About Telangana

TELANGANA

1. 1969 Telangana Agitation
2. 15 facts you need to know about Telangana
3. From 1948 to 2013

1. 1969 Telangana Agitation

1969 Telangana Agitation was a political movement for the statehood for Telangana region. It is a major event in Telangana movement. In the indiscriminate police firing, 369 students belonging to Telangana were killed.

History and Background

Map of India with the Telangana region highlighted in red

In December 1953, the States Reorganization Commission was appointed to prepare for the creation of states on linguistic lines. The commission, due to public demand, recommended disintegration of Hyderabad state and to merge Marathi speaking region with Bombay state and Kannada speaking region with Mysore state. The States Reorganisation Commission (SRC) discussed the pros and cons of a merger between Telugu speaking Telangana region of Hyderabad state and Andhra state. Para 374 of the SRC report said "The creation of Vishalandhra is an ideal to which numerous individuals and public bodies, both in Andhra and Telangana, have been passionately attached over a long period of time, and unless there are strong reasons to the contrary, this sentiment is entitled to consideration". Discussing the case of Telangana, para 378 of the SRC report said "One of the principal causes of opposition of Vishalandhra also seems to be the apprehension felt by the educationally backward people of Telangana that they may be swamped and exploited by the more advanced people of the coastal areas." In its final analysis SRC recommended against the immediate merger. In para 386 it said "After taking all these factors into consideration we have come to the conclusions that it will be in the interests of Andhra as well as Telangana, if for the present, the Telangana area is to constitute into a separate State, which may be known as the Hyderabad State with provision for its unification with Andhra after the general elections likely to be held in or about 1961 if by a two thirds majority the legislature of the residuary Hyderabad State expresses itself in favor of such unification."

After going through the recommendations of the SRC, the then Home Minister Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant decided to merge Andhra state and Telangana to form Andhra Pradesh state on 1 November 1956 after providing safeguards to Telangana in the form of Gentlemen's agreement.

January–April 1969

In the years after the formation of Andhra Pradesh state, people of Telangana expressed dissatisfaction over how the agreements and guarantees were implemented. Discontent intensified in January, when the guarantees that had been agreed on were supposed to lapse. All the Andhra employees who migrated to capital city in 1956 will be considered 'local' in 1969 after 12 years of residence per mulki rules. Student agitation for the continuation of the agreement began at Palvancha in Khammam district and spread to other parts of the region. One section of students (which appeared dominant) wanted a separate state of Telangana while the other wanted implementation of safeguards.
On 19 January, all party accord was reached to ensure the proper implementation of Telangana safeguards. Accord's main points were

1. All non-Telangana employees holding posts reserved for Telangana locals will be transferred immediately
2. Telangana surpluses will be used for Telangana development
3. Appeal to Telangana students to call off agitation.

On January 23, protests turned violent when a crowd of about 1000 agitators tried to set fire to a Sub-Inspector's residence. This resulted in police firing in which 17 people were injured who were admitted to various hospitals. Meanwhile certain Andhra employees challenged the transfer orders promised by the all party accord, by filing a petition in the AP high court. On January 29, Army was called in by the government to maintain law & order as the Agitation quickly turned violent. In February, Mulki rules (local jobs for local people), as promised in Gentleman's agreement, were declared by high court as void but this judgement was stayed by divisional bench of high court. Quoting statistics of development in Telangana area over the last 12 years, the chief minister maintained the state of the Andhra Pradesh was "irreversible" and made an appeal to people to help maintain unity & integrity. Protests continued in March, and a bundh turned violent when protestors burnt buses.

In April, protestors tried to disrupt a meeting of CPI (which was opposed to the division of the state) by indulging in stone-pelting. Police had to resort to live firing after their attempts to control the crowd by lathi-charge & firing in the air didn't yield results. In the ensuing firing, 3 people were killed and several injured. Around 354 arrests were made related to various arson incidents during the agitation. Then Prime minister Indira Gandhi called for a high-level meeting to discuss the issue while ruling out the division of the state. After several days of talks with leaders of both regions, on 12 April 1969, Prime minister came up with Eight point plan.

