long they are willing to fight, and will they be perseverant  enough  to reach a logical end.  Or is it just a one-off incident and phenomenon where they got attracted to the event because they do not know enough details and hence got carried away by the mere symbolism that sounded deliriously romantic and heroic like in movies where one man takes on a mighty nation and ends corruption once and for all.  Are they participating in it to fight their own guilt of apathy towards the country around them? Does this cause seem to have a lofty goal where their mere participation can be recollected and remembered as their one-time participation to erase their years of apathy? Do they know what they are in for?  Do they know how long it will take to actually achieve the desired results? 

Who are the pioneers in 'descrating' statues? Andhras or Telanganas?

Revealed in Chapter 8: Formula on how to subvert democracy in this country

In a landmark judgment that reveals the dangerous trends that Indian democracy is currently taking, a High Court Judge has asked the Home Ministry to disclose the contents of the ‘secret’ chapter of the Report from Srikrishna Committee which was commissioned to prescribe solutions to the Telangana Movement in Andhra Pradesh.   This judgment by L Narasimha Reddy is peppered with the contents from the infamous Chapter 8 -which formed the underlying basis for recommending Option 6 of ‘keeping the state united’ against the wishes of Telangana people.  

The esteemed Judge after reading the contents of Chapter 8 writes “that the Committee travelled beyond the terms of reference in its endeavour to persuade the Union of India, not to accede to the demand for Telangana...”

The Judge observed: “if one has any doubt about the hidden opposition of the Committee for formation of Telangana, that stands removed with this note”.  

The secret note blatantly recommends ‘managing’ the media by influencing it through government sponsored advertisements, ‘softening’ the political parties by giving its members positions in the government, disciplining the ruling party members to toe the line against the wishes of the people, and making pre-emptive arrests of innocent people in the region to curb the movement.   Any sane reader would conclude that this note attempts to subvert democracy and all its cherished institutions in this country. 

Under the title, ‘media management’, the secret note starts off observing that the electronic channels and newspapers could be used for “molding the public opinion”.  It writes: “The equity holders of the channels and the entire Print Media are with the Seemandhra people.  The main editors/resident and sub-editors, the Film world etc. are dominated by Seemandhra people.  A coordinated action on their part has the potential of shaping the perception of the common man.”  It recommends ‘managing’ the editorial opinions, the headlines, and the content. 

Telangana 82: Crimes against Humanity

An Open Letter to the Future Leaders of Telangana

Once Telangana is formed there is a good chance that we will be so happy and ecstatic that we may be ready to forgive anyone, even those who committed crimes against our people.  I would like to warn us that such forgiveness will not be a sign of magnanimity but a sign of dereliction of our duty.

It is our duty to make sure we set the right precedents by prosecuting those who have used the instrument of power to impose repressive measures against the common man, depriving him of his basic rights, stripping him of human dignity, treating him like a criminal based on hunches and assumptions.   In the last one year, the police and the authorities in our government have resorted to crimes against humanity and they should not be spared just because we got all busy in celebrations upon formation of Telangana.

It is our duty that no such repression happens elsewhere in this country, so that no other region or group have to endure a tyrannical administration just because they have no political or economic power, or because they are a minority in a state.  

It is our duty to ensure that the process of state formation in this country doesn’t have to be so tough, so hard and so challenging.   We in Telangana happen to be one of the most politically aware groups in the country, and even we had to face so many obstacles and hardships in our fight for a genuine and legitimate demand for statehood.  Imagine what it must be like for those people who are not able to garner this kind of political pressure or this kind of mass mobilization.   Their voice must have been suppressed before it is even raised. 

In the last one year, we had to face indiscriminate arrests that were done based on pure whims and fancy of the police officers and administrators at the behest of callous and apathetic Seemandhra government.  Kids are taken into custody and beaten up.   Anyone sympathetic to the cause of Telangana could be in jail today.  Even some of the egregious dictators would not submit their people to such totalitarianism. 

Telangana 81: Imposed or embraced?

The key element in understanding why Telanganas proudly demolished the statues on the Tank Bund is in appreciating the difference between what is ‘embraced’ out of free will, and what is ‘imposed’ against one’s will. 

