Andhra Pradesh (AP) is the fifth largest State in the Indian Union having an area of 2,75,000 sq. km.sq. kms and a population of about 84,655,533. Andhra Pradesh consists of three distinct regions, namely, Andhra, Rayalaseema, and Telangana. Andhra and Rayalaseema were part of Madras province of the British Empire. For approximately 400 years, Telangana was part of Hyderabad State, an independent kingdom ruled by Muslim Qutub Shahi and Nizam dynasties.
In 1953, Andhra and Rayalaseema were separated from Madras State. Later Andhra merged with Telangana in 1956, based on their linguistic and national affinity, to form the present state of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad as the capital city. However, this has resulted in two major agitations: Jai Telangana in 1969 and Jai Andhra 1972, both for separate states.
Why Telangana Movement started?
Proponents of a separate Telangana state feel that the agreements, plans, and assurances from the legislature and Lok Sabha over the last fifty years have not been honoured, and as a consequence Telangana has remained neglected, exploited, and backward, perceived injustices in the distribution of water, budget allocations, and jobs.
They allege that the experiment to remain as one state has proven to be a futile exercise and that separation is the best solution
Chronology of Telangana Agitation
1969 Telangana Agitation
In the years after the formation of Andhra Pradesh state, people of Telangana expressed dissatisfaction over how the agreements and guarantees were implemented. All the Andhra employees who migrated to capital city in 1956 will become local in 1969 after 12years of residence per mulki rules. One section of students (which appeared dominant) want separate state other want implementation of safeguards.
1972 Jai Andhra Movement
Under the Mulki rules in force at the time, anyone who had lived in Hyderabad for 15 years was considered a local, and was thus eligible for certain government posts. When the Supreme Court upheld the Mulki rules at the end of 1972, the Jai Andhra movement, with the aim of re-forming a separate state of Andhra, was started in Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions.P. V. Narasimha Rao resigned as Chief minister of Andhra Pradesh on 10 January 1973, and President's rule was declared in the state.
Six-Point Formula of 1973
On 21 September 1973, a political settlement was reached with the Government of India with a Six-Point Formula. It was agreed upon by the leaders of the two regions to prevent any recurrence of such agitations in the future.
Movement in 1990–2004
In 1997, the state unit of the BJP passed a resolution seeking a separate Telangana. It could not create a separate Telangana state because of lack of consensus with the Telugu Desam Party, which extended outside support to its government at the centre.
A new party called Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), led by Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao (KCR), was formed in 2001 with the single-point agenda of creating a separate Telangana state with Hyderabad as its capital
2004 to 2009
For the 2004 Assembly and Parliament elections, the Congress party and the TRS had an electoral alliance in the Telangana region that promised a separate Telangana State. Congress came to power in the state and formed a coalition government at the centre; TRS joined the coalition and was successful in making a separate Telangana state a part of the common minimum programme of the coalition government. In April 2006 the then Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy categorically said that the state would remain united. In September 2006 TRS withdrew support from the coalition government because of their failure to deliver on their promise to create an independent Telangana state
In June 2008, Tulla Devender Goud, a politbureau member and Deputy Leader of the Telugu Desam Party, resigned from the party, saying he would devote his time and energy to the formation of a separate Teelangana state. In July 2008, Goud and other leaders such as E. Peddi Reddy formed a new party called Nava Telangana Praja Party (NTPP)
On 9 October 2008 the TDP announced its support for the creation of Telangana.
Konda Laxman Bapuji of the Nava Telangana Party announced that "We solemnly declare statehood for Telangana on November 2, 2008."
In the year 2009
In February 2009 the state government declared that it had no objection, in principle, to the formation of separate Telangana and that the time had come to move forward decisively on this issue. To resolve related issues, the government constituted a joint house committee.
In the lead-up to the 2009 General Elections in India, all the major parties in Andhra Pradesh supported the formation of Telangana. The Telugu Desam Party promised to work for Telangana statehood. Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) joined a Mahakutami ("grand alliance") with the TDP and other parties to defeat the Congress party for denying statehood
The Praja Rajyam Party (PRP), founded in August 2008 by film star Chiranjeevi, pledged support to Telangana statehood if it becomes inevitableThe Nava Telangana Praja Party announced that it would merge with PRP after it concluded that there was not enough political space for two sub-regional Telangana parties that had Telananga statehood as their main agenda, Devender Goud later quit PRP and returned to the Telugu Desam Party.