Eight point plan

After several days of talks with leaders of both regions, on 12 April 1969, Prime minister came up with Eight point plan.

Eight point plan: This plan includes appointment of Five committees:

1. High-powered committee would be set up to determine financial surpluses to Telangana
2. Telangana development committee
3. Plan implementation committee
4. Committee of jurists to be consulted on safeguards
5. Committees to look into grievances of public servants

Telangana leaders were not satisfied with the accord.

Government spending diversion

Justice Bhargava committee which looked into Telangana surpluses, found that 283 million rupees diverted from Telangana to Andhra region between 1956 and 1968. Economist C H Hanumanth Rao further analyzed the data from the committee report and concluded that for Telangana, cumulative surplus with interest during that period was 1.174 Billion rupees. During this period, the revenue budget of the state grew from 586 million rupees in 1957 to 2.04 billion rupees in 1968.

Government employees and opposition members of the state legislative assembly threatened "direct action" in support of the students. Purushotham Rao was for outright separation, and he supported the student views. He unveiled a map of Telangana in the state assembly.

Chenna Reddy and Telangana Praja Samithi

Although the Congress faced some dissension within its ranks, its leadership stood against additional linguistic states. As a result, defectors from the Congress, led by M. Chenna Reddy, founded the Telangana Praja Samithi (TPS) political party in 1969 which intensified the movement. In June, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi came to Hyderabad to discuss the issue with Telangana leaders. Telangana employee unions started strike on June 10 supporting Telangana movement. Major leaders of the movement were jailed in July and released in August upon court's intervention. With the success of bye elections, TPS become full-fledged political party. Due to Congress party's refusal of formation of Telangana state, TPS decided to contest Parliamentary election alone even though Congress party tried to become electoral ally. In the May 1971 parliamentary elections, Telangana Praja Samithi won 10 out the 14 Parliament seats in Telangana. Despite these electoral successes, some of the new party leaders gave up their agitation in September 1971 after realizing that the Prime Minister was not inclined to towards a separate state of Telangana, and rejoined the safer political haven of the Congress ranks. In a book written by then Secretary of External Affairs, T.N. Kaul and published in 1982, he mentioned that in 1969 Prime minister Indira Gandhi wanted to commence the process of formation of a separate state for Telangana by instructing Sri P.N. Haksur, her senior secretary in the PMO, but she had to withdraw at the last minute due to intervention by Kaul who dissuaded her from it by reminding that Hyderabad’s case was pending in the Security Council. United Nations dropped the Hyderabad’s case on 2 September 1979.

During this period, the Government promised to correct what critics saw as a violation of the promises of the Gentleman's agreement in the areas of jobs, budget allocations, and educational facilities. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was strongly against the division of the state, but on her recommendation, P. V. Narasimha Rao became the first Chief minister of Andhra Pradesh from Telangana on 30 September 1971.

In 1972, candidates of the Telangana Praja Samithi party contested all the available seats for the assembly elections. However, only Thakkalapalli Purushothama Rao got elected, from Wardhannapet constituency in Warangal District.

Memorial

A memorial called Gun Park was built near Public Gardens, Hyderabad to commemorate students who lost their lives in the struggles of 1969. 369 people died during this agitation, most of them were students and were killed in police firing.

2. AGITATION OF TELANGANA

People's Strike for Telangana in 1969

In 1969, Telangana NGO's ,Teachers and Amos and also people from the various departments are involved in the Strike and they had strike notice for the separate Telangana State and it was continued till 38 days and in 1969 Telangana movement near about 369 people are died in Police firing.