Many intellectuals in Telangana are unable to articulate why they secretly feel happy about what happened on Tank Bund on 10^th March though they know that it is a dastardly act of vandalism - which they would usually never approve of in their ordinary life.  And many other Telanganas are getting squeamish and uncomfortable about this ‘violent’ act of their fellow activists.  Some of them are ready to distance themselves from these ‘vandals’.  And some others feel that this incident is a setback to our peaceful movement.

Today we have to seek the answers as to why some of us are happy and why some of us are still uncomfortable and at loss of words while facing this incident head on.

To understand what these statues mean to us, let me construct a hypothetical scenario. 

Imagine we are still under British, and we are fighting against their rule. Against our wishes, they go about installing statues of famous British scientists and writers on Rajpath in New Delhi.  They put statues of well-accomplished and renowned luminaries like Isaac Newton, Bertrand Russell, Alexander Fleming, James Watt, Oscar Wilde, William Shakespeare, etc.  Indians are peeved that none of the Indian scientists or writers is represented in these statues and they file a complaint to the British rulers.   However, the rulers’ sway prevails, and the statues remain on Rajpath much to the chagrin of Indians.  Each passing day, Indians look at these statues which remind them that they still are under subjugation.

Is Telangana Movement Violent?

Telangana 79: Like Enemy Like Fight

Mahatma Gandhi is a scion of nonviolent movements.  He is known worldwide for having brought an end to the world’s most powerful empire through peaceful agitations.  Instead of creating armed rebellions like most other colonial countries, Gandhi insisted on tactics like non-cooperation, bandhs, hartals, hungerstrikes, and peace marches, all in an effort to bring a change in the heart of the enemy, to make the enemy respect him, and eventually gain freedom from that enemy.    It goes without saying that Gandhi and his non-cooperation methods are credited with bringing freedom to India from the British. [It is a matter of debate if India would have got independence if there was no Second World War.]

For a while, imagine it was not British who had ruled over India but it was Nazi Germans.  Would Gandhi become a hero, and would his methods have succeeded? 

Only a fool who doesn’t understand history would believe that Nazis would have respected Gandhi’s nonviolent agitations, that Nazis would have stood up when Gandhi entered the court, or that they would have freed Gandhi so that he does not die on a hunger strike.  If Nazi Germans were ruling India, most probably we would never have heard of Gandhi, because he would have died as a nameless victim in one of the many concentration camps.  Gandhi’s methods would not have worked against Nazi Germans. 

The only way to defeat Nazi Germany was through massive invasion, involving millions of soldiers, thousands of planes and tanks and hundreds of ships, showering millions of bombs and firing billions of bullets.  No matter how great Gandhi was he would not have brought Nazi Germany to its knees with his noncooperation and nonviolent agitations.  Asking Jews to embrace non-cooperation, bandhs, and hunger strikes to fight Nazi Germans will sound foolish to any historian.

Telangana 78: Democracy or Dictatorship?

The Telangana activist who sent me the link to this video writes:

If this video doesn't move you, then nothing will. Watch how dozens of Paramilitary forces encircle an Ambulance near OU and drag out two teenaged kids, who were already injured. They then brutally assault these kids.

Is this democracy or dictatorship?

Let’s not tolerate this kind of oppression. Get ready for the final "March For Telangana"

Telangana 77: Why India Should Reject SriKrishna Committee Report?

SriKrishna Committee Report is now being studied by the Central Government in New Delhi to provide a solution to the Telangana issue.  Unfortunately, the report fails to provide a political solution to the current problem, and instead provides too many options thereby creating confusion.  It provides six options which are self-contradicting making a mockery of itself.  It has too many factual errors, and in some places downright supercilious when it calls entire people of Telangana lazy and subservient. 

The report not only puts on record its prejudices against creation of new states in India but also callously dismisses a 54 year old struggle and a genuine aspiration of 35 million people as ‘having some merit’ and ‘not entirely unjustified’.  The report not only fails to deliver a practical solution to the impending problem in Telangana, but it poses a grave danger to Indian democracy by establishing an undemocratic yardstick for creation of new states in India. 

