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
Showing posts with label p chidambaram. Show all posts
Showing posts with label p chidambaram. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Ensure Zero Nominations for the By-Elections in Telangana in May, 2010
The by-elections for the Lok Sabha and Legislative Assembly seats, which have been laid vacant by the resignation of Telangana MP’s and MLA’s in support of their demand for a separate are due to be held on May 29, 2010. The Election Commission has announced the schedule for these by-elections and all political parties have gone into election mode and are busy with their pre poll permutations and combinations, to select the most probable winning candidate.
It’s a shame that of the 17 Lok Sabha MP’s and 119 MLA’s that we the people of Telangana elected, only 4 MP’s and 18 MLA’s had the moral turpitude to resign in support of our cry for justice. The rest have behaved like the vermin they are, having feasted on our flesh and support they have slunk away to hide in their air-conditioned burrows, when we asked for their support to press our demand for a separate state.
We the people of Telangana need to safeguard these 4 Lok Sabha and 18 Assembly seats, which have been left in our trust by the present incumbents. and not allow anyone to even file the nomination papers. We need to create a situation where the Election Commission is forced to call off the elections because no nominations were filed.
This will send three strong messages, the first to the Central Leadership that we are very serious and committed to achieving Telangana state come what may. The second message will be to our other representatives and the myriad political parties, that no matter how much they ignore our cry for justice and suppress our demand for a separate state, no matter how many crores the Seemandhra lobby pays them to scuttle the issue of Statehood, they will ultimately have to come to us for our vote. And our vote is the Sudarshan chakra, which will slay them tomorrow. And finally to our true leaders, it will act as an elixir and will energize them to carry on the battle till the day that Telangana’s boundary is drawn and they are free to come back to claim their seats, that they so rightly deserve.
Let us resolve, that come what may, no man or woman will be allowed to file nominations for any of these seats. Our message for political parties and independents desirous of filing their nominations is, “We the people of Telangana have resolved that these seats are not open for by elections, if anyone dares to file his or her nomination, they do so at their own risk and God save you.”
Jai Telangana. Jai Hind
It’s a shame that of the 17 Lok Sabha MP’s and 119 MLA’s that we the people of Telangana elected, only 4 MP’s and 18 MLA’s had the moral turpitude to resign in support of our cry for justice. The rest have behaved like the vermin they are, having feasted on our flesh and support they have slunk away to hide in their air-conditioned burrows, when we asked for their support to press our demand for a separate state.
We the people of Telangana need to safeguard these 4 Lok Sabha and 18 Assembly seats, which have been left in our trust by the present incumbents. and not allow anyone to even file the nomination papers. We need to create a situation where the Election Commission is forced to call off the elections because no nominations were filed.
This will send three strong messages, the first to the Central Leadership that we are very serious and committed to achieving Telangana state come what may. The second message will be to our other representatives and the myriad political parties, that no matter how much they ignore our cry for justice and suppress our demand for a separate state, no matter how many crores the Seemandhra lobby pays them to scuttle the issue of Statehood, they will ultimately have to come to us for our vote. And our vote is the Sudarshan chakra, which will slay them tomorrow. And finally to our true leaders, it will act as an elixir and will energize them to carry on the battle till the day that Telangana’s boundary is drawn and they are free to come back to claim their seats, that they so rightly deserve.
Let us resolve, that come what may, no man or woman will be allowed to file nominations for any of these seats. Our message for political parties and independents desirous of filing their nominations is, “We the people of Telangana have resolved that these seats are not open for by elections, if anyone dares to file his or her nomination, they do so at their own risk and God save you.”
Jai Telangana. Jai Hind
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Singareni Coal Fields the Most Visible Example of Seema Andhra Exploitation
The Singareni Coal Fields of Telangana spread across the four districts of Karimnagar, Adilabad, Khammam and Warangal supply coal for most of the thermal power stations in S. India. And SCCL (Singareni Collieries Company Limited), the only Navaratna in the Telangana region. There are close to 70,000 workers in the SCCL coal mines across the four districts and in the current financial year it will contribute around Rs.400 crore to the State exchequer. Yet, the Singareni story is also marred by the rampant exploitation, deprivation and selective discrimination that is the hall mark of all Government and PSU’s in the Telangana region.
