diversity of people living in telangana has historical,social and cultural context.
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History will tell us that the word‘Telangana’ was first used at least as early as 1323. Tilangana, an early variant, was used to describe the land between the Three Lingas, three hills that Lord Shiva was believed to have visited. After centuries of rule by dynasties like the Kakatiya and Vijayanagara, the region came under the rule of the Delhi Sultanate upon the fall of Warangal. After a few more centuries of rule by Bahamanis and Qutub Shahis, the area came into the control of Asaf Jahs, the Nizams of Hyderabad.
The Nizams were powerful rulers with strong armies, and the area was never under direct British rule. Consequently, this did not allow an anglicisation of the region. Education was in Urdu, and much of the region was backward in terms of literacy. When India became a sovereign country in 1947, the Nizam refused to cede the Hyderabad State to the newly born country. This led to a series of rebellions, by the natives who were already rebelling against an exploitative feudal system, and finally culminated in the famous Operation Polo by Sardar Patel.Crowd cheering Operation Polo.
Operation Polo led to the creation of the Hyderabad State in India, the region that was later merged into the larger Visalandhra. When the Indian Army marched in to the State and annexed the territory into India, the Coastal Andhra region, later joined by Rayalaseema region, was still in their struggle for a separate Telugu-speaking state. In 1953, when they finally succeeded, the Andhra state did not include the Telangana region, much against popular misconception. It was only in 1956, with the States Reorganisation, that both the regions became unified, against the wishes of a majority of Telangana and against the recommendations of the States Reorganisation Commission.
It is said that the Telangana people were apprehensive about the unification because they felt they were backward in education compared to the other regions, and hence would lose out on job opportunities and access to power. One of the earliest protests against the unification was called “Idly Sambar Go Back”, clearly indicating that Telangana did not identify with the Telugu food and culture.
In order to appease the tension, a Gentlemen’s Agreement was signed between four members from Telangana and four from Andhra to safeguard Telangana’s interests. However, the agreement is alleged to have been repeatedly violated, and had remained a major cause for the demand of a separate state.
Taking an example from the agreement will help. It provided that if the Chief Minister was from Andhra Pradesh, the Deputy Chairman would have to be from Telangana, and vice versa. This was not followed since the very first day of the creation of the new state: N Sanjiva Reddy, who belonged to Andhra became the CM, however no one was given the Deputy CM post. Later, Reddy went on to call the Deputy CM post a ‘sixth-finger’, indicating that it was not required. Ironically, Reddy was himself a Deputy CM before he became the Chief Minister. In its entire history, Andhra Pradesh had only four Deputy Chief Ministers.
For an exhaustive analysis of the violations, please read this.
The history of Andhra Pradesh is dotted with numerous demands from the Telangana people for a separate state. Out of these, the years 1969, 1972, and 1985 saw some loud and vehement protests. After 2000, however, the movement gained much force, and the entire Telangana region witnessed hundreds of bandhs and rallies.
The Telangana people contend that their area was neglected in terms of development, that their people were denied access to power, and that their culture was always considered inferior to the Telugu culture. They feel that the only way to get a better status for themselves is through a separate state of Telangana.
Opinion
The demand for a separate state of Telangana is rooted in the inherent sense of separateness in the minds of the Telangana people. And they are right: historically, culturally and linguistically, they are distinct from the Telugus of Andhra. They were never under direct British rule unlike the Madras Presidency, they follow many different festivals, and their dialect is quite different from Telugu, with a lot of its vocabulary borrowed from Urdu.
This is in contrast to the claims of the Samaikhyaandhra enthusiasts. The supporters for a united Andhra Pradesh claim that Telanganas and Andhras are like brothers, and that it is only a political ploy to divide them both. While it may be true that the separation now has been done with a political purpose, the demand for a separate state has been present since the very beginning of the inception of Andhra Pradesh and throughout its history. The people of Telangana have always considered the Andhras and their culture as alien. The Telugus of Andhra have not exactly been very inclusive either.
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The Nizams were powerful rulers with strong armies, and the area was never under direct British rule. Consequently, this did not allow an anglicisation of the region. Education was in Urdu, and much of the region was backward in terms of literacy. When India became a sovereign country in 1947, the Nizam refused to cede the Hyderabad State to the newly born country. This led to a series of rebellions, by the natives who were already rebelling against an exploitative feudal system, and finally culminated in the famous Operation Polo by Sardar Patel.Crowd cheering Operation Polo.
Operation Polo led to the creation of the Hyderabad State in India, the region that was later merged into the larger Visalandhra. When the Indian Army marched in to the State and annexed the territory into India, the Coastal Andhra region, later joined by Rayalaseema region, was still in their struggle for a separate Telugu-speaking state. In 1953, when they finally succeeded, the Andhra state did not include the Telangana region, much against popular misconception. It was only in 1956, with the States Reorganisation, that both the regions became unified, against the wishes of a majority of Telangana and against the recommendations of the States Reorganisation Commission.
It is said that the Telangana people were apprehensive about the unification because they felt they were backward in education compared to the other regions, and hence would lose out on job opportunities and access to power. One of the earliest protests against the unification was called “Idly Sambar Go Back”, clearly indicating that Telangana did not identify with the Telugu food and culture.
In order to appease the tension, a Gentlemen’s Agreement was signed between four members from Telangana and four from Andhra to safeguard Telangana’s interests. However, the agreement is alleged to have been repeatedly violated, and had remained a major cause for the demand of a separate state.
Taking an example from the agreement will help. It provided that if the Chief Minister was from Andhra Pradesh, the Deputy Chairman would have to be from Telangana, and vice versa. This was not followed since the very first day of the creation of the new state: N Sanjiva Reddy, who belonged to Andhra became the CM, however no one was given the Deputy CM post. Later, Reddy went on to call the Deputy CM post a ‘sixth-finger’, indicating that it was not required. Ironically, Reddy was himself a Deputy CM before he became the Chief Minister. In its entire history, Andhra Pradesh had only four Deputy Chief Ministers.
For an exhaustive analysis of the violations, please read this.
The history of Andhra Pradesh is dotted with numerous demands from the Telangana people for a separate state. Out of these, the years 1969, 1972, and 1985 saw some loud and vehement protests. After 2000, however, the movement gained much force, and the entire Telangana region witnessed hundreds of bandhs and rallies.
The Telangana people contend that their area was neglected in terms of development, that their people were denied access to power, and that their culture was always considered inferior to the Telugu culture. They feel that the only way to get a better status for themselves is through a separate state of Telangana.
Opinion
The demand for a separate state of Telangana is rooted in the inherent sense of separateness in the minds of the Telangana people. And they are right: historically, culturally and linguistically, they are distinct from the Telugus of Andhra. They were never under direct British rule unlike the Madras Presidency, they follow many different festivals, and their dialect is quite different from Telugu, with a lot of its vocabulary borrowed from Urdu.
This is in contrast to the claims of the Samaikhyaandhra enthusiasts. The supporters for a united Andhra Pradesh claim that Telanganas and Andhras are like brothers, and that it is only a political ploy to divide them both. While it may be true that the separation now has been done with a political purpose, the demand for a separate state has been present since the very beginning of the inception of Andhra Pradesh and throughout its history. The people of Telangana have always considered the Andhras and their culture as alien. The Telugus of Andhra have not exactly been very inclusive either.
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