Historical Precedents

Back in 1950s, the national leaders of the newly formed Indian Republic looked at the state divisions based on regional identity with strong suspicion.  These leaders were still recovering from the aftermath of Partition and the recently concluded exercise of annexation of various reluctant kingdoms.  Linguistic Provinces Commission under SK Dar and JVP Committee headed by Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhai Patel and Pattabhi Sitaramaiah rejected the idea of forming states based on language.  The Dar Commission said ‘Nationalism and sub-nationalism are two emotional experiences, which grow at the cost of each other’ and therefore ‘all sub-national tendencies in the existing linguistic provinces should be suppressed’.  The JVP Committee held the security and unity of India paramount to caution that the ‘language could equally be unifying and divisive force’.

Movie: Jai Bolo Telangana

The movie ‘Jai Bolo Telangana’ is directed by N Shankar and features actors like Jagapathi Babu and Smriti Irani.  It is now being screened across various theaters in Telangana and is becoming a roaring success.   Borrowing Dileep’s comments:  'Telangana is going through a cultural renaissance.  It has produced hundreds of songs and hundreds of books already.  Now, it can proudly boast a movie as well'.

Indeed, Telangana is going through a cultural renaissance.  It is reasserting itself after nearly 50 years of suppression, having been shown to be inferior, as a culture worthy of being discarded.   All attempts to erase this culture now stand futile.  The lesson is clear, you cannot erase someone’s identity and culture for so long; it comes back with a vengeance.   The assertiveness comes out in many forms, in speeches, in body language of Telangana people, in songs, in defiance, and in every aspect of Telangana people’s lives.  They even dream of creating their own state. 

Telangana 76: Tunisia and Egypt

Watching the ecstatic Egyptians waving their national flags while walking on a million-man march can make almost every human being on the planet go ecstatic.  It is the greatest struggle of mankind - the struggle for freedom.  Witnessing one such freedom struggle unfold before you, one cannot help but sympathize with these Egyptians.  Every man who loves freedom for himself and for his fellowman cannot help but support these Egyptians in their struggle.  Following what happened recently in Tunisia where angry and irate Tunisians came onto streets to kick out their autocratic President, now the Egyptians have come out onto streets in an attempt to overthrow Hosni Mubarak, the dictator for nearly 30 years.  And the whole world is watching this grand spectacle on their TV sets.  Almost all international media units are in Cairo to cover this march of humanity which is celebrating their struggle for freedom.  Even Indian news media have sent their cameras and journalists to cover this event to bring it live into the homes of millions of Indians.

Telanganas feel happy for Tunisians and Egyptians, and congratulate them, but then they look at themselves and their plight, and that happiness slowly turns into sadness.  The despondency is palpable in the hearts and faces of Telangana people, at their helplessness.   Less than two months ago, nearly 2.5 million Telanganas marched to Warangal to convey only one message to India, “Give us Telangana”, and yet, nobody paid attention.  NONE of the Indian national media covered it on TV. For these Indian media houses, million-people march of Egyptians is important and significant to be covered live, but not the million-people march of fellow Indians. 

Telangana 75: Will Telangana become another Jharkhand?

Will Telangana become another Jharkhand, where corruption is rampant, political institutions are weak, and democracy has taken a back seat to pave way for oligarchy?

To answer this question, we need to learn a bit about Indian Independence Movement, because that’s the closest ideal we have in this subcontinent to measure ourselves against, and also because Telangana Movement derives its inspiration from it.  What happened on 15 August 1947 was not just toppling of British regime to be replaced by self-rule, but it was a major overhaul of the political, social and cultural map of this country, transforming itself from a eclectic mosaic of monarchies into a vibrant republic, overthrowing feudalism to be replaced by a socialist society, transforming a heavily male chauvinist society to give women their freedom, converting a upper caste dominated society to an emancipated society where lower castes are treated as equals.

All this happened because of what preceded before 15 August 1947, during the long course of Indian Independence Movement.  The focus of the movement was not just against the British but was directed at toppling our masters within [1][2][3][4].  For that, we had created organizations, forums, committees, parties, and groups enrolling people at grass root level.  These organizations and groups were the key to instilling a strong case for democracy in this country.  These peoples’ organizations competed and collaborated with each other, allowed debate, let reason prevail, giving voice to many suppressed sections of the society.  The fact that we had created hundreds of people’s organizations and democratic political bodies during our freedom struggle is a key reason why India remained a vibrant democracy after Independence while most third-world countries that attained freedom from their colonial masters quickly became dictatorships or autocracies.  

