My anguish at Mindless decision of CWC/UPA

05.09.2013

From:

A Citizen of India

Who also happens to be

A CES(ROADS) officer and  Alumnus of  Osmania Univeristy and IIM Calcutta 

To

The Hon’ble Member of Parliament

Loksabha/RajyaSabha

Indian Union

Sub:-Ideals of Freedom movement as reflected in the Preamble to Constitution of India – Unity, Integrity and Fraternity of Indian People – Mindless propagation of false issues and fomenting hate, hatred and violence in the name of agitation for separate Telangana– capitulation of not only the state, ( Executive) and legislature but also national parties like BJP and INC– anguish of 9Crore Andhra Pradesh People – request for intervention – reg.

Sir/Madam,

As Lawmakers and guardians of Indian Constitution, we come to your doorstep for justice in preserving the unity, integrity and fraternity of Indian People.

You are aware that CWC and UPA recommended the formation of Telangana State by dividing Andhra Pradesh. While there are almost 24 demands for separate states all over India, why Andhra Pradesh alone is our anguished question.

Madam/Sir, I submit the following questions for your kind perusal. What is the basis for granting of statehood to Telangana? Backwardness? If that is the criteria there are many districts/regions in India that would want separate state.  Justice Srikrishna Commission in its report had clearly dispelled this long propagated lie of Telangana’s backwardness vis-à-vis rest of Andhra Pradesh. Smaller States? Why only 2 states? Why not  4 states including Hyderabad City State as demanded by many? What about the other demands and what are the difficulties faced by Uttarakhand in recent floods and what about the draw backs of a smaller state? What about Chattishgarh, and Jharkhand’s performances and the rise of political instability as well as extremism in these states. What is the optimum area and revenue needed to form a sustainable State? What is the optimum number of legislators needed to keep the state political system stable and not amenable to horse trading?  What is fiscal cost being borne by Centre and Nation in supporting smaller states by creating additional posts of Governors, Chief Ministers, Ministers, secretaries and other top heavy paraphernalia ?  Is there any scientific basis for division of States?  Do we want more Cauvery’s and Almaty’s on our hands? Any further division of states should be on a firm logic and with the consent of the concerned states. Even, Chattishgarh, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand were formed after a unanimous resolution of the concerned State Legislative Assemblies.

What about the rights of states especially political rights of State as a unit Vis-à-vis Union? Are the States a birthday Cake to be divided at will by the Government at power? What if a political party divides a state to reduce the political influence of the others just as Britishers did who followed divide and rule policy.  Do WE and Constitution allow the petty electoral political considerations dictate the divisions of states? Then what about the will of WE, THE PEOPLE? Are the basic features of Constitution a myth? 

As established in the Minerva Mills’s case, KesavanandaBharti Case, and S.R.Bommai cases, the Constitution of India has certain ‘basic’ features and the powers of Parliament to make laws including constitution amendments are not without limits. Some of the most important basic features of the constitution include democracy, federal nature of the constitution, equality before law, equal protection of law, promotion of Fraternity, Unity and Integrity etc.

At the time of adopting the constitution, the nation building was still in progress and the amalgamation of 600 odd princely states was still going on. The integration of these Indian people into Indian Union presented challenges and difficulties, and Constitution makers sought to facilitate the same through article 3, which has given flexibility to the Parliament to redraw the boundaries of States, with a simple majority. This power was specifically conferred on the Parliament to quickly and smoothly achieve the integration of these territories and promote among them all

FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation.

This power is not unlimited, especially after 65 Years after independence when integration of princely states is no more an issue, and especially if a majority of state assembly and population is against the division of a state. Democracy is not the tyranny of ruling party/ coalition, who Constitute a simple majority for a limited period ( 5 years). The ideals, spirit and vision of our Constitution as reflected in various provisions of Constitution, specifically Preamble shall guide our journey to a better and equitable society. A careful examination of the journey of the post independent India reveals that  conscious and continuous efforts were made towards building a national identity promoting unity and integrity. Nowhere was this more pronounced than in the Education. At national level, we have carefully drafted lessons on history, culture etc promoting harmony among various sections of society. We have promoted Hindi as national language despite English being more commonly known.  Similarly States were organized on the linguistic basis due to common heritage and culture. Just as pan-Indian identity was sought to be strengthened at the national level, a careful nurturing of already existing linguistic identity was promoted at the state’s level, especially in Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Odisha, Maharashtra, Gujarat, West Bengal etc., and a feeling of unity was promoted. A vibrant cultural amalgamation had taken place. Now a division of any such state, without a strong logic or scientific basis will lead to ultimate weakening of States and hence the country.