In the last two decades successive Andhra and Rayalseema Governments have conspired to wrest away this jewel of Telangana. There have been myriad attempts at this in the last 50 years which were foiled by the vigilance of the people and the miners. The latest attempt at this was made just a few months ago, when the Tadicherla coal mines in Karimnagar, part of the Singareni Collieries geological area, were all but sold off to ETA-ECCI-PLR, Joint Venture, a company promoted by Kadapa MP Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy and the AP state forest minister P. Ramachandra Reddy, both hailing from Seemandhra region
The Union coal ministry had allotted the Tadicherla block-1, to APGenco, a Seema Andhra infested, Government turned quasi Private Co, by N. Chandrababu Naidu during his reign as the CM of AP, to meet the coal requirements of Kakatiya Thermal Power Station at Bhoopalpally in Warangal district. SCCL, which by law and economic efficiencies should have been awarded the contract for mining and supply of this coal to APGenco, was forced to opt out of the negotiations and ETA-ECCI-PLR led JV awarded the bid amounting to a whopping Rs.5000 crore for the mining and supply of coal at twice the price, that SCCL charges.
This perfidious act would have hurt Telangana in two ways, one we would have been cheated out of our natural resources today and a few years later, APGenco, would have prepared a report on the financial in viability of continuing with the Bhoopalpally Power Project, and forced its shut down, resulting in loss of livelihood and power supply to the people of Warangal. Had it not been for the current situation, these mines would now be the private property of these Seema Andhra bandits in khadi.
Not only this, there is rampant discrimination against the locals, in these mines, while all the underground miners belong to the Telangana region, and bear the risk of working in hazardous conditions, the plum and safe jobs right from the lowest of the clerical post to the top cadre are occupied by non-locals, ie people from the Seemandhra region. If you had just one word to describe the plunder and injustice meted out to Telangana people in Andhra Pradesh, the answer would be Singareni.
Jai Telangana. Jai Hind
In the last two decades successive Andhra and Rayalseema Governments have conspired to wrest away this jewel of Telangana. There have been myriad attempts at this in the last 50 years which were foiled by the vigilance of the people and the miners. The latest attempt at this was made just a few months ago, when the Tadicherla coal mines in Karimnagar, part of the Singareni Collieries geological area, were all but sold off to ETA-ECCI-PLR, Joint Venture, a company promoted by Kadapa MP Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy and the AP state forest minister P. Ramachandra Reddy, both hailing from Seemandhra region
The Union coal ministry had allotted the Tadicherla block-1, to APGenco, a Seema Andhra infested, Government turned quasi Private Co, by N. Chandrababu Naidu during his reign as the CM of AP, to meet the coal requirements of Kakatiya Thermal Power Station at Bhoopalpally in Warangal district. SCCL, which by law and economic efficiencies should have been awarded the contract for mining and supply of this coal to APGenco, was forced to opt out of the negotiations and ETA-ECCI-PLR led JV awarded the bid amounting to a whopping Rs.5000 crore for the mining and supply of coal at twice the price, that SCCL charges.
This perfidious act would have hurt Telangana in two ways, one we would have been cheated out of our natural resources today and a few years later, APGenco, would have prepared a report on the financial in viability of continuing with the Bhoopalpally Power Project, and forced its shut down, resulting in loss of livelihood and power supply to the people of Warangal. Had it not been for the current situation, these mines would now be the private property of these Seema Andhra bandits in khadi.
Not only this, there is rampant discrimination against the locals, in these mines, while all the underground miners belong to the Telangana region, and bear the risk of working in hazardous conditions, the plum and safe jobs right from the lowest of the clerical post to the top cadre are occupied by non-locals, ie people from the Seemandhra region. If you had just one word to describe the plunder and injustice meted out to Telangana people in Andhra Pradesh, the answer would be Singareni.
Jai Telangana. Jai Hind
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Stop Paying Taxes Till Telangana is Formed
The President of India, Mrs. Pratibha Patil’s address to the Parliament on the 1st day of the budget session on 22nd Feb, 2010 shared a commonality with that made by the AP Governor ESL Narasimhan, to the legislative Assembly in Hyderabad on February 1, 2010. Both of them, made no reference to the demand for a separate state of Telangana, which is not surprising as the same lobby has forced this exclusion. This callous sweeping aside of an highly emotive issue that is taking lives daily, with a suicide a day is a shame for the Nation’s collective conscience.