Telangana 74: Why are Andhras frustrated?

When Kalvakuntla Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) came onto the scene in Andhra Pradesh with a small political outfit called Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) in 2000, Andhras were not extremely disturbed.  Instead they were quite amused.  That’s because KCR spoke in Telangana accent and that was always a funny spectacle for most Andhras.  You see, in 100% of the Telugu movies, the guy who speaks Telangana accent is either a buffoon or a goon.  He is never the main hero or the main villain.  Of course, he is not even the side-hero or the main comedian, because they are also important actors, though second in rank.

In Telugu movies, the Telangana-accent guy gets kicked around all the time, literally.  By the time the movie approaches its end all the Telangana-accent actors are eliminated from the plot.  Only the hero and the villain remain – neither of them will be from Telangana.  Naturally, most Andhras thought that KCR was one of those small time actors; not the main villain and definitely not the hero.  They expected him to get out by the time big boys from Seemandhra come onto the scene.

So, when Telangana agitations got into full swing in 2009-10, and kept on rising, Andhras just could not fathom how this could be happening.  Is the sidekick turning out to be a hero (for Telanganas) and villain (for Seemandhras)? Nah! Not possible.  This is not an acceptable formula for successful movies.  This movie would never work.

Telangana 73: Are we condemned to repeat history?

The current generation in India looks at history as a list of milestones without knowing the details behind achieving those milestones, running the risk of repeating the mistakes of their forefathers. Are there lessons to be learnt from our histories?  Are we missing out on the most important lessons by not paying enough attention to our past? 

Indian history is replete with precedents which can guide us in making mature decisions.  It is unfortunate that Srikrishna Committee spent nearly eleven months in this region but did not make efforts to understand the underlying theme of this mass movement. It is also sad that this committee did not look at the precedents from Indian history to address the issues of this region.

Unlike what many Andhras would like us to believe, there was indeed a precedent where a region having the capital city wanted to become a separate state and eventually won the statehood with the capital city.   The conditions of those times are so uncannily similar that it is surprising that this Committee given such a huge responsibility on deciding the fate of thirty-five million people did not look into the historical documents to check on these precedents.

Key to Telangana: Article 3

The authors of Indian constitution, unlike the current generation of Indians, did not believe that the states, districts and mandals within India are static, unchanging, and permanent.  They had the maturity to accept that states would evolve and change, and hence made provisions for creation of new states in Indian Union.

Indian Constitution

Article 3 of Indian Constitution addresses the topic of ‘Formation of new States and alteration of areas, boundaries or names of existing States’.  It says:

Parliament may by law

(a) form a new State by separation of territory from any State or by uniting two or more States or parts of States or by uniting any territory to a part of any State;

(b) increase the area of any State;

(c) diminish the area of any State;

(d) alter the boundaries of any State;

(e) alter the name of any State; Provided that no Bill for the purpose shall be introduced in either House of Parliament except on the recommendation of the President and unless, where the proposal contained in the Bill affects the area, boundaries or name of any of the States, the Bill has been referred by the President to the Legislature of that State for expressing its views thereon within such period as may be specified in the reference or within such further period as the President may allow and the period so specified or allowed has expired Explanation I In this article, in clauses (a) to (e), State includes a Union territory, but in the proviso, State does not include a Union territory Explanation II The power conferred on Parliament by clause (a) includes the power to form a new State or Union territory by uniting a part of any State or Union territory to any other State or Union territory

A note to commenters

Some of your comments have been deleted.  Some of you got upset.  

SKC Report: Intellectual Dishonesty

The chronic neglect in imparting scientific temperament into our people is now affecting this country, its social life, and its politics.  India is suffering from a massive bout of intellectual deficit.  This is coming out in various sections of our life.  Either it is 2G Scam or Satyam Scandal, it is clear that numbers are being fudged, scientific and dispassionate scrutiny is missing, manipulation and misinterpretation of data is rampant.  Now, it has affected the cause of Telangana as well. 

