Posts Tagged ‘kodandaram’
In order to not lose the momentum of their movement, TRS is working hard to gin up issue after issue till the Srikrishna Committee finishes its work. According to The Hindu August 20, 2010, KCR said that “…citizens all over the world enjoyed the right to celebrate the freedom of their homeland. But, people of Telangana alone were unlucky on this front. The Independence Day on August 15 was not a matter of celebration for them. On the contrary, they got their real independence from the clutches of Nizam's rule on September 17”.
In my view KCR and his TRS cohorts should grieve on September 17th and not celebrate.
In the modern history of Telugus there are three salient events- 1) Formation of Andhra State 2) Liberation of the Hyderabad State 3) Formation of Andhra Pradesh (Vishalandhra)
In my view all three should be celebrated, by one and all. However, no more government, bank, or school holidays- they wreak economic havoc on common man.
Andhra State was formed on October 1, 1953. The state came into existence, after a struggle that started in 1904 when Young Men's Literary Association was formed in Guntur. This organization transformed into Andhra Mahasabha. Father of the Andhra State movement Konda Venkatappayya fought hard for over three and a half decades for a state that will unite Telugus scattered across different regions. After the death of Amarajeevi Potti Sriramulu, Nehru conceded to the creation of Andhra State.
Now coming to the Hyderabad State, half of the state was made up of Telugu people, while Marathi, Kannada, and others constituted the remaining half. Initially Persian and later on Urdu became the official language of the state, despite Telugu being the most spoken language in the state. Telugu people were not even allowed to speak in their mother tongue in public forums. Telugus tired of discrimination under Nizam formed Andhra Mahasabha. Respectable figures like Madapati Hanumanth Rao, Survaram Pratap Reddy, Raavi Narayana Reddy led this organization. Later on the organization came to be dominated by Communists who have organized the peasants in an armed struggle against Nizam and his feudal lords, who have committed untold atrocities against civilians. Over 4,000 people died in that armed struggle and over 2,000 from the Nalgonda district alone. This movement shook the foundation of Nizam's rule. During this struggle against Nizam, friendly relationships developed between the Nizam Telugu districts and the Madras Telugu districts, which laid the seeds for a future Vishalandhra.
After India's independence from the Britishers, almost all the 600 odd princely states merged with either India or Pakistan, while Nizam toyed with the idea of staying independent. On September 13, 1948 Nehru ordered Operation Polo, which was one of the easiest wars Indian army ever undertook. Andhra Pradesh state came into existence on November 1st 1956 according to the desires of majority of the Telugu people of all the regions. Burugula Ramakrishna Rao sacrificed his CM position for Telugu unity.
Therefore, Andhra State formation on October 1st, Hyderabad State Liberation on September 17th, and formation of Andhra Pradesh on November 1st should be celebrated by all Telugus.
For current day separatists, millions of peasants that suffered under feudal atrocities under Nizam’s rule are not so material. It doesn’t matter that Hyderabad was built for elites, with the blood sucked from the poor farmers who had to endure 26 different kinds of taxes including taxes such as levy- which is what farmers had to pay irrespective of the output on the land, dispute tax to have a dispute settled between two parties, ash tax to cremate loved ones, war tax to finance the British in the 2nd world war. While Nizam ruled from Hyderabad and gave over 80% of the government jobs to Muslims, feudal lords reigned over rural areas running their own fiefdoms and fleecing poor peasants. Janna Reddy Pratap Reddy of Suryapeta owning 1.5 lakh acres of land, Kalluru Deshmukh of Khammam owning one lakh acres, Visunur Deshmukh owning forty thousand acres gives an idea of how dire the situation was. While Nizam derived approximately 8 crore rupees annual revenue, the feudal lords combined revenues were around 10 crore rupees. As a result of this robbing, Nizam became the richest man in the world with 27 palaces in 7 different countries.
However, separatists look at this past very differently.
TRS chief KCR at a public event on June 19th 2007 said “Asaf Jahi rule of Telangana is a golden era”. Responding to those that criticized him for praising Nizam, KCR on November 29, 2007 said that he would praise Nizam’s rule a thousand times. He said that during the Nizam rule, Muslim kings sent pearls to Lord Rama in Bhadrachalam and jewelry to Kanaka Durga in Vijayawada. He said that when there were floods in Musi, Nizam performed prayers according to Hindu rituals. KCR claimed that any development in Telangana was only because of the Nizams. Osmania University, the Medical College, the Nizam Sagar project, and the Nizam Sugar Factory were all results of Nizam’s benevolence.