The recent happenings in Telangana issue, the decision of UPA and CWC recommending Telangana and the congress spokesperson’s reading out the resolution of CWC brought out a disturbing acceptance of hate, hatred and violence as means of achieving separatism. I quote the tacit acceptance of violence and hatred by political class as reflected in the statement “…the safety and security of all the residents in all the 3 regions, and guarantee of fundamental rights of all residents….”. All these rights and safety are already guaranteed by constitution.   Then what makes CWC to state the obvious?.  To understand, we have to go to the history of the hate campaign by TRS and Congress leaders from Telangana for the last 12 years and, more so for the last 5 years. Suffice to say that even the statues of Telugu icons ( poets, kings, balladeers etc ) of pre-independence era dating to more than thousand years and premises of AP High Court were not spared. 

Now let’s see the statement of  Union Finance Minister on behalf of Union Home Minister in the Parliament on 5th August 2013 . I quote from THE HINDU Newspaper dated 06.08.2013. “As MPs clamoured for a debate on Telangana, Mr. Chidambaram said:“…The Constitution of India lays down a procedure for formation of new States. Besides, a number of substantive matters have to be addressed with the formation of new State. These matters are under consideration of the government.” The issues, he said, “will include, but not [be] limited to, sharing of river waters, generation and distribution of electricity, safety and security of all residents of all three regions, guarantee of fundamental rights of all residents,etc”.  Does the Constitution of India not guarantee safety, security and fundamental rights of its citizens?. Why is the Home Minister of the Country was compelled to make this statement on the floor of Parliament. Where is the Country headed?

Again a statement of Capitulation of the great Indian State to the divisive, separatist elements in the hallowed portals (!) of Parliament of India.

What we expect from State/Executive to these Violence, Hate and Hatred is Firm dealing. Stern treatment of the Separatists who are weakening the fabric of India and are thus disturbing the harmony among various sections of society. But what we see now is the capitulation of political class. And the re-emergence of violent agitations for separate states in more than 24 regions of the country irrespective of sustainability, threatening peace and harmony of the country.  Is this the spirit of       “promote among them all

FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation”

 Separate Telangana demand:Gentlemen agreement, six point formula and Article 371 D are historical testimonies to the concessions given by thepeople of Telangana, and rest of Andhra Pradesh to Telangana regional leaders to keep the State United.

Although, only way to progress and prosperity is to look forward, we are compelled to look into the past as present Telangana protagonists are harping on history to justify division.  Is it really so?.Let us start with the history of Hyderabad State. But for SardarVallabhbhai Patel, the Hyderabad state would have been another Kashmir in Indian History. Thanks to Sardar’s police action and Telangana Armed Struggle, that was averted.But, the integration of Hyderabad into India was never complete, as far as Telangana region is concerned. Prove me wrong. Which other state has demanded and got enacted by Government of India the law (Public Employment (Requirement as to Residence) Act. 1957, empowering the Government of India to prescribe residence as condition for employment in certain posts and services in the State of Andhra Pradesh and in the (then) Union Territories of Himachal Pradesh, Manipur and Tripura) giving reservations on the basis of place of residence, though the same is in contravention to the spirit of constitution especially preamble and  fundamental rights?  Which other state has a special article 371 D enabling exclusion of residents of other Indian States from securing employment under the state government? Which other state has remained outside the PMT ( Pre-Medical Test of CBSE) system which enables exchange of students across India for MBBS studies. Which other state stipulates local condition for the posts to be filled by its Public Service Commission? Do we need such exclusionary reservations even after 56 years of existence now? Do we need to humour this outdated exclusion? Are these people not part of India as claimed by the so called leaders of the movement, particularly TRS?

At the time of first SRC, fragmentation of Hyderabad in to three distinct linguistic parts i.e., Kannada, Maratha and Telugu, and merger in to respective linguistic states of (Mysore) Karnataka, (Bombay) Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh was adopted by the Hyderabad State Assembly.

The merger of Kannada speaking people into Karnataka and Maratha speaking people in to Maharashtra happened without any murmur or apprehensions, because their leaders were not as narrow mindedas few leaders of the then Telangana and probably were as jubilant and as happy as their own people, in merging in to mainstream.

Both these areas were as backward and illiterate as was Telangana at that time, due to the oppressive regime of Nizam and his Dora/ Patel/ village headmen. (It would be interesting to do a comparative study of the economic and human indicators of these areas now, including Telangana. Probably the other two areas,i.e. Marathwada/Aurangabad and North Karnataka/Gulbarga are more badly placed now than Telangana is, and they don’t blame other regions). The leaders of the then Telangana, particularly, K.V.Rangareddy and M.Chennareddy have tried their best to remain as a separate state. But the overwhelming support of Telangana people for Visalandhra (It is very important to note that the word “Andhra” was then used synonymously with Telugus and is reflected in the organisation of Andhra Mahasabhas both in Telangana and Rayalaseema Areas. Now the word Andhra has become blasphemous) defeated these machinations, and Hyderabad State Assembly passed the resolution to merger into respective linguistic States.

