Telangana activists put celebrations on hold

The Telangana Rastriya Samithi and other pro-state activists have decided not to celebrate until the bill is passed in Parliament. Vicky Nanjappa reports.

Just a few hours before the Congress makes an announcement on the formation of Telangana state, the mood in the region remains muted. The Telangana Rastriya Samithi and other pro-state activists have decided not to celebrate until the bill is passed in Parliament.

The question is how different is Wednesday’s announcement when compared to the statement made by P Chidambaram in Parliament promising a Telangana state in 2009. The people of Telangana would need to see more happening on the issue before they could trust the Congress. They say that the statement made by Chidambaram has much more weight and legal sanctity when compared to the announcement that is likely to be made on Wednesday.

Students Joint Action Committee for Telangana leader Dr Sangam Prithviraj explains that Chidambaram statement was made in Parliament. That has more weight since it was made on behalf of the government of India and he was the Union home minister at that time. Wednesday’s announcement is more of a political decision taken by a political party and does not have the same value as the earlier statement. Moreover a majority of the statements regarding this issue are coming from Congress General Secretary Digvijaya Singh, who is not even part of the government.

“There is no need for us to trust the Congress this soon. After Chidamabaram’s statement, there were celebrations in Telangana. But then came the delays with the formation of the Srikrishna Commission and other issues as a result of which the entire issue went into the back burner. Basically they made a mess out of the issue. Today the Congress is about to make a statement which is more of a political compulsion and unless and until they pass the Bill in parliament, the statement has no legal sanctity,” says Prithviraj.

The Naxal issue:

Many in Telangana are miffed with reports on the Naxal issue. Several media outlets over the past many years have been saying that the formation of Telangana will give rise to the Naxal problem again.

Dr Prithviraj says that this is bound to happen. “These are not reports that emerge out of New Delhi. The media in Andhra Pradesh is under the control of the Andhra and Rayalseema people. They have enough clout in New Delhi to spread and feed journalists with such rubbish,” he says.

“What I want to ask these journalists is if they do their research before writing. The people of Telangana will not support the Naxal movement. We have struggled for six decades and many have lost their lives. It is the time to earn back our identity and develop our region and live lives of dignity. No one has time for the Naxals,” he says.

“The other point I want to make is that the Naxal movement was at its peak when the state was united. Go back and check the emergence of the Naxal movement and how it happened. It happened after 1969 when the state was united. This issue was not there when Telangana was a separate state. I want to ask these people whether they have not studied what is happening in Vishakapatanam. That place has a problem with Naxals. How come they want to stick to Telangana and blame the Naxal issue on the formation of a separate state. Look at the other parts as well and understand the problem,” he says.