Behind the passionate struggle for a separate state were the hopes of the people of Telangana. These hopes, in a nutshell, revolved around two primary things: firstly, ownership and control of resources like water (Neellu), finances (Nidhulu) and jobs (Niyamakaalu), and secondly, social justice for all sections (Saamajika Telangana).
June 2, 2014, was a momentous day for everyone in Telangana. It was the day for which the people of Telangana fought for decades, and finally, after many sacrifices, including the ultimate sacrifice by hundreds, in the two-stage historic movement spanning decades, Telangana became a separate state inside India.
Behind the passionate struggle for a separate state were the hopes of the people of Telangana. These hopes, in a nutshell, revolved around two primary things: firstly, ownership and control of resources like water (Neellu), finances (Nidhulu) and jobs (Niyamakaalu), and secondly, social justice for all sections (Saamajika Telangana).
Although the Kalvakuntla Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR)-led BRS government in Telangana has poured cold water over these dreams and has taken the state backwards in many things in the last nine years, today will be a day to remember and thank all those who contributed to realising the Telangana state.
To begin with, I want to congratulate and share my best wishes with the people of Telangana on the ninth anniversary of Telangana Formation Day. Starting today, Telangana enters the tenth year of statehood, and I wish Telangana and all Telanganaites success.
I pay homage to the Telangana Martyrs who sacrificed their lives for a Telangana state. Without their sacrifices, Telangana would not have become a reality today. Not just this generation but all future generations of Telanganaites will be heavily indebted to them. It becomes the duty of every Telanganaite to strive sincerely towards the kind of Telangana they dreamt of to repay at least in part the debt we owe them.
I pay tributes to the late Atal Behari Vajpayee, whose steadfast belief that smaller states would benefit the country by improving administration and speeding up development provided the ideological support for the creation of smaller states in general and Telangana in particular.
Another national leader to whom Telangana is indebted is the late Sushma Swaraj. The affable leader, fondly called Telangana Chinnamma (mother’s sister), made a case for Telangana’s statehood in Parliament like no other leader. No Telanganaite can forget the passionate pleas she made to the ruling party and its leaders to bring a Bill granting statehood to Telangana, assuring them they would get hundred per cent support from the BJP for passing the Bill. Moreover, her motherly appeal to the youth of Telangana not to commit suicide but to live for Telangana showed her affection for the people, especially the youth of Telangana. On this occasion, I take the opportunity to remember her and pay my respects.
I also thank the BJP, the first national party to support Telangana statehood by passing an official resolution in 1997, long before the second stage of the struggle for Telangana gained traction. This support by a national party laid the foundation for the second stage of the TS movement that would soon start in earnest.
At the same time, I would like to thank all intellectuals, poets, artists, activists and leaders of the BJP, the then Telangana Rashtra Samithi, the Congress and the Communist Party of India, who put aside politics to project the singular will of the Telangana people for a separate state.
Although the present government, led by KCR, has been callous and even became antagonistic towards them after the state’s formation, the students, especially those of the Osmania and Kakatiya Universities, and government employees who spearheaded the Sakala Janula Samme (All People’s Strike), deserve our thanks and respect for their steadfast and untiring participation in the movement for statehood.
I also thank all those TS leaders who were ignored and on some of whom even the police were unleashed by our very own Telangana government after the state’s formation. Although the KCR government had mistreated you, Telangana is grateful for your contributions.
I also wish a happy Telangana Formation Day to not only all those who led, participated, supported and helped, but also to those who opposed a Telangana state and became dearest to our Chief Minister KCR like Asaduddin Owaisi of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul-Muslimeen (AIMIM), and the leaders of the CPM.
And finally, I wish our Education Minister, who as the then Home Minister unleashed the police and filed numberless criminal cases, and the leaders of all political parties who disparaged, ridiculed and even personally attacked those fighting for a Telangana state, but are today ministers and MLAs in the BRS, a delightful Telangana Formation Day.
Jai Telangana.
(The author is BJP
TS spokesperson)