          

But, the leaders of Telangana did not accept unconditional merger accepted by other linguistic units. They extracted 14 specific concessions (gentlemen agreement) of which 6 are political, 1 about prohibition, 1 for land sales, and 6 concerning expenditure, government jobs, education etc. While the non-political concessions were drafted only for 5 to 10 years’ time frame, the political demands like CM/Dy.CM reservation were carefully drafted to be without time frame. (An analysis of these gentlemen agreement is included in page no.9)

Thus the intention of the Doras/leaders were clear from the beginning, in the name of backwardness/illiteracy, they wanted to ensure the kind of political security and tenure enjoyed by them ( Doras/Patels) during Nizam ruleand Britishers defences. This was clear to the Telangana leaders supporting United Andhra Pradesh from the beginning and we can see the same reflected in the speech of Sh. PendemVasudev, MLA of Gajwel in the assembly of Hyderabad State on 28^th November 1955.

Unfortunately, just as Ghazni Mohammed was able to aggregate mercenaries for Indian conquests and loot/plunder, they were able to mobilise handful of supporters in Telangana, who in the hope of sharing spoils in the form of political power and appointments, indulged in inciting and polluting the minds of innocent students and public by promising rosy future and blaming other regions for their supposed backwardness. As Gita says, to gain strength one has to look within. It is the individual’s will power and attitude that determines his future and progress. They conveniently ignore about the backwardness of other regions and areas. As Justice Sri Krishna Commission Brought out in its report, Today, after 56 years after the emergence of united Andhra Pradesh, the educational, health, infrastructural, irrigational and industrial facilities and indicators were as good as or even better than other regions of the State or that of many other States. Definitely, the improvement of educational facilities and economic indicators should obviate the need for continuance of safeguards or separate state, as the very basis of these concessions is no longer present. However, the protagonists of Telangana put forward a strange argument that, they were rich from the beginning. Was the Nizam rich or the people? If people were also rich, then why the slogan of backwardness/illiteracy? Why was there a popular demand for Visalandhra then? The fact of the matter is during Nizam’s rule, the nobles and their cohorts/cronies i.e., land lords and village headmen enjoyed the toils of people like parasites fleecing the blood.  Now they want to bring back the same regime.

For safeguarding these privileges they shamelessly exploited the backwardness/illiteracy as a plank to extract political concessions which strangely include the power to decide on prohibition. These feudal elements neither have the will nor the patience to work on real issues and do hard work. They just needed a talisman or magic wand to hoodwink the people in to believing on a single point solution, i.e. separate state. Telangana people will also realise the same, but it may be too late to correct?. Please watch this anti-national remarks of so called TRS leader on TV5 (Telugu news channel) on 26^th August 2013 at 8:14 – 8:18 AM, which was only a miniscule part of the mindless talk of these separatists, and decide about their ideology. Also watch the incidents on 02.09.2013 forcefully removing the Osmania Hospital Superindent and Osmania Dental College Principal.If you permit, video footage running into days ( including the inflammatory speeches of TRS leaders like KCR, Harishrao, KTR, Kavitha, JAC leaders Kodanadaram, Srinivasagoud,  Congress leaders Ponnam Prabhakar, Gutha Sukhender Reddy , K.Kesavarao etc.,)  will be shown which will make things clear to you about the ideology behind this present separate Telangana movement. They are striking at the very basis of nation state( cultural/ethnic identity), which will have ramifications all over India.

          

