Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Satisfaction, Happiness and Prosperity for all promises Chidambaram.. Article published in Hindi Milap on Jan 3, 2010

The Home Minister, P. Chidambaram, in his statement after accepting the Sri Krishna Commission Report today on the future of Telangana, stated the Central Government will work towards arriving at a solution that will bring satisfaction, happiness and prosperity to all. Reading between the lines, the Home Minster has in principle accepted the demand for Telangana state with Hyderabad as its capital and stated that his Government will set the process in motion for the creation of Telangana. For it is a fact that only in their own state will the 4.5 crore people of Telangana be satisfied, happy and hope for prosperity. Any other solution will leave the 4.5 crore people of Telangana, dejected and unhappy and sow the seeds of confrontation and rebellion in the psyche of an emotionally charged region.

The Central Government, has called for a meeting of all political parties in Andhra Pradesh, on January 6, 2011 to discuss the report and build consensus for the future course of action. Though this sounds laudable, history makes us skeptical of the outcome of this meeting. We all know what happened after the all party meet on January 5, 2010 in New Delhi last year. The TRS almost went into reverse gear, and would have laid low for the next 3 years and the General Elections in 2014, when it would have again raised the issue to garner seats. It was the unrelenting pressure of the student community and the common Telangana man and woman who had to resort to taking the extreme step of self immolation before the Government relented and set up the Sri Krishna Commission. Let us keep our fingers crossed and hope the mistakes of history are not repeated again, and the all party meet, ends all speculation and comes up with a concrete plan of action.

The way forward as we see it, is a five point action plan for the Government to embrace. First, set in motion the process of creating Telangana with Hyderabad as its capital. Two, let the Rayalseema and Andhra regions decide whether they want to be together or have separate states and if they prefer to separate trifurcate AP into Telangana, Andhra and Rayalseema. Thirdly, announce a development package for Telangana which has been grossly neglected and for the other state/s to develop a capital in either Vijaywada/Vishakapatnam/Tirupati as they see fit. Fourthly, set up a bifurcation/trifurcation committee to work out the modalities of repatriation of employees working in the Government sector to their respective regions, and for the sharing of river waters and other disputes arising out of the division. Fifthly, set up a transition Government comprising of equal representation from all three regions to ensure a fair and peaceful division and birth of new states.

Though this may be unpalatable to a few vested interests, it is the only solution that can bring about satisfaction, happiness and prosperity for all concerned. Hope, this time the sense of Justice and fair play pervades over greed and covetousness. And the people of Telangana finally get the due rewards which have been denied to them for the last six decades of India’s independence.

by
Neera Kishore

Monday, January 3, 2011

The final betrayal

The stand of the Telangana Praja Samiti, on the Sri Krishna Commission has been vindicated. We have always maintained the Sri Krishna Commission was a bogus commission set by the Congress Government at the center to buy time for once again burying the demand for Telangana in the tomes of commission’s findings. But, we like the others in Telangana were hoping that this time round there will be no betrayals and justice will finally be ours. But, Alas it is not to be the actions of the Government at the Center and the State belie these hopes, all preparations are in place to deal with any voice or protest against the Sri Krishna Commissions findings.

The Government at the center and the Seemandhra protagonists have failed to read the grit and determination of the people of Telangana to free their state from the Seemandhra hegemony. The statement of the Home Minister Mr. P.Chidambaram, in calling for an all party meet on January 6, 2011 to deliberate the recommendations of the Sri Krishna commission, has to be the red flag for us the people of Telangana to beware of the final betrayal. For every one knows this is the last chance we will have to ensure justice and self respect for our coming generations, if we fail now they are cursed to a life as second class citizens and confined to the lower dregs of society for eternity . What was the need of inviting all political parties to present the findings, if the Central Government was sincere in fulfilling its promise for a separate state, it would have made the report public and set the process for introducing the bill for Telangana formation in the budget session of Parliament. And the reaction of the political parties to this diversionary tactic is pathetic, instead of refusing to attend the meeting on the grounds that all that was to be said and discussed was said and presented to the Sri Krishna Commission in the last one year, they are busy arguing on whether each party should send one representative or two.

The presence of the para military forces in the twin cities even if they are to be restricted to the barracks and head quarters as promised by Chidambaram are true is a sure sign of the force we will need to reckon with if we raise our voice against this delaying tactic of the Government. More ominous is the review of the preparations by the Andhra front man Kiran Kumar Reddy, his march through the twin cities was akin to a Generals review of his troops before the assault. And we need to be prepared for a hail of bullets, lathi’s and water canons if we so much as try to resist the forcible occupation of our state by the Seemandhra settlers.

The demand for a separate state is a people’s movement and not a political issue that can be traded off in closed door meetings. It is a cry for justice and self determination as enshrined in the constitution of India. It is high time the Government at the Center and the State realized this.

We the people of Telangana have determined that our future generations will not have to fight another time for justice, we have promised ourselves that there will no longer be other Yadiah’s, Venugopal Reddy’s, Bhooma Reddy’s and Suvarna’s who will be forced to take their life in dejection. We have to decide if we are ready to face the might of the Seemandhra lobby one last time. For no matter what nefarious stratagem may have been devised by the Government at the Center, State and the Seemaandhra lobby to deepfreeze the demand for Telangana, they will lose once we take our struggle to the streets.

Jai Telangana. Jai Hind

http://telanganaprajasamithi.blogspot.com
http://telanganaprajasamiti.wordpress.com