We are now facing a new menace in this country, the intellectual dishonesty, where certain eminent people given paramount responsibility of deciding fate of millions of people are misinterpreting data to promote vested interest groups.   Justice Srikrishna, a retired judge of Supreme Court, was given the task of making recommendations on the issue of separate Telangana or united AP.  The report is out and it is becoming apparent that Srikrishna is subject to the same malaise that has affected Ramalinga Raju of Satyam scandal or Raja of 2G scam.  It is also unfortunate that the media houses, some of them respectable ones, like THE HINDU, have also resorted to the same intellectual dishonesty.   Instead of making a scientific scrutiny, they are just playing pawns to the same vested interests that have been dominating Telangana for the last 54 years. 

Statistics like per capita have never been used by India to form new states or reorganize states.  The basis for forming a state has always been to satisfy aspirations of people of certain region.  Uttarakhand had a higher per capita than Uttar Pradesh and yet formed a new state.  Andhra State, Gujarat, Karnataka were formed on a regional identity irrespective of any study into per capita comparisons.  In fact, no such statistics were used when merging Telangana with Andhra State to form united Andhra Pradesh back in 1956. 

Why Srikrishna Committee thinks Telangana is NOT Backward?

Guest Article: Justice Srikrishna’s Magic Report

This is the first time I am posting an article written by someone else on this blog.  Sometimes you come across an article so well written that it makes to just publish it instead of attempting to write one yourself. 

Telangana and Justice Srikrishna’s Magic Report

Author: Nitin Harkara

The Srikrishna committee has now submitted its much-anticipated report on the “situation in the state of Andhra Pradesh”. The mere fact that the committee met the proposed deadline for submission of this document to the Government of India must be a signal achievement in the annals of government-appointed bodies. In the prevailing milieu where meandering activity takes precedence over timely delivery of results, Telangana’s people had probably resigned themselves to the inevitable request for an extension of the committee’s submission deadline. That such a request was not made, is evidence of apprehension on the part of an otherwise-uncaring Central government that even the normally-gullible masses would see through so blatant a delaying tactic.

There may be a tendency on the part of some in Telangana to view this committee’s report as a significant milestone in the region’s tortuous path to re-establishment as a free entity, as a state finally rid of its neo-colonial Andhra rulers. A word of caution is in order here: This document should not be seen as anything other than what it is, merely a clever ploy employed by Mr. Chidambaram and Co. to gain time. Time, they hoped, which would help them roll back the tide of Telangana’s resolve to achieve statehood and to realize dreams suppressed since the colonial takeover of their land and lives by coastal Andhra in 1956. 

SKC Report: Bloopers or Lies?

Let it be known that states in India were not formed based on statistics.   States were formed to satisfy aspirations of people of a certain region.

Let it be known that data is unreliable.  Data can be cooked and misinterpreted.  That’s why we had Satyam in Andhra Pradesh.

Let it known that even though Government of AP denied certain information to RTI activists of Telangana, the same information was provided to Srikrishna Committee.  If it is a fair trial, the information should have been available to everyone contesting the case.
Let it be known that Government of AP pulled down certain webpages and documents from their websites after Srikrishna Committee was announced.  

SKC Report is a joke.  It lists six options, some of them downright ridiculous and laughable.  And yet, this report is being used by detractors to Telangana Movement to discredit our cause. 

Here is a collection of all the lies from Srikrishna Committee Report.  This will tell you that information cited and deductions made in the report are false, fabricated and serving few vested interests.  [Please send your bloopers across.  I will list them here].

Telangana 72: Unite or Perish

Our fathers fought in 1969.  It was like an uncoordinated guerilla fight, spontaneous and violent, a sudden outburst which got extinguished as quickly as it got started.  It was students and young people who came onto streets and believed that the state would bow down and give them a separate state.  To their surprise the state dealt with them with an iron hand.  Using media blackout, they violently crushed the movement with hundreds killed, thousands injured, and most of the agitators jailed.  The state then blackmailed, threatened or bought the political leaders to give up all aspirations for statehood. 

That was 42 years ago. 

Surprisingly, the flame though small, was protected and carried by few of those broken fighters of 1969, till it got the necessary fuel to become a conflagration now.   This time around we are prepared for a long battle. This time we are not uncoordinated.  This time we are a polished machine.    This time around the state will not be able to crush us.  We had nearly 15 years to prepare for this.  We prepared songs, thousands of them.   We wrote books, hundreds of them.  We made slogans, we made flags; we made t-shirts and stickers, and wore them proudly.   We created hundreds of JACs, we mobilized millions of people. 