In the 2009 elections, Congress returned to power both at the center and state.
On 29 November 2009 TRS president K. Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) started a fast-unto-death, demanding that the Congress party introduce a Telangana bill in Parliament. The apparent decline in KCR's health led to a sense of urgency to the issue
On 12 February, the central government announced Terms of Reference to the Srikrishna Committee, with a deadline of 31 December 2010. The SKC compiled information which indicates that between 30 November 2009 and 27 February 2010, 313 Telangana people committed suicide over the delay in the formation of Telangana state
In a report submitted to the Srikrishna Committee, ministers from Seema-Andhra region stated that the demand for separate Telangana under grounds of self-respect and self-rule is anti-national and will sow seeds for disintegration of the country. They said that all the districts of Telangana were well-developed between 1992 and the present. This statement evoked strong protests in Telangana and demands for the dismissal of those ministers. In a report dated 9 August, the central government declared 13 districts in AP are backward, and 9 out of 10 Telangana districts are backward
On 16 December 2010, two weeks before the deadline for the submission of the Srikrishna report, TRS organized a public meeting in Warangal. It was estimated that 1.2 to 1.5 million people attended this meeting.
The Srikrishna committee on Telangana submitted its report in two volumes to the Home Ministry of India on 30 December 2010. The home Ministry announced that it would hold talks with all eight recognized political parties of Andhra Pradesh on 6 January 2011 and make the report public on the same day.
Telangana Non-cooperation movement and Million march of Feb-March 2011
On February 17, 2011 noncooperation movement was started and it last for 16days which was participated by 300,000 government employees and caused Rs 8 billion per day in revenue to Government
In February and March, Assembly session was boycotted for weeks and Parliament session was disrupted for several days by Telangana representatives.
Miilion March was organized by Telangana JAC in Hyderabad on March 10, 2010.
In a unique form of protest, people from all walks of life came together on Hyderabad's roads on June 19 on a call given by Telangana JAC for 'vanta vaarpu' or a cook-and-eat agitation to demand a separate Telangana state. While various groups made arrangements on a massive scale for cooking food on roads, families set up small kitchens with gas stoves.
Resignations of almost all Telangana representatives
On July 4, 2011 as many as 81 of 119 Telangana MLAs in the state, 12 out of 15 Telangana ministers in state.
On July 5, MLAs from TRS(11), BJP(2), CPI(4), Congress(2) resigned took the total of Telangna MLAs resigned to 100 out of 118(1 vacant). As part of the 2 day bandh declared by the JAC in Telangana region, agitators stopped IT professionals from attending work in some instances.
On July 11, 200 Telangana students started indefinite hunger strike protesting the delay in Telangana state formation. On July 13 and 14, resigned Telangana Congress representatives(MPs, MLAs, MLCs) were on hunger strike due to their party's central leadership's silence on Telangana issue even after their resignations
All People's strike
On September 12, 2011, a day before Sakala Janula Samme(All people's strike), TRS organized a public meeting in Karimnagar which was attended by Telangana JAC leaders, BJP and New Democracy party leaders. Over million people attended the meeting.
On September 19, state road transport corporation employees and state electricity board employees in Telangana joined the indefinite strike.
Virtually all sections of people joined this strike. On September 30, as the strike enter 18th day, even while Congress central leadership meeting several Telangana congress leaders, JAC called a bundh in Hyderabad city
KCR to 'Fast Unto Death' from October 2nd,2011
P.S:“What is Telangana movement?” a question raised by my neighbor( who is American) this morning provoked me to write this blog post. I have complied this post from various internet sources, kindly if there are any errors you are free to correct them.
Compiled from
http://ourtelangana.com/content/telangana-movement-history
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1969_Telangana_Agitation
http://ourtelangana.com/content/telangana-movement
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telangana_movement
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telangana