There are several other intellectuals in the separatist camp that subscribe to this position. Prof. Kodandaram, the head of the JAC, wrote: “Before the merger with Andhra State, Telangana, which was part of the Hyderabad State, was doing well in terms of agricultural and industrial development.”
If Nizam’s rule was a golden era and if the region was doing economically well before Police Action, why does KCR and the separatists want to celebrate September 17th as a “Vimukthi Dinotsavam”? Shouldn’t they be grieving the end of Nizam’s glorious rule?
Save Andhra Pradesh!
Nalamotu Chakravarthy
http://www.myteluguroots.com
http://www.facebook.com/people/@/226703252445
http://twitter.com/nalamotu
http://www.amazon.com/My-Telugu-Roots-Telangana-Bhasmasura/dp/0984238603/
1) What is the source of 33 crore rupees shown as balance of funds?
I've scanned the copy of the news paper I have from from June 16th 1968:
http://www.myteluguroots.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/33-Crores-2.jpg (please download and view it in an image editor for better resolution)
2) Investments in Hyderabad from other regions
This should be welcomed. Every developed country welcomes those that want to establish businesses in their cities/states with open arms. Even A.P. welcomes investments from other states and countries.
3) Discrimination in irrigation projects
The most controversial aspect of the current separatist movement is canal irrigation. Despite the tens of thousands of crores that government invested in this area, since the formation of the state, our government succeeded in adding a mere 3.3 lakh hectares to canal irrigation as of 2006-07. Of these 3.3 lakh hectares, 1.6 lakh hectares are in Nizam Telangana, 1.3 in Kosta, and 39 thousand hectares in Seema. Now, compare that with the 14 lakh hectares brought under irrigation using tube-wells. Please note that I am not talking about ayacut area, as that does not mean much, because we can build all the canals we want, but if there is no water they are useless. We have a canal going through our lands in Nalgonda and we haven't seen a drop of water in it till today. I am talking about actual area under canal irrigation as published in the Statistical Abstract published by the government.
We can argue till the cows come home about how projects are favoring one region or the other. Bottom line, government failure in implementing projects is across the regions and the data does not support that one region was neglected at the expense of other. Also, the current separatist movement precedes Jalayagnam when TRS aligned with the Congress.
Lastly, I personally am not in favor of Polavaram as I think the investment doesn’t justify the returns it will yield. A large number of people are being displaced due to Polavaram. Also, there are credible scientists arguing that it will have the same silt problem that Sriramsagar is having- which is typical to Godavari basin. Lastly, if we build Polavaram, we will lose some of the Krishna water to other states as per Bachawat ruling.
If there is one lesson we can learn from 5 decades of mis-investments into irrigation, mega irrigation projects are a colossal failure in terms of return on investment. The best mode of irrigation is tanks and unfortunately they continue to deteriorate by day.
4) "Because, both the major rivers krishna and godavari flow through telangana, the region has the right to first utlize its share of water. This is the rule everywhere in the world".
No, this NOT an international norm. If Karnataka and Maharashtra adopt this logic, they can use all the river waters they want. Bachawat did extensive study on this subject. He studied both the American and the International models. The internationally accepted rule is “protection of existing uses”. In other words, if there is a project already built, you cannot take water from that project and give it to other projects. Karnataka has 43.7% of the Krsihna river catchment area, while our state has 29.4%. Despite it, Bachawat awarded 700 TMC to Karnataka and 800 TMC to Andhra Pradesh.
5) Potti Sriramulu
Amarajeevi’s fast was not for Madras. His death was the culmination of 50 years of Telugu’s struggle for a state. I delved into this in my book. Yes, people during his funeral shouted “Madras Manade’, but that is looking at the history through a narrow prism.
6) Raavi Narayan Reddy, Komaram Bheem and other legendaries not in history books
Rudrama Devi is a Telangana icon and can be found in all history books. I remember reading about Andhra Pitamaha Madapati Hanumanth Rao, Suravaram Pratap Reddy, Sarojani Naidu and others when in school. I haven't seen an objective study showing discrimination by region in history books. If that in fact is the case, let’s fight for it- separate state is not the solution. I personally am very fond of Raavi Narayan Reddy and believe that he should be cited prominently in our school books.
“Veera Telangana Naadhi, Veru Telangana Kaadhu”
- Raavi Narayan Reddy
Save Andhra Pradesh!
Nalamotu Chakravarthy
http://www.facebook.com/people/@/226703252445
http://www.amazon.com/My-Telugu-Roots-Telangana-Bhasmasura/dp/0984238603/
Professor Kodandaram is the Convener of the Joint Action Committee that is spearheading the current separatist movement. In his article titled “Telangana Marginalised” he claims that in Nizam’s
The undeniable truth is that we were a colony under Nizam who sucked the blood out of poor peasants. Four thousand men and women who lost their lives fighting Nizam are the reminders of that atrocious rule.