As Members of Parliament committed to integrity and unity of India, we need your intervention on the current political and social unrest in Andhra Pradesh unleashed by the mindless decision of UPA and CWC recommending Division of Andhra Pradesh reminding the Bengal Division by Britishers in 1905. Bengal division was carried out by the oppressive Foreigners, citing administrative grounds, and was actually aimed at weakening the emerging unity among Indians. {Sadly, however, Britishers succeeded in the end. The Bengal Division resulted in to birth of a second nation and subsequently a third nation}.  Thus even a foreign and oppressive government took care in citing a more palatable and defendable reason. In contrast, the reasons cited for recommending division of Andhra Pradesh after 57 years of its existence was “in order to better fulfil their social, economic, political and other aspirations” and had to be qualified by “safety and security of all residents in all the regions and the guarantee of the fundamental rights of all residents” which is reflected both in the CWC resolution and Union Finance Minister’s statement in the Parliament.  Does Telangana not have representation in Parliament, or AP legislative Assembly? Do they not have democratic local bodies? What is the share of MLAs in AP Assembly in 1956 and now in 2013. Is there increased representation or not? Who is the benefited region? Is there any other region in AP that produced a Prime Minister of India? If the region could produce a Prime Minister who chose to get elected from a different region of Andhra Pradesh, and prove himself to be acceptable to not only Nation but also State what prevents them from leading the united State? M.Chenna Reddy himself had led the State not once but twice, and he himself said separate Telangana is no longer an issue. What political aspirations do they need to be fulfilled? A permanent reservation of Chief minster ship?. Reservations may be acceptable and desirable to help disadvantaged sections for education and to some extent employment, but to reserve national and state leadership? Leadership by its own definition connotes inclusion of all people and acceptance by all. It cannot be ensured by reason of birth or caste or religion or region.

You know why thesewords (guarantee of fundamental rights)were necessitated to be included in the CWC resolution and statement of union finance minister in Parliament?. For the last 12 years and more particularly for the last 5 years, in the name of Telangana agitation, the lumpen elements had a free run in Andhra Pradesh. They had open licence to vandalise, destruct properties including defacing/ destroying telugu icons like, Vemana the balladeer and poet, Krishna Devaraya the last emperor of South India, Molla the poetess etc., and abusing rest of telugu people with choicest abuses, the favourite being thieves.  This was a open challenge to law and order, the basis of any state including good (?) old monarchy/oligarchies.  This was also directly against the ideals of Constitution enshrined in preamble

“promote among them all

FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation”

Thus there was a failure of State and also violation of Constitution. What was the result of these violence? The political parties which were in favour of united Andhra Pradesh, hitherto playing vague stand, under duress were compelled to adopt a public stance in support of division. (Explore any telugu daily during 2007-2010, and also watch tv episodes of Jaganmohanreddy’sOdarpuYatra to Mehaboobabad on May 28, 2010, the TRS’s manhandling of Sri Jayaprakash Narayan, MLA Loksatta in the premises of AP Legislative assembly at media point, the felicitation to Sh.NagamJanardhan Reddy BJP leader and the sad and cruel defacing of statues of telugu icons on the Tankbund of Hyderabad during million march).(Sadly National media including Television did not highlight these cruelties. Truth prevails finally, but in the short run, lies have had a free run).  Thus what was not achieved with reason was achieved with violence.

Even the views of political parties in the all party meeting on December 7 2009 were influenced by the urgency to save the life of KCR and to defuse the tensions and present a face saving formula to KCR to stop hunger strike. It was under duress that these views extracted. It is a well-known fact that KCR was compelled by these militant elements to continue fast and he needed a face saving gesture. Well, KCR life was saved, but in the bargain  many  innocent lives (1000 as per TRS) were lost and now many more lives (around 200 as per newspaper reports and still continuing) are being sacrificed now.

Change in stance was extracted by not allowing free expression of views. You can ask Sh.ChandraBabau Naidu the leader of TDP and Sh. YS  Jaganmohan Reddy the leader of YSRCP or Sh.Jayaprakash Narayan , leader of Loksatta, or N.Janardhan Reddy  who had a nice felicitation in Osmania University after which there was sudden change in his personality and utterings. Now, He is more heroic and militant ( holier than thou) than KCR or Harish Rao!. The medicine of manhandling had done wonders to his health!. Good news, meanwhile, after achieving their goal, our brethren are now very accommodating. The doctor’s JAC, had quashed the appointment of Smt. Annapoorna, as Principal of Osmania Dental College and dethroned the Superindent of Osmania Hospital Sh. Sivaramireddy, to replace with Telangana Brethren. Don’t ask who gave authority; it is WE the Indian Union that has given the power in our failure to inculcate FRATERNITY and uphold LAW and ORDER.  

Thus violence, hate and hatred are given formal and roaring recognition by Independent India, by conceding their demand. Congratulations to all of us!.

It will be a futile exercise to compare these separatists, with our founding fathers and their next generation politicians and leaders. Yet we have to survey the facts. Compare the positive assurances and concessions given to the Telangana regional leaders both in the gentlemen agreement (The expenditure of the central and general administration of the State should be borne proportionately by the two regions and the balance of income from Telengana should be reserved for expenditure on the development of Telengana area. This arrangement will be reviewed after five years and can be continued for another five years if the Telengana members of the Assembly so desire, etc, etc ….) and six point formula (We are convinced that the accelerated development of the backward areas and planned development of the State capital are the major factors which will help in successfully implementing the above principles,…….., etc,etc…..Hyderabad Central University is direct fruit of this formula) with the  current CWC resolution and Union Finance Minister’s statement in parliament  i.e  “ ensuring safety and security” and  “guarantee of fundamental rights” . Union Finance Minister and CWC were very generous indeed!