Telangana 71B: Tughlaqs of Modern India

Continued:

Option 3: Bifurcation of State into Rayala-Telangana and coastal Andhra regions with Hyderabad being an integral part of Rayala-Telangana

It looks like the committee wanted to come up with various permutations and combinations to make it look like they have explored many options.  This is a silly option, suggested by extremely few.  During the protests of 1956, and then during agitations of 1969, and then during the last ten years of Telangana Movement, Rayalaseema was on the side of Coastal Andhra to deny people of Telangana its statehood.  So, how is it possible for Telangana to merge with Rayalaseema to form a new state? When Telangana people say, we want separate Telangana, it is clear that they don’t want to be in the same state with Coastal Andhra or Rayalaseema.  No more experiments for people of Telangana.  We owe this to the future of Telangana.

Telangana 71: Tughlaqs of Modern India

When I was growing up there was a term used to insult someone.  The word ‘Tughlaq’ was used to call someone a dumb idiot and a fool.  Later on I got to know why the word ‘tughlaq’ became synonymous with a dumb idiot.   Long ago in 14^th century, a king named Muhammad bin Tughlaq ruled over Delhi and he came up with a ridiculous idea to move his capital city from Delhi to Daulatabad (Devagiri) nearly 1500 km south into Deccan.  He forcibly moved his entire city population including cattle, from Delhi to Daulatabad. It was a major disaster.  Thousands died, millions became homeless and economy was in shambles.  Two years later, he moved the capital back to Delhi.  To the current generation, that episode in history sounds utterly foolish and comes as surprise.  One cannot believe that Tughlaq took such extremely nonsensical and unrealistic idea so seriously.   However, back in those times, kings and nobles went with such decisions and ordinary people paid price with their lives.

Many such foolish ideas came about in the past.  And we look back at them with wonder – not able to really grasp how people and leaders of that time could be so foolish.

One such event which we will recall later, fifty years from now, are the suggestions given by SriKrishna Committee.  We will wonder how they could think of such extremely ridiculous propositions.  Barring from suggesting that Hyderabad State should be made a part of Pakistan, they touched upon every other ridiculous idea.  Here I discuss two of them:

SriKrishna Committee Report Summary

[Typed version of scanned PDF document]

SUMMARY OF THE REPORT OF COMMITTEE FOR CONSULTATION ON THE SITUATION IN ANDHRA PRADESH

1.      Shri Justice B. N. Srikrishna report was submitted to the Government on 30.12.2010.  The Terms of Reference of the Committee are enclosed.

2.      In its 461 pages Report (along with Volume II containing Appendices), the Committee has examined in great detail the following issues:

(i)                 Developments in Andhra Pradesh – A Historical Background

(ii)               Regional Economic and Equity Analysis

(iii)             Education and Health

(iv)              Water Resources, irrigation and Power Development

(v)                Public Employment Issues

(vi)              Issues Relating to Hyderabad Metropolis

(vii)            Sociological and Cultural Issues

3.      Based on the analysis of the above parameters the Committee has examined in detail the issues pertaining to current demand for a separate State of Telangana as well as the demand for maintaining the present status of keeping the State united.  After going into all aspects of the situation as well as keeping in view the local, regional and the national perspectives, the Committee has put forward the following solutions/possible options as the best way forward:

Telangana 70: Solution is in politics, not in statistics

When SriKrishna committee was constituted, I wrote the following on 15 Feb 2010:

…we should completely, unanimously and categorically reject Srikrishna Committee as a political solution to the current situation in Telangana, because it doesn’t provide one.  There should no expectation whatsoever that Srikrishna Committee will provide a solution to the current problem in the state.  What is needed is not another ‘study’, not another ‘research’, but an action that demonstrates political expediency, a political and unequivocal decision that solves the problem of Telangana right away – which is creation of Telangana…Let’s make it clear to ourselves now.  We don’t want to be a guinea pig for another social research. 

The solution to Telangana problem lies in political decisions, not in committees, studies or research.  We have had 53 years of overwhelming evidence of false promises and broken agreements.   That is good enough to demerge this state which was formed on a conditional merger based on set of safeguards and protections which were all flouted or revoked.  

