Telengana: to separate or not to separate?

Demand for Telangana, a separate state hewn from Andhra Pradesh, is like the demand for the Punjabi sooba.

The demand for Telangana, a separate state hewn from the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, is like the demand for the Punjabi sooba. The latter was conceded after several movements and satyagrahas spread over almost three decades. The argument advanced against the Punjabi sooba was that the people in the, then united Punjab, were like warp and woof of the same tapestry and together, enjoyed the natural resources including river waters which, if divided, would harm the inhabitants.The Punjabi suba ultimately became a reality, even though it was a state of 13 districts only.

When I find the Telangana agitations and demonstrations (there is a general strike there at present) to want a separate state, my mind goes back to the days of the Punjabi suba movement. The people opposing the demand were the Punjabis themselves.

Nearly all Sikhs came to support the Punjabi suba and nearly all Hindus remained opposed to it. The two communities did not eschew the bias and the demand acquired a religious colour. Still the demand made sense because linguistic states were formed all over India in 1956. Punjab remained bilingual. The States Reorganisation Commission also rejected the demand which it said was primarily one of scripts (Gurmuki and Devnagri). This was an oversimplification of the situation.

The Telangana demand is, however, not based on the basis of language. It is a sentiment which has come to string together all those who once lived in the old territory of Nizam’s Hyderabad-speaking Urdu. They had different food habits and different cultural moorings, more akin to Islam. There is nothing wrong in the formation of such a state except that a sentiment does not provide the type of brick and mortar which the structure of a state requires. The eyes of the people in Telangana and the rest of Andhra Pradesh are riveted on Hyderabad.

Yet the Telangana agitators base their cause for separation on discrimination, the feeling which goes down well with the people. I have checked the facts and figures and fail to make out how Telangana has been a victim of discrimination at the hands of a united Andhra.

After the lapse of nearly four decades, we, the Punjabis, feel that dividing the state was a mistake.

Even those who asked for the Punjabi sooba on the basis of religion, feel disillusioned because the population of Sikhs and non-Sikhs is now almost at par.

The Indian constitution does not debar any national from settling anywhere in the union except the restricted areas. The problem of Punjab may aggravate in the days to come. I am giving all these details to make the Telangana people learn from our experience and face the reality that a bigger state, with linguistic homogeneity turns out to be a better proposition in the long-run. The problem is that of bold leadership. Political parties have one leg in Telangana and another in the united Andhra Pradesh

As for the ruling Congress, it sees how the wind is blowing. The government’s announcement for the formation of Telangana was made at midnight. Subsequently, it realised that it had made such a big decision without a proper study. The Sri Krishna commission should have been appointed before the announcement of the formation of Telangana was made. It is clear to me that the union government, as well as the Congress, is going to be damned whether it constitutes Telangana or not.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 26^th,  2011.