Sri Raavi Narayana Reddy, was one of the prominent leaders who led the peasants against Nizam. According to Sri Reddy, taxation in the
If this oppressive taxation was not enough, there was the system of vetti which was a form of slavery. Vetti wreaked havoc on the people of Nizam Telangana. Sri Puchalapally Sundarayya, who hailed from Kosta and fought for the peasants of Nizam Telangana, wrote: “The vetti system had made the life of the Telangana people one of utter degradation and of abject serfdom. It had ruined man’s self-respect completely….”
Sadly, Professor Kodandaram does not mind demonizing his fellow Telugus, yet he shows no hesitation to sugar-coat Nizam’s rule by saying that the region was doing well in agriculture and industrial development.
Let’s move on to the statistical data that the Professor offers as evidence of “colonization” of Nizam Telangana.
Professor Kodandaram wrote: “The irrigation policies illustrate the discrimination against Telangana…AP gave high priority to irrigation… As a consequence net irrigated area increased from 27.47 lakh hectares to 55 lakh hectares between 1955-56 and 2001-02.”
The gross area under irrigation in our state in 1956 was 32 lakh hectares. As of 2005-2006, that number stands at 60 lakh hectares. In other words, we brought 28 additional lakh hectares under irrigation. Out of these 28 lakh hectares, 15 lakhs are in the Nizam Telangana area, 10 lakh hectares in the Kosta area, and 3 lakh hectares in the Rayalaseema area.
Is this what Professor Kodandaram offers as evidence of discrimination?
Professor Kodandaram further wrote: “A lion’s share, 90 per cent, in the public expenditure on irrigation was allocated for major and medium irrigation and minor irrigation received only 10 per cent of the allocation. This policy has resulted in the decline of the minor irrigation particularly tank irrigation and consequently the net area under tank irrigation declined from 10.68 lakh hectares to 5.67 lakh hectares between 1955-56 and 2001-02. In contrast the net area irrigated by canals has gone up from 12.92 lakh hectares to 15 lakh hectares between 1955-56 and 2001-2002. The deterioration of the tank irrigation system has an adverse affect on Telangana more than the other regions because tanks have been the backbone of Telangana agriculture. Further, the loss of the area under the tank irrigation has not been compensated by allocation of river waters.”
Let us look at Canal irrigation first. In 1956, when the united state came into existence, we had 12.9 lakh hectares under canal irrigation. Despite all the government investments into canal irrigation, as of 2005-06 that number stands at 15.7 lakh hectares. In other words, we brought an additional 2.8 lakh hectares of land under canal irrigation. Of these 2.8 lakh hectares, 1.5 lakh hectares are in the Nizam Telangana area, about 70 thousand hectares in Kosta, and about 60 thousand hectares in Rayalaseema.
Is this what Professor Kodandaram offers as evidence of colonization?
Professor Kodandaram’s argument about abject neglect of tanks in the Nizam Telangana region and how farmers are relying on bore-wells are valid. However, let us not forget that the losses to the Rayalaseema region in tank irrigation are much steeper than Nizam Telangana. Ironically, half our state’s chief ministers hailed from Rayalaseema.
In 1956 Nizam Telangana had 4.5 lakh hectares under tank irrigation, and as of 2005-06 that stands at 2.5 lakh hectares, a 43% drop. In Rayalaseema at the time of state formation 1.6 lakh hectares were under tank irrigation and as of 2005-06, mere 81,000 acres is under tank irrigation- a drop of over 50%. So, were the chief ministers hailing from Rayalaseema discriminating against their own region?
Professor Kodandaram wrote: “Nearly 60 per cent of the net area irrigated under canals is located in these four districts and the balance 40 per cent is shared by the other 18 districts.”
The Professor conveniently forgets to mention one important fact. These four Kosta districts had all that area under canal irrigation for nearly 100 years before our state even came into existence. That is because of the Dowleswaram and
Professor Kodandaram wrote: “…If the (Gentlemen’s) agreement were to be seriously implemented all the schemes proposed by the
There is no verbiage in the Gentlemen’s agreement that indicates Nizam Telangana would get 1000 TMC of water. Lastly to Jalayagnam- doesn’t irrigation minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah hail from
In conclusion, we in Nizam Telangana should fight for every rightful drop of Krishna and
Save Andhra Pradesh!
Nalamotu Chakravarthy
http://www.facebook.com/people/@/226703252445
http://www.amazon.com/My-Telugu-Roots-Telangana-Bhasmasura/dp/0984238603/
