Seemaandhra intellectuals appeal to their MPs & legislators to support separate Telangana మార్చి 8, 2011

Open Letter
Dt: 3/3/2011

From:
1.Sri Pothuri Venkateswara Rao, Senior Journalist
2.Dr Tripuraneni Hanuman Chowdary, Chairman, Pragna Bharati and former IT Advisor, Government of Andhra Pradesh
3.Dr. Kakarla Subba Rao, former Director NIMS and a noted radiologist
4.Dr N.Bhaskar Rao, Social Scientist, New Delhi
5.Dr. Katti Padma Rao, Social Activist, Bapatla

Joint Appeal to MPs/ MLAs/ MLCs hailing from Seemandhra

Dear & Respected MP/ MLA/ MLC garu,

Sub: Creation of Telengana state – Obstructions imperiling Seemandhra people in and around Hyderabad.

1. The inclusion of Telangana to create the Andhra Pradesh state in 1956 had been from the beginning against the wishes of a majority of leaders from the region. The over 150 years of separation between the Telangana and the Seema-Andhra areas since 1800 AD has created unbridgeable gulf between social, educational economic mileus and political and cultural consciousnesses of the two regions. Vicissitudes of history have inflicted under-development and backwardness in the Telangana region under the Nizam’s rule.

2. The Seema-Andhra regions under the British rule had made considerable progress towards modernity and overall economic development, particularly in the fields of education, commerce and industry. The British regime had made its cultural impact too. The five and half decades of togetherness between the peoples of Telangana and Seema-Andhra regions in the integrated state had failed to bring equitable development in the different regions of the state and harmonize the relations between the peoples. It is an undeniable fact that the people of Telangana have always been nurturing a feeling that they are being ruled over and are denied self-rule. The separatist sentiment that had its roots in the Telangana region of the erstwhile Hyderabad state have been periodically surfacing ever since the formation of Andhra Pradesh. The sentiment as expressed in the 1969 Separate Telangana agitation was suppressed by strong-arm tactics and by luring some separatist leaders with power. The same had happened in 1972 Separate Andhra agitation too.

3. The separatist agitation in Telangana, largely peaceful till now, has been going on for almost a decade with increasing support from the people. While the 1969 agitation was mainly an urban phenomenon, today it has reached every nook and corner of Telangana and stirred the emotional feelings of the common people. The movement for separate Telngana is irresistible and cannot be simply wished away or suppressed by strong-arm tactics.

4. It is true that there are some apprehensions in the Coastal and Rayalaseema regions but that does not mean they are opposed to the formation of separate Telangana state. The presence of twenty or thirty lakhs of people from Coastal and Rayalaseema distiricts who came to their capital city Hyderabad during the last half a century or so, just as the people from other Telangana districts, should not be a factor in deciding the future of the state. They continue to remain an integral part of the Hyderabad population. Marathis, Kannadigas and even Gujaratis and Pujabis, in large numbers, have been living in the city for decades. Claiming special rights by these or any other group is irrational and unjustified. The apprehensions of these people and the people of the other two regions have to be removed by discussions and by trying to address the genuine grievances. (మరింత…)