Are we penalizing the good behaviour befitting with ideals of Constitution like FRATERNITY, UNITY and INTEGRITY and rewarding the HATE, HATRED and VIOLENCE? What signals does this send to the country? Tomorrow, if I say that Rest of Andhra Pradesh got a raw deal from Parliament and Government of India and hence deserve to be seceded to “better fulfil our Social, economic, political and other aspirations”, will you allow?. Well CWC will allow, we presume.

Definitely when rest of India is unconcerned about unity, integrity and fraternity of its own constituents, why should we care about the same, especially when we can have control on defence, foreign affairs, natural resources and can have more political posts like PM, Foreign minister, embassies in 182 countries, pampering from big brothers like USA, CHINA etc, and external assistance in terms of grants, aid, etc,. etc., .Why we may even get the assistance of Maoists also. It is a different matter that finally the entire South Asia may plunge into a crisis or become a middle east or Egypt. But who cares?, we will bother only about today and how much of the spoils ( doesn’t matter whether they are votes or political appointments) we will get to ourselves. These are my innermost feelings and only time will tell whether we are headed towards this destructive path. When we as a nation forget about rule of law/law and order which was basic premise on which the civilisation progressed, then it’s time for jungleraj, where force/violence will rule.

Freedom of India and emergence as a single and unified nation was the result of more than one and half century’s struggle of freedom fighters who had not only fought against a foreign government but also against the regressive elements of Indian society including princely class. We have had elements within country like debauched kings, money lenders, zamindars, absentee landlords, and religious fanatics etc.Britisher’s protection ensured not only their own degeneration, but also their sense of entitlement, arrogance and atrocities on own people. Freedom fight was as much a fight against a foreign government as against own divisive elements. That we could succeed only partially was attested by the partition of country and the attendant genocide.

The current incidents for the last 5 years in the backdrop of Telangana Agitation indicate that fight against internal divisive forces was not won and had to be waged again. Else, the cohesive unit that is India will crumble like USSR or more dangerously, may lead to balkanisation.

         

I was not born during freedom struggle or even immediately after that. In fact I was born in the silver jubilee year of Indian independence. Thus I was not witness to the sacrifices and struggles of freedom fighters, but lived every moment of freedom vicariously through the history and freedom lessons. And at the age of 15-17 years I was having same aspirations and hopes like every other Indian. And in similar fashion I was very proud to be identified with a Telugu man. I was basking in the glory of Prataparudraand Rudramadevias much as I was in the glory of SrikrishnaDevaraya or Akbar or Quli Qutubshah.

 But now it is being said that I can no longer claim the cultural heritage of Kakatiyas or Simukha. Or more insultingly, some people are ashamed of Uyyalawada Narasimhareddy or Raja RajaNarendra. And I also note that these voices are minority voices but being vocal and having nuisance/TRP value, are being given pride of place and prime of time in the telugu 24X7 news channels which have projected a sense of deprivation among sizeable section of Telangana people.  But, people will soon realise their mistake. However, what is surprising is that these divisive elements have also succeeded in influencing the two major parties i.e. INC and BJP in agreeing for bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.

In the cacophony of lies, truth should not be swept aside. It deserves at least one hearing. Let us again survey the formation of Andhra Pradesh and subsequent developments leading to the current situation.

Hyderabad state was among the last princely state to merge into India, but not before the police action which was necessitated due to the Nizam’s intransigence to remain independent or merge with Pakistan. It is a well-known fact that Nizam’s regime was oppressive and least bothered about welfare of people. This was reflected in the meagre educational facilities, no importance to regional language(i.e Telugu/Kannada/Marathi)etc.,. In this scenario a sense of brotherhood among same linguistic people was developed strongly, especially among Telugus, who were under single rulers for major parts of history, like Satavahanas, Kakatiyas, Nizam’s till advent of britishers etc., The armed struggle of Telangana got both moral and material support of rest of Andhra Pradesh.

Vislanandhra or united land of Telugus ( Andhra as a synonym to Telugu people was freely used at that time, as reflected in Andhra Mahasabhas in present day Telangana Area, Rajaraja Narendra Andhra Bhasha Nilayam in Warangal, Krishnadevaraya Andhra nilayam in Hyderabad etc., now the very word Andhra seems to be a taboo) had the support of people of both regions.