In the years after the formation of Andhra Pradesh state, people of Telangana expressed dissatisfaction over how the agreements and guarantees were implemented. Discontent with the 1956 Gentleman's agreement intensified in January 1969, when the guarantees that had been agreed on were supposed to lapse. All the Andhra employees who migrated to capital city in 1956 will become local in 1969 after 12years of residence per mulki rules. Student agitation for the continuation of the agreement began at Khammam and spread to other parts of the region. One section of students (which appeared dominant) want separate state other want implementation of safeguards. On 19 January 1969, all party accord was reached to ensure the proper implementation of Telangana safeguards.

Accord's main points are

1) All non-Telangana employees holding posts reserved for Telangana locals will be transferred immediately.

2) Telangana surpluses will be used for Telangana development.

3) Appeal to Telangana students to call off agitation. Police firing and deaths of protesters further escalated situation.

 Meanwhile transfers of Andhra employees, as promised in all party accord, were challenged in court. Agitation quickly turned violent and by 29 January army had to called in. In February, Mulki rules (local jobs for local people), as promised in Gentleman's agreement, were declared by high court as void but this judgment was stayed by divisional bench of high court. Chief Minister ruled out Telangana state and appealed for peace. But protests continued and movement turns violent and people continued to get killed in police firing. Despite the intensity of movement, Prime minister rules out the division of the state. After several days of talks with leaders of both regions, on 12 April 1969, Prime minister came up with Eight point plan.

This plan includes appointment of Five committees ; 

1) High powered committee would be setup to determine financial surpluses to Telangana.

2) Telangana development committee

3) Plan implementation committee

4) Committee of jurists to be consulted on safeguards

5) Committees to look into grievances of public servants.

Telangana leaders were not satisfied with the accord. Protests continued under the leadership of newly formed political party Telangana Praja Samithi asking for the formation of Telangana and people continued to get killed in police firing.

Justice Bhargava committee which looked into Telangana surpluses, found that 283million rupees diverted from Telangana to Andhra region between 1956 and 1968. Economist C H Hanumanth Rao further analyzed the data from the committee report and concluded that actual diversion of fund is 1.174 Billion rupees. This is huge amount considering revenue of Andhra Pradesh was 209 million rupees in 1957-58.

Government employees and opposition members of the state legislative assembly threatened "direct action" in support of the students. Purushotham Rao was for outright separation, and he supported the student views. He unveiled a map of Telangana in the state assembly. A memorial called Gun Park was built near Public Gardens, Hyderabad to commemorate students who lost their lives in the struggles of 1969.

Although the Congress faced some dissension within its ranks, its leadership stood against additional linguistic states. As a result, defectors from the Congress, led by M. Chenna Reddy, founded the Telangana Praja Samithi political party in 1969. In the May 1971 parliamentary elections, Telangana Praja Samithi won 10 out the 14 Parliament seats in Telangana. Despite these electoral successes, some of the new party leaders gave up their agitation in September 1971 after realizing that the Prime Minister was not inclined to towards a separate state of Telangana, and rejoined the safer political haven of the Congress ranks.

During this period, the Government promised to correct what critics saw as a violation of the promises of the Gentleman's agreement in the areas of jobs, budget allocations, and educational facilities. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was strongly against the division of the state, but on her recommendation, P. V. Narasimha Rao became the first Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh from Telangana on 30 September 1971.

3. From 1948 to 2013: A brief history of the Telangana movement

Hyderabad: Below is the brief history of Andhra Pradesh and chronology of the movement for Telangana state:

* The region, now being called Telangana, was part of the erstwhile Hyderabad state which was merged into the Indian Union on 17 September, 1948.

* Central government appointed a civil servant, M K Vellodi, as the first Chief Minister of Hyderabad state on 26 January 1950. In 1952, Burgula Ramakrishna Rao was elected as a Chief Minister of Hyderabad state in the first democratic election.