On 25 Feb 2010, I wrote:

There are lies, damned lies and then there are statistics. One look at the fields of Telangana and Andhra would tell you the state of affairs.   Facts can be interpreted the way you want to.   India did not fight for independence from Britain on a statistic.  Andhra State was not formed from Madras State on a statistic. What we need is a political decision, not a statistical report.

SriKrishna Committee Report Leaked

Hurrah! SriKrishna Committee Report has been leaked.  Here are some of the salient points:

For Separate Telangana State:

Overwhelming majority in Telangana seeks a separate state; the current ten districts of Telangana could be carved into a separate state with Hyderabad as its capital;

Pros: Enough indications suggest that this region was neglected and its people discriminated against; a separate state would address many of the concerns ailing this region.  For example, a new state of Telangana would definitely get more water and therefore bring prosperity to the region.  Could also lead to elimination of Naxal Movement because people will get a political voice in Indian democracy.

Cons: Seemandhra people may get disappointed and may burn some buses in Seemandhra region. 

For United State:

Majority in Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema would like to keep the state united; the status quo could be maintained with introduction of regional board for each region – Telangana, Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema, and special packages could be given for neglected and backward districts.

Pros: no change required to current administration setup; will make people of Seemandhra extremely happy; Telangana people will be under superior rulers of Seemandhra region.

Cons: will make people of Telangana extremely unhappy; could lead to massive agitations and uprising in Telangana, but our outstanding Indian Army and Air Force can easily suppressing it with less than 5 lakh people dead; could lead to escalation of Naxal Movement like it happened in the aftermath of 1969.

Telangana 69: Get off your ass and fight

I wouldn’t trade this for anything else.  I am witnessing history unfold right before my eyes.  I am happy that I am not living in another country like I was few years ago, then I would be so far away from the action.  Of course I wish I was living in Telangana, instead of living in Bangalore.  Every day I get up and feel bad that I am not living in Telangana. I wish I could be here all the time, right here, right now. But then I use every opportunity I get to visit Telangana to take part in the events unfolding in Telangana. 

How could I miss this historic movement?  It is like participating in our India’s freedom struggle against British.  Imagine you were a young man during British India and you see people marching in protests.  But imagine you were too lazy, or confused, or too ignorant, or gave some stupid reason not to participate in the freedom struggle.  Would you not regret it now? I would.

I am thrilled to be part of the current agitation of Telangana.  According to me, it’s once in a lifetime opportunity.  Missing out is not an option for me.  As an American would you not be thrilled to be part of your freedom struggle against British? Would you not give everything to be part of the struggle, participate in the raids of George Washington?  As an African-American would you not be thrilled to be part of the crowd listening to Martin Luther King Jr’s I have a dream’ speech?  [I am not African-American, but I would give everything to be part of that crowd on that historic day when he delivered that speech in Washington DC and I am quite sure I would be in tears]

New Age Corruption

In the last two years alone, we have seen ten or more major scams in India, each one outdoing the other.  The recent 2G scam is pegged at 176,000 Crores.  That’s 1,760,000,000,000 Rupees amounting to nearly 3% of our GDP.  Satyam scam was around 14,000 Crores while Common Wealth Games scam is at 70,000 Crores.   I was talking to some young people the other day and was telling them that in the early 1990s PV Narasimha Rao was embroiled in a 2 Crore scam.  They could not believe that a tiny amount of 2 Crore could actually result in a scam.    Even the much touted Bofors scam, because of which Rajiv Gandhi lost power in 1980s, was only 64 Crores.  So what happened to us as a nation in the last twenty years?  How did we go from mere 2 Crores to 176,000 Crores? 

I believe that we are witnessing a completely new set of rules being played out in the corrupt India (BTW, India proudly ranks 87^th in the world on the corruption index).  And unlike what many people think, I believe it is the younger generation, not the older generation, which is setting these new rules.  It is New Age corruption, which is vastly different from the old school.  The old school’s appetite was small, and therefore was content with small money and stored it as cash stuffed in pillows or deposited it as gold in some foreign accounts.  The new age is rapacious, they want to become the world’s richest, get hold of all vital natural resources of the country, and they route the money through legal methods like IPOs, mergers and acquisitions, to convert their black money into white money.

I discuss this New Age corruption through the following three trends. 