It is a fact that some leaders were against unified Andhra Pradesh from the beginning. These are the old Doras of Nizam, who had a free rein in a State whose defence was assured by a third party, whose king doesn’t care what happens to people, as long as payment of revenue collection was received in time. Thus Doras are de-facto rulers of the villages with practically unlimited power. Thus naturally they would not like reduction in their power in the new setup. This would be easier, if the state is small, and does not contain new politico-social units. But how to exclude the new ideas/ education?.

They wanted to achieve this using the same weapon. Telangana is not well educated, and hence will be deprived of educational opportunities and hence by extension employment opportunities. Hence should have a separate state. This was a sane argument, except that if the education is at a so low level, how are they going to bring in teachers/administrators to meet the demand if more schools are to be opened.  Well, we will import from other areas, but the political power should be in the hands of us i.e.  “Doras”. However, the very strong united Telugu land sentiment among the population of Telangana led to a resolution for united Andhra Pradesh. 

But not before granting concessions by the rest of Andhra Pradesh in the gentlemen agreement. However, the same less educated people of Kannada and Marathi speaking people of Hyderabad state did not sought or got any concessions. Why? Patels/ Doras of these areas were more progressive and national in outlook and there were no K.V.Ranagareddy or M.Chennareddy. Let us examine the concessions of gentlemen agreement and subsequent developments.

S.No	Point of Gentlemen agreement	Remarks
1.	The expenditure of the central and general administration of the State should be borne proportionately by the two regions and the balance of income from Telengana should be reserved for expenditure on the development of Telengana area. This arrangement will be reviewed after five years and can be continued for another five years if the Telengana members of the Assembly so desire	Was envisaged for ten years only. But nobody seems to note this aspect. Even today, we see mindless castigations.
2	Prohibition in Telengana should be implemented in the manner decided upon by the Assembly members of Telengana	Strange in a country whose founding father’s favourite theme was placed as the second most important issue to be needed an assurance!
3	The existing educational facilities in Telengana should be secured to the students of Telengana and further improved.  Admission to the Colleges including technical institutions in the Telengana area should be restricted to the students of Telengana, or the latter should have admission to the extent of one- third of the total admissions in the entire State, whichever course is advantageous to Telengana students.	Now, post-1973, not 33% (one third) but 36% of seats of entire state are reserved in higher institutions. And the Primary and high school facilities are on par and better than rest of Andhra Pradesh. Justice Sri Krishna Commission findings confirms the same. And in the bargain, Rest of Andhra Pradesh as well as Telangana students lost the 15% national pool MBBS seats filled through PMT.
4	Retrenchment of services should be proportionate from both regions if it becomes inevitable due to integration.	Was never required.
5	Future recruitment to services will be on the basis of population from both regions.	Mulki rules were against this agreement, and nobody seems to notice or care about this. If there were some violations of mulki rules, due to corruption and nepotism, later constitution 32nd amendment ensured permanent reservation on the basis of place of residence, which was directly against article 16 of constitution itself.
6	The position of Urdu in the administrative and judicial structure existing at present in the Telengana area may continue for five years , when the position may be reviewed by the Regional Council.  So far(as) recruitment to services is concerned, knowledge of Telugu should no be insisted upon at the time of recruitment but they should be required to pass a prescribed Telugu test in two years after appointment	Strange, no one bothers now.
7	Some kind of domicile rule, e.g., residence for 12 years should be provided in order to assure the prescribed proportion to recruitment of services for Telengana area.	Was continuously addressed either through Mulki rules or Public Employment (Requirement as to Residence) Act. 1957, or the present Zonal system.
8	Sales of agricultural lands in Telengana area (is) to be controlled by the Regional Council.	Was an eyewash and for public consumption, else, what will people think? Had any TRS/Congress leader of today remember this? At least I have not heard any one.
9	A  Regional Council will be established for the Telengana area with a view to secure its all- round development in accordance with its needs and requirements.	Seems to be a violation, but how sincerely the political leaders made efforts to achieve this is a moot point.  Note the time period 10 years  ( in the 11th point)
10	The Regional Council will consist of 20 members as follows: 9 members of the Assembly representing each district of Telengana to be elected by the Assembly members of the Telengana districts separately, 6 members of the Assembly or the Parliament elected by the Telengana representatives of the Assembly , 5 members from outside the Assembly to be elected by the Telengana members of the Assembly.  All ministers from Telengana area will be (its) members.	As above
11	The Regional Council will be a statutory body empowered to deal with and decide about matters mentioned above and those relating to planning and development, irrigation and other projects, industrial development within the general plan and recruitment to services in so far as they relate to Telengana area.  If there is difference of opinion between the views of the Regional Council and the Government of State, a reference may be made to the Government of India for final decision. Unless revised earlier by agreement, this arrangement will be       reviewed at the end of ten years.	As above
12	The Cabinet will consist of  members in proportion of 60 to 40  per cent for Andhra and Telengana respectively.  Out of the 40  per cent Telengana Ministers one will be a Muslim from Telengana.	Fully honoured
13	If the Chief Minister is from Andhra, the Deputy Chief Minister will be from Telengana  and vice- versa.  Two out of the following portfolios will be assigned to Ministers from Telengana : a.       Home; b. Finance; c. Revenue; d. Planning & Development; and e. Commerce & Industry.	Both the signatories, i.e. Sanjeeva Reddy from Rayalaseema and ChennaReddy from Telangana have violated.
14	The Hyderabad Pradesh Congress Committee President desired that the Pradesh Congress Committee should be separated from Telengana up to the end of 1962.  Andhra Provincial Congress Committee President has no objection.	Transient and irrelevant now