We the people of Telangana are to be blamed for this attitude of the Center and the State Administration, for we grossly depreciated the value of our lives, by these suicides. We need to remember, that there is no one more foolish, than the patriot who deludes himself into believing, his sacrifice will win battles. It is not yours but your enemy’s sacrifice that will help you win wars. My appeal to the youth is taking your own life, will not make any difference to the Center and State Government. Their reaction to hearing about successive suicides may go like this, “What another suicide in Telangana, how annoying! First it was the farmers and now it’s these students!
Going by their logic, the only thing that has changed is the profile of the people who are taking their lives. And there is no compelling reason for them to take action. But, if our actions impact their functioning and cause pecuniary loss, then yes by God, they will take notice and listen to our demand. It is simple we need to strike where it hurts, to start with let us
• Refuse to pay all Central and State taxes till a separate state is formed. Various districts in Telangana have already taken a lead in this but we need to make it a way of life, with people in all districts refusing to pay taxes.
• Refuse to pay the Electricity and water bills, as these will add to the coffers of the AP Government and we all know this money goes, to the development of the Seemandhra region. Let us hold this money in trust to be paid to the Telangana State when it is formed. Our state will need all the money for rebuilding.
• When buying goods, pay the price of the product without the Sales Tax, and give an IOU in its stead, stating the money can be collected from you when Telangana is formed.
These steps are not only difficult but impossible to implement individually, but the collective will and action on these fronts, will have a multiplier effect and bring the State and the Nation to a standstill. It is time, we moved away from asking for Telangana with an open hand, to wresting it away with our fists.
Jai Telangana. Jai Hind
We the people of Telangana are to be blamed for this attitude of the Center and the State Administration, for we grossly depreciated the value of our lives, by these suicides. We need to remember, that there is no one more foolish, than the patriot who deludes himself into believing, his sacrifice will win battles. It is not yours but your enemy’s sacrifice that will help you win wars. My appeal to the youth is taking your own life, will not make any difference to the Center and State Government. Their reaction to hearing about successive suicides may go like this, “What another suicide in Telangana, how annoying! First it was the farmers and now it’s these students!
Going by their logic, the only thing that has changed is the profile of the people who are taking their lives. And there is no compelling reason for them to take action. But, if our actions impact their functioning and cause pecuniary loss, then yes by God, they will take notice and listen to our demand. It is simple we need to strike where it hurts, to start with let us
• Refuse to pay all Central and State taxes till a separate state is formed. Various districts in Telangana have already taken a lead in this but we need to make it a way of life, with people in all districts refusing to pay taxes.
• Refuse to pay the Electricity and water bills, as these will add to the coffers of the AP Government and we all know this money goes, to the development of the Seemandhra region. Let us hold this money in trust to be paid to the Telangana State when it is formed. Our state will need all the money for rebuilding.
• When buying goods, pay the price of the product without the Sales Tax, and give an IOU in its stead, stating the money can be collected from you when Telangana is formed.
These steps are not only difficult but impossible to implement individually, but the collective will and action on these fronts, will have a multiplier effect and bring the State and the Nation to a standstill. It is time, we moved away from asking for Telangana with an open hand, to wresting it away with our fists.
Jai Telangana. Jai Hind
Monday, February 22, 2010
Telangana Sold for a few Pieces of Silver
The real politick behind the Center’s back tracking on statehood for Telangana has been laid bare. According to one of the congress legislators from the state who was in the US recently, P Chidambaram’s statement on 9 December 2009, on Telangana jolted the Seemandhra lobby of industrialists, mining and construction contractors and real estate developers, which includes a few top business houses from the region. To safeguard their interests they collectively donated a sum of Rs.10,000 crore to the Congress party fund, with the request that the bifurcation of the State be stayed and even if the worse comes to worst, make Hyderabad either the Joint Capital or a Union Territory.
