The Telangana turn

Potti Sreeramalu8217;s fast unto death was historic in more ways than one. It not only led to the formation of the first state in India on a purely linguistic basis, but also paved the way for the first States Reorganisation Committee SRC. Having freshly emerged from the anti-imperialist struggle 8212; both against the Raj and the Nizam 8212; many Congressmen and most communists at the time fought for the linguistic reorganisation of states. They implicitly believed, to quote Marxist literary critic Terry Eagleton, that 8220;language is the root of all identity; to tamper with that is either poetry or treason8221;. A common tongue, it was felt, imbued a hitherto colonised people with a sense of solidarity and empowerment. And popular struggles revolving around this priniciple quickly gained ground through the early fifties. As a result, the administrative units under the British Raj as well as the erstwhile princely states were divided and amalgamated on the basis of language and the new states of Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Gujarat, Maharashtra and others were born.

Andhra played a pioneering role. In 1947 the Telugu speaking people were distributed in 21 districts 8212; nine of them were part of the Nizam8217;s Hyderabad state and the remaining 12 fell under the Madras Presidency. A powerful movement 8212; championed by Congressmen like Sreeramalu as well as the communists who had been in the forefront of the Telengana armed struggle 8212; soon began for 8216;Vishalandhra8217; or a separate Telugu-speaking state.

Within days of Potti Sreeramalu8217;s martyrdom, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru bowed to the demand and the first Andhra state comprising the Telugu-speaking areas of Madras Presidency came into being on October 1, 1953. The victorious Telugus then demanded that Madras 8212; historically a part of the Andhra region 8212; be made the capital. A three-member committee comprising Jawaharlal Nehru, Pattabhi Sitaramayya and C. Rajagopalachari rejected the demand, firmly decreeing that the 8220;Telugu people should leave Madras for Tamils if they want a new state8221;.

That loss was partially made up three years later when the districts of Hyderabad state were integrated to form the current state of Andhra Pradesh on November 1, 1956 8212; and Hyderabad was declared the new capital.

The bitter opposition to a separate Telengana shared by the CPIM, Telugu Desam and large sections of the Congress is rooted in this historical legacy. Language is not the only reason. Hyderabad too is important. 8220;Can you imagine Maharashtra without Mumbai? How can there be an Andhra Pradesh without Hyderabad?8221; is a familiar refrain.

For the people of Telegana, on the other hand, linguistic identity and cultural affinity of the Telugu people no longer evoke much resonance. The Telegana region has remained under-developed even half a century after the formation of the new state. Although the two great rivers of Godavari and Krishna flow through Telengana, lack of irrigation remains central to their woes.

In contrast, Telenganites bitterly complain, coastal Andhra has not only prospered but the coastal rich have also taken over the boomtown of Hyderabad. The backwardness of Telengana, they feel, fuels the Naxalite movement. It also spawned a separatist movement led by Congress leader M. Chenna Reddy back in 1969. That petered out after Mrs Gandhi managed to co-opt Reddy who later served two stints as chief minister of the state. For

Telengana separatists, Reddy is regarded as the archetypal 8220;betrayer8221; to this day.

Taunted by his own supporters that the TRS was going the Reddy way 8212; and his separatist support base eroding by the day, K.Chandrashekhara Rao had little choice but to quit the UPA government. Since his party is confined to the Telengana region, it was not such a difficult decision to take.

But for political parties like the TDP, Congress or Left which are spread throughout the state, the issue is far more complex. The under-development of Telengana cannot be wished away. But the break-up of the first linguistic state in India8217;s post-Independence history can be emotionally and politically wrenching.

The problem is not confined to Andhra Pradesh alone. The demand for a separate Vidarbha has been around for a long time now. A nascent separatist movement in the Coorg or Kodagu region of Karnataka has also begun. Tomorrow, who knows, it could the turn of Malabar or Kutch. The NDA government8217;s decision to form Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh 8212; all carved out of Hindi-speaking north India which did not witness the 8220;language question8221; 8212; was a lot simpler in a way. Besides, wedded as it is to the concept of a homogeneous 8220;one people, one nation, one culture8221; ideal, the Sangh Parivar has never been a proponent of linguistic states.

Telengana, thus, raises more fundamental questions. Has language as the root of identity, as the basis of cultural solidarity ceased to matter? Have the intangible affinities that informed popular struggles in the aftermath of Independence been overtaken by the all-consuming desire for a more tangible 8220;development8221;? Are the two mutually exclusive or can they go hand in hand? At the moment, at least, there are no clear answers.