The reluctance of the Congress leaders to create linguistic states led to disappointment amongst the Indians. Discuss the various protests made by many such Indians with special reference to Potti Sriramulu.
Answers
I will be taking the example of Telanga.
Under the nizams, the Telugu region was divided into Telangana, Rayalaseema and Northern circars. However the British took control of the latter two regions and only Telangana part was left with the nizams and was known as Hyderabad State. This went on for about 150 years until India gained independence. After independence, there was a problem with several princely states. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was committed to bringing these states together into a unified nation.
However, the Hyderabad state refused to join India. Then, through the operation polo, the nizam forces were defeated and the Hyderabad state became a part of India. At this time the Telugu people in the Madras state started a demonstration and demanded a separate state for the Telugu people. many political leaders opposed the formation of states on the basis of language. However, Potti Sriramulu died during his hunger strike. This somewhat forced the congress govt. to form a separate state of Andhra Pradesh, that comprised of the Rayalaseema and Northern Circars regions.
But, the Hyderabad state was educationally, economically and socially backward as compared to Andhra Pradesh and people faced discrimination in terms of govt. jobs and public spending. After several sessions of debates and lobbying, a merger of the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana region was decided upon. Telangana leaders insisted on a Gentlemen’s Agreement before the merger could take place. The agreement was signed by Andhra and Telangana leaders and provided safeguards with the purpose of preventing discrimination against Telangana by the Andhra leaders. However, violation of this agreement resulted in the 1969 statehood agitation. Many people, especially workers and students, joined this agitation which slowly grew with time.
Various high-level meetings were held on this issue. The movement continued till 1973 but was subsided later. A series of movements were held again in mid-1990s which eventually compelled the government to initiate the process of the statehood of Telangana.
Hope this was informative and helpful! Please mark brainliest! Have a good day!