It is very important to remember that the present Telangana area was part of one of the last princely state to merge with Indian Union i.e, Nizam/Hyderabad State, that too with police action. And the present agitation is grounded in the exemptions granted at the time of integration of this area into Andhra Pradesh.

Nizam Government by firman dated 25th Ramzan 1337 Hijri (corresponding to 1919 AD) issued rules for recruitment to government services which are widely known as Mulki Rules. In, Urdu language, Mulk is a nation, and the residents are Mulkis. In essence these rules preclude non-nationals of the state from government employment.

After the incorporation of Hyderabad State into India, M. K. Vellodi was appointed as Chief Minister of the state on 26 January 1950. He was a Senior Civil servant in the Government of India. He administered the state with the help of bureaucrats from Madras state and Bombay state.

In first State Assembly elections in India, 1952, Dr. Burgula Ramakrishna Rao was elected Chief Minister of Hyderabad State. During this time there were violent agitations by some Telanganites to send back bureaucrats from Madras state, and to strictly implement 'Mulki-rules'(Local jobs for locals only), which was part of Hyderabad state law since 1919.

In 1956 during the Re-organization of the Indian States based along linguistic lines, the state of Hyderabad was split up among Andhra Pradesh,Bombay state (later divided into states of Maharashtra and Gujarat in 1960 with the original portions of Hyderabad becoming part of the state of Maharashtra) and Karnataka

To allay the fears of the people of Hyderabad state, as their level of education at that particular point of time is not well developed, at the time of merging with Andhra Pradesh in 1956, safeguards were envisaged through Gentleman’s agreement, which was conceded by Andhra Leaders in the bargain for a United state for all Telugu speaking people.  The public support for Single State for all the Telugu speaking people was reflected in the Visalandhra sentiment prevailing both in the Andhra State and Hyderabad State at that point of time. The same was reflected in the overwhelming support received in the legislative assembly of Hyderabad State in favor of united Telugu state. It may be noted that no such fears were expressed or sought to be allayed by the other two states, i.e. Maharashtra or Karnataka for the parts of Hyderabad State being merged with them. Quickly Parliament Enacted the Public Employment (Requirement as to Residence) Act. 1957, empowering the Government of India to prescribe residence as condition for employment in certain posts and services in the State of Andhra Pradesh and in the (then) Union Territories of Himachal Pradesh, Manipur and Tripura. This Act having expired in 1974, there is no provision to prescribe residence as a condition for public employment, except that for Andhra Pradesh Special provisions have been made by inserting a new Art.371 D (post) in the constitution itself. No person outside the Andhra Pradesh state is eligible for any post under the State Government. No other State discriminates residents of other states in the matters of employment in the state. Thus a resident of Haryana can apply for a post notified by UP Public service Commission and vice versa. This is not available in Andhra Pradesh, which bars residents of other states to apply for posts under government. This is one of the last remaining vestiges of erstwhile tyrannical Nizam State which prohibited employment for people coming from other parts of the country under Mulki Rules and root cause for many problems now being faced. Exclusion of people from other states to work in a state directly acts against the integration of the people and against the spirit of article 15 and 16. Further as seen from above, the exception under 16(3) was meant to be very sparingly used and that too in exceptional circumstances. The lapse of Public Employment (Requirement as to Residence) Act. 1957 in the year 1974 and no further enactments under 16(3) testify to the same. Even the above act was originally envisaged for 5+5 years which was subsequently enhanced to 15 years vide act 1 of 1969. The permanent exclusion of other state people from other parts of India through article 371(d) is against the spirit of constitution and specifically the ideals enshrined in  preamble and is an impediment in the achievement of FRATERNITY, UNITY and INTEGRITY of the Nation. This is a perverted affront on the integration of Andhra Pradesh with other parts of India.

