Telangana on the boil: a background check

New Delhi : Telangana has become a reality now after it was passed by Rajya Sabha today. The Telangana Bill has already been passed by Lok Sabha.Let's have a look at the history of agitaion for Telangana.Independent India was divided into 565 princely states and one amongst them was the Hyderabad state ruled by the Nizam of Hyderabad who happened to be a Muslim. He wanted his state to remain independent. Consequently, the Hindu majority with the help of few nationalistic Muslims launched `Join India movement' aimed at amalgamation of the state with the rest of the country. This movement had the full support of state Congress and Arya Samaj leaders. The movement was also supported by the farmers who were unhappy with the Nizam's policies related to land and agriculture. People demanding state's integration with India were subjected to brutalities of the ‘Razakar Muslim army' led by Qasim Rizvi. The violent activities of ‘Razakar Muslim army' forced Indian army to step in and the Hyderabad state was integrated with the rest of the country on September 17,1948 under ‘Operation Polo'. A civil servant, M.K. Vellodi, was appointed the first chief minister of Hyderabad state in 1950. He ruled with the help of public servants from Madras and Bombay. Within a short span of two years, democratic elections took place in Hyderabad state and Dr. Burgula Ramakrishna Rao was elected as the Chief Minister. Interest of locals became a rallying point for the residents and protests were being organized on a regular basis to demand removal of Madrasi officials and in support of Mulki-rules, i.e., local jobs only for locals. ‘Jobs for locals only' was already a part of Hyderabad state law since 1919. Violent protests took place in 1952 against non-mulkis (non localists) as a result of recruitment of people from coastal Andhra. Few students were even shot dead by police during the agitation. As a result, States Reorganisation Committee was formed a year later to divide states on the basis of language. The violence led the commission to divide Hyderabad state and Marathi speaking population was merged with Bombay while Kannada speaking areas were made a part of Mysore state. Initially, the Commission was not willing to unite Telangana state with Andhra Pradesh inspite of their linguistic similarities. The Telnagaites saw some trepidations coming their way. Telangana had large revenue generating alcohol commerce because unlike other states, they imposed tax on alcohol instead of prohibiting it, but the business was now feared to be benefiting Andhra. It was also feared that the irrigation plans on Godavari and Krishna rivers would not be a fundraiser for Telangana anymore even though the irrigation plans were being controlled by them. Andhraites were feared to have an upper edge in government jobs primarily because they were more well-read and knowledgeable. The States Reorganization Commission recommended Telangana to be a separate state and that the unification should take place only if a majority desires so in General Elections scheduled to be held in the year 1961. The then Chief Minister of Hyderabad, Burgula Ramakrishna Rao said that the unification was against the will of Telangites. Yet, he supported the line taken by the central leadership of Congress party that was in favour of unification of Telangana with Andhra. Bowing to the diktats of the central leadership of Congress party, a covenant was reached between the leaders of both states and the unification took place in 1956. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was cynical about the amalgamation of two states and said that ``this unification is like a marriage alliance and any partner can seek for divorce if the alliance doe not seem to work''. Finally, the state of Andhra Pradesh was formed on November 1, 1956. Telangana was guaranteed equality in power and administrative services. With subjugation of Telangana movement, anti-Nehru sentiments were born and many Congress leaders like Feroze Gandhi gave their support to leftist foundations.