Telangana. Its been described by the media as a tangle, tussle, puzzle and that which is very complex to solve . This is nothing but lazy journalism. Issues are not irreducible, everything can be resolved into right/wrong. All you need is to explore an objective standard against which you can pass a judgement. Political parties won’t logically pursue issues to find out the truth; for the system doesn’t reward it. And add to that there is a fear of losing one set of people(read votes). Media on the other hand, instead of using adjectives, can do some real research and come out with an objective analysis to expose political parties. But they have long given up that process and happy to go by perceptions and emotions much like politicians. Worse, they talk about electoral gains instead of understanding the issue at hand. When you are dividing a state, the natural question is why? Is it because I feel like doing it or is there a scientific principle involved or an uncontested reason? The question whether ‘Telangana’ is right or wrong lacks reference. If I put a question whether the Charminar is big or small without giving any reference, there can never be a single concrete answer to it and it will always be a complex question to answer. But if I ask whether it is 160ft tall or not, there can be only one answer. You can never bridge subjective feelings without weighing them against an objective standard. Big and small are subjective feelings, where as a ‘feet’ is an objective standard, which is agreeable to all. When they say ‘public sentiment’ or ’emotion’ they are talking about subjective feelings. If you don’t counter them with an objective standard, they will translate into justifiable agitations. That’s exactly what happened in AP. You cannot go on an agitation saying that the charminar is only 50 ft tall, for it can be proved otherwise and you will be condemned and seen as a fool. But in Andhra Pradesh, people have been creating ruckus for a while now, yet no one has the moral authority to stop it; for everyone is acting on their subjective whims.
The vague reason centre gives for the decision is, that the agitation has been since 1956 and that they are conceding it today. This is factually wrong. It was in 1956 that these two regions were merged to form a state(merger was voluntary). Not going much into the history, even if we consider that the agitation was there for 60 years, would the time period justify a demand? If I start an agitation to kill someone, will it become justifiable after, say, 50 years? If the demand is justifiable objectively, it shouldn’t wait even a day. Even if we take this irrational thing as a basis, there are much older demands in the country, why don’t center divide them?
When there is no uncontested reason, why did every political party agree to it? Around 2001-04, when the demand came up, it was a fringe issue. But the congress, to make absolutely sure that they win the assembly election, had brought it into the main stream by aligning with the TRS. They managed to win the election which put pressure on the TDP to change its stand to not lose any votes in the telangana region. Neither there were any principles involved while taking the stand nor the political parties had any intention of separating telangana. It was done to neutralize each other’s advantage in that area. Moreover, since the regions are so interlinked they were sure that the division was impossible. So they let it simmer until it went out of hand. Once it did, centre was cornered to take a decision and it panicked. And a point was reached ‘damned if you do, damned if you don’t’. So finally, it chose the option which gives them an edge in the upcoming elections and not necessarily the right one; infact it never did the exercise to find the right thing to do. India is called the largest democracy, vibrant democracy and all, but this issue, which has been in the public domain for 10 years, has not been discussed once in the state assembly. And the sri krishna committee, which the centre constituted to study the issue, came up with a report that ideally should have been tabled in the parliament for discussion. Even that was not done. The decision was taken behind closed doors based on electoral calculations and is being imposed on the people. We are only a democracy by constitution, but working wise it is no less than a monarchy.
A congress spokesperson when questioned about the current situation said, “when there is a cut there will be blood, pain and anger. It is understandable”. Even if the cut is inevitable, there are ways to do it. Though both involve piercing a knife into your body, there is a difference between an incision and a stab. Doctor explains you the importance of going under the knife, convinces you and proceeds. Where as a stab is a criminal act which causes bad blood that could take years to sort itself out. Congress seems to have no patience or tact – so they are going for the forceful act.
So much can be written about the history, geography and cultures of two regions, but not going much into the details, people who really understand the issue will agree that the situation would never have got to this had the state been named ‘Telugu nadu’ instead of Andhra Pradesh in the first place.
The sad part is, no matter what happens from now on, knowing how congress handles things, the animosity is here to stay.
RaviThinks 