Telangana 68: Democracy in Crisis?

It took hundreds of years of human struggle and strife to bring in a type of government where a common man got his freedoms, became a citizen, and actually had a say in the politics.   Democracy is a fragile institution, which can easily slip into autocracy in times of insecurity or weakness.   It takes lot of strength to keep it going, not succumbing to easy methods of imposing military or police rule at the first sign of trouble.   Countries like China suppress people’s voices and freedom with use of force, armies and tanks, like in Tiananmen Square, killing innocents who protest.  They jail everyone who speaks of freedom on the charges of sedition. 

Back in 1969, during Telangana agitation, the government imposed a media blackout, brought troops into the region, jailed nearly 70,000 people, injured nearly 15,000 people, and killed 370 people.   Not very different from how China treats its people.  Clearly, a democracy has tendencies to become autocratic when it has to face tough questions that come out of democratic aspirations of its people.   Those are the times when the nation suffers from insecurities, of egos, of prejudices, and weaknesses. 

Andhra Pradesh government is now imposing additional 50 companies of paramilitary forces in the state, most of them in the region of Telangana, getting ready to forcibly control the people’s agitations that may arise after contents of SriKrishna Committee report are disclosed. 

Freedom from persecution

A constitutional right can be loosely defined as a freedom guaranteed by the state allowing an individual to do certain things without fear of persecution, without getting harassed or obstructed, either from the state, a group or another individuals.  One commenter on my blog writes:

…while it is right for Ms Roy to question the status of J&K in Indian union, the court is also right in allowing FIR to be lodged…it is correct to have a court hearing on it and matter be decided in a non-emotive atmosphere.

In the case of MF Husain’s episode, the High Court ruling clearly exonerated MF Husain of any wrongdoing and let him go free.  However, that did not stop various groups to continuously lodge complaints against the artists, or stop many police stations from issuing warrants for his arrest.  Basically, Indians kicked out MF Husain by hounding him with thousands of cases, generating hundreds of arrest warrants against him, depriving him of his freedoms.    He could have fought each case meticulously one after another, but then he would have wasted lot of his time and money, and ended up not doing what he wants to do – which is to paint. 

A freedom sanctioned by the state of India also includes freedom from such frivolous and unnecessary prosecution, from such arrest warrants in each and every Indian city, and from related court summons.   So that we don’t have to negotiate each freedom in a court of law, the Indian Constitution makes certain freedoms non-negotiable and gives them as rights to its citizens, in order to protect these citizens from harassment of the state or other groups or other individuals, so that these citizens can go ahead and live a free life without getting hindered and obstructed by other people. 

Are you a ‘Secularist’?

There is a mail floating around which includes a presentation called ‘Pseudosecularism’ with the following questions.  Usually I avoid countering such propaganda but when sometimes you see a recurring theme in most people’s arguments it becomes necessary to address it.  This presentation has the following questions which one is supposed to answer for oneself.  I am going to answer them here. 

Are you a Secularist?

I am not sure what that means.  But if it means I believe in the principles of secularism and believe that our country, India, should adhere to the secular principles, yes, I am a secularist.  But it does not mean I am going to demonize other’s religion while praising my own, or denounce my religion while praising others.   I believe that state should be separated from religion – irrespective of whose religion it is. 

There are nearly 52 Muslim countries.  Show one Muslim country which provides Haj subsidy.

I don’t know if other Muslim countries provide Haj subsidy, but as a ‘secularist’ I oppose India giving Haj subsidy.   As a secularist, I do not agree to state providing Haj subsidy.  But it is also true that no country in the world gives government funds for construction and renovation of private Hindu temples.   Karnataka Government in India has donated crores of money to Hindu temples. 

As a secularist, I oppose Haj subsidies, and also oppose state sponsorship of Hindu Temples. As a secularist, I also oppose state sponsored cow veneration, state sponsored celebration of Hindu and Muslim festivals, state sponsored Hindu ceremonies for government offices, etc.

So, India happens to be a ‘secular’ country in theory which doesn’t necessarily practice secularism, and does all kinds of funny things to promote various religions, including Haj subsidies, and donations to temples.  So, to highlight only Haj subsidies does not do justice to the argument that India somehow treats Indian Muslims preferentially, because it treats Indian Hindus even more preferentially.