The above acts prevented Andhra Pradesh Students from participating in the Pre-Medical Test (PMT) conducted by CBSE for admission in to the 15% merit all India seats in different medical colleges in all other States of INDIA, as a reciprocity arrangement was not possible. This resulted in a huge loss for the students of AP to pursue medicinal studies in the prestigious national institutions in other States for the last 60 years. Exchange of students did not take place.  This is a cultural loss. Thus people of the other half of Andhra Pradesh, i.e erstwhile Andhra State have made certain concessions like foregoing the employment opportunities in the Telangana Area, forgoing opportunity to work in their own state, foregoing cultural exchange with other parts of the country for their young students, etc in return for an idea of united Telugu Speaking State. The Capital was also fixed as Hyderabad. Consequently Hyderabad was developed in to a mega polis with cosmopolitan culture and almost every other family had a member working in Hyderabad. Many Central Government regional Offices, PSUs like IDPL, BHEL, ECIL, BDL, etc were established due to the combined bargaining power of all Telugu speaking people. Now Telangana along with a fully developed megapolis will be severed from a united State leaving bitter memories and freshly created animosities. Who is responsible for this ?lumpen elements who initially started the blame game in the name of backwardness are now clamoring for self-respect. Will the self-respect and self-determination rest with a separatist state or will it escalate to the next logical level?   And who will forgive the TRS leaders, especially KCR, in their mindless utterings castigating all Andhra people as children of demons, looters, perverts etc., what happens if the current sense of betrayal leading the other side, i.e. Andhra area leaders pitching the same slogan? 

          

And We fail to understand the logic of seeking exclusive reservations on regional basis, even after 66 years of independence, with improvements in education and other infrastructural facilities better than most of the other Indian states, and even other regions of the same state.

         

Local reservations and Zonal Reservations which are  in vogue in Andhra Pradesh are root cause of development of regional feelings among all the regions of AP and especially among teachers. Can we remove these reservations at least in education? It is very disheartening to see the Teachers/Professors who are supposed to promote harmony, fraternity, unity and integrity are now injecting toxic ideas into the minds of young students spoiling entire generations. What we see now is reaping the dividends of these reservations in place for the last half century. And why should independent India suffer from the ill effects of a firman issued by a tyrannical and biased king?

By the same token of argument, they should seek to reserve all the IAS/IPS and other central service posts located in Hyderabad and Telangana be filled with locals only? Strange and contrived logic. And I doubt whether there is any disproportionate amount of class 4,3, and 2 level  and even class 1 posts being filled with non-locals in any of the other states where there is no restriction on recruitment from other people. These arguments by these separatist and divisive elements only help in whipping up the emotions and false sense of deprivation.

That these divisive elements were able to whip up emotions was proved in 1969 Jai Telangana and in 1972 Jai Andhra agitations. Then a strong Smt.Indira Gandhi stood firm and a compromise was arrived in 6 point formula.  Accordingly, Hyderabad, the State Capital was developed,  a Central University ( Hyderabad Central University) is established and Zonal System established. The beneficiary of all the above is only Telangana area. And now after enjoying the fruits for last 40 years, the leaders of TRS and Congress whipped up emotions, created false hopes and promoted HATE, HATRED and Violence. And CWC as well as Central Government is rewarding these cruel politics!

Sir, as a responsible Member of Parliament will you let this happen?

It is time for Parliament and Responsible Political parties to sit and decide on the future map of India and the basis for the same. If linguo- cultural basis was not appropriate, then decide what should be the basis and also please make the redrawing of boundaries of States more difficult. Otherwise take measures to preserve the linguo-cultural unity, and ensure Law and order. Any future division of States should need and seek the approval from all sections of the Nation. Probably insistence on a 3/4^th Majority of Parliament in both houses and concerned State Assembly will go a long way in moulding the any future agitations for separation towards, conciliatory and persuasive  tone which is essential to preserve the unity, integrity and fraternity. Article 3 may be amended accordingly.  

There is a reason why States were made indestructible in USA. That will exclude the possibility of continuous political instability in the polity. Our founding fathers did not had the opportunity for the same, as the nation building was still continuing at the time of adopting the Constitution, with 600 odd princely states waiting for integration. Hence a simple article 3 was provided to the Parliament. This was never meant to be a source of political instability.

I as an All India Service Officer have no business in writing this letter. But as a citizen of India, my understanding of India and allegiance to Constitution is shaken to the core by this decision. I wanted to make efforts to regain my faith in the Indian State.

G.Sreedhar

CES(ROADS) 2000 Batch

BE (Osmania), MBA(IIMCalcutta)