The chain of events post this transaction at the Center are open to interpretation, first the mild ND Tiwari is moved out of the Raj Bhawan to be replaced by a hardline Narasimhan. That Tiwari was compensated in other ways is a foregone conclusion, till now there has been no inquiry into the incident, that has shamed the dignity and purity of the Governors office. And what of Narasimhan, soon after taking over the reins of the Governorship, he prepares a report on the Naxal and Maoist influence on the demand for a separate state of which there was no trace till then, the report goes so far as to suggest, that the Telangana movement is being stage managed by the naxals. On this logic of Naxal and Maoist infiltration within the students ranks, the State administration, unleashes its terror on hapless students in the Osmania University campus.
Fast forward to January 2010, the promised Sri Krishna Commission is constituted and the Terms of Reference announced, these are so ambiguous and diluted that it will be miracle if it comes up with any concrete report. Again the police unleashes its might on the students of the Osmania University, and the order of the AP High Court asking that all police and para military forces vacate the OU campus, is challenged and a stay order brought in by the State administration from the Supreme court on the specious plea that the University is harboring Naxals and Maoists.
Today, the Vice Chancellor of Osmania University, Tirupati Rao, categorically states that there are no Naxals in the University. Do, you Mr. Home Minister believe the words of the Vice Chancellor or is he also a Naxal sympathizer and a liar. If the Telangana Movement was infiltrated by Naxals and Maoists as is the State and Central Governments propaganda, the law and order situation in Hyderabad and Telangana would have been very different from what it is today. Our youth would not be taking their own lives in desperation, they would not be sitting ducks as they are today for your lathis and rubber bullets, they would not be asking their leaders to resign. These are the acts of a desperate and exploited people and not those of extremists. We have no weapons except their lives and no assets except our mortal bodies, which we have been laying at your doorstep with the hope that you will hear our cry for justice. But, alas instead of justice and a honest hearing we are branded as naxals and maoists.
Mr. Home Minister, the people of Telangana can look the nation in the eye and swear on all that is holy, that our demand for a separate state is a people’s movement. But, can you look at us and say that your party has not bartered away our future for a few pieces of silver.
Jai Telangana
Jai Hind
The chain of events post this transaction at the Center are open to interpretation, first the mild ND Tiwari is moved out of the Raj Bhawan to be replaced by a hardline Narasimhan. That Tiwari was compensated in other ways is a foregone conclusion, till now there has been no inquiry into the incident, that has shamed the dignity and purity of the Governors office. And what of Narasimhan, soon after taking over the reins of the Governorship, he prepares a report on the Naxal and Maoist influence on the demand for a separate state of which there was no trace till then, the report goes so far as to suggest, that the Telangana movement is being stage managed by the naxals. On this logic of Naxal and Maoist infiltration within the students ranks, the State administration, unleashes its terror on hapless students in the Osmania University campus.
Fast forward to January 2010, the promised Sri Krishna Commission is constituted and the Terms of Reference announced, these are so ambiguous and diluted that it will be miracle if it comes up with any concrete report. Again the police unleashes its might on the students of the Osmania University, and the order of the AP High Court asking that all police and para military forces vacate the OU campus, is challenged and a stay order brought in by the State administration from the Supreme court on the specious plea that the University is harboring Naxals and Maoists.
Today, the Vice Chancellor of Osmania University, Tirupati Rao, categorically states that there are no Naxals in the University. Do, you Mr. Home Minister believe the words of the Vice Chancellor or is he also a Naxal sympathizer and a liar. If the Telangana Movement was infiltrated by Naxals and Maoists as is the State and Central Governments propaganda, the law and order situation in Hyderabad and Telangana would have been very different from what it is today. Our youth would not be taking their own lives in desperation, they would not be sitting ducks as they are today for your lathis and rubber bullets, they would not be asking their leaders to resign. These are the acts of a desperate and exploited people and not those of extremists. We have no weapons except their lives and no assets except our mortal bodies, which we have been laying at your doorstep with the hope that you will hear our cry for justice. But, alas instead of justice and a honest hearing we are branded as naxals and maoists.
Mr. Home Minister, the people of Telangana can look the nation in the eye and swear on all that is holy, that our demand for a separate state is a people’s movement. But, can you look at us and say that your party has not bartered away our future for a few pieces of silver.
Jai Telangana
Jai Hind
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