Students of Osmania University celebrate the formation of Telangana. AFP

* Andhra was the first state to be carved out (from erstwhile Madras state) on linguistic basis on 1st November, 1953. It had Kurnool town (in Rayalaseema region) as its capital after the death of Potti Sriramulu who sat on a 53-day fast-unto-death demanding the new state.

* The proposal for amalgamation of Hyderabad state with Andhra state came up in 1953 and the then Chief Minister of Hyderabad state, Burgula Ramakrishna Rao, supported the Congress central leadership’s decision in this regard though there was opposition in Telangana region.

* Accepting the merger proposal, Andhra assembly passed a resolution on November 25, 1955 promising to safeguard the interests of Telangana.

* An agreement was reached between Telangana leaders and Andhra leaders on February 20, 1956 to merge Telangana and Andhra with promises to safeguard Telangana's interests. A “Gentlemen’s Agreement” was then signed by Bezawada Gopala Reddy and Burgula Ramakrishna Rao to the effect.

* Eventually, under the States Re-organisation Act, Telugu-speaking areas of Hyderabad state were merged with Andhra state, giving birth to the state of Andhra Pradesh on 1 November, 1956.

* The city of Hyderabad, the then capital of Hyderabad state, was made the capital of Andhra Pradesh state.

* In 1969, an agitation began in Telangana region as people protested the failure to implement the Gentlemen’s Agreement and other safeguards properly.

* Marri Channa Reddy launched the Telangana Praja Samiti espousing the cause of a separate state. The agitation intensified and turned violent with students in the forefront of the struggle and about 300 of them were killed in violence and police firing that ensued.

* Following several rounds of talks with leaders of the two regions, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi came up with an eight-point plan on April 12, 1969. Telangana leaders rejected the plan and protests continued under the aegis of Telangana Praja Samiti.

* In 1972, Jai Andhra movement started in Andhra-Rayalaseema regions as a counter to Telangana struggle.

* On September 21, 1973, a political settlement was reached with the Centre and a 6-point formula put in place to placate people of the two regions.

* In 1985, employees from Telangana region cried foul over appointments in government departments and complained about ‘injustice’ done to people of the region.

The then Telugu Desam Party government, headed by N T Rama Rao, brought out a Government Order to safeguard the interests of Telangana people in government employment.

* Till 1999, there was no demand from any quarters for division of the state on regional lines.

* In 1999, Congress demanded creation of Telangana state. Congress was then smarting under crushing defeats in successive elections to the state Assembly and Parliament with the ruling Telugu Desam Party in an unassailable position.

* Yet another chapter opened in the struggle for Telangana when Kalvakuntla Chandrasekhar Rao, who was seething over denial of Cabinet berth in the Chandrababu Naidu government, walked out of TDP and launched Telangana Rashtra Samiti on 27 April, 2001.

* Following pressure applied by Telangana Congress leaders, the Central Working Committee of Congress in 2001 sent a resolution to the then NDA government seeking constitution of a second States Re-organisation Commission to look into Telangana state demand, which was rejected by the then Union Home Minister L K Advani saying smaller states were “neither viable nor conducive” to integrity of the country.

* TRS started gradually building the movement for a separate state.

* Congress forged an electoral alliance with TRS by promising to create Telangana state.

Congress came to power in 2004, both in the state and at the Centre, and TRS became part of the coalition governments at both places.

*** Protesting delay in carving out the separate state, TRS quit the coalition governments in the state and at the Centre in December 2006 and continued an independent fight.

* In October 2008, TDP changed its stance and declared support for bifurcation of the state.

* TRS launched an indefinite hunger-strike on 29 November, 2009 demanding creation of Telangana. The Centre budged and came out with an announcement on 9 December, 2009 that it was "initiating the process for formation of Telangana state".

* But the Centre announced on 23 December, 2009 that it was putting Telangana issue on hold. This fanned protests across Telangana with some students ending their lives for a separate state.

The Centre then constituted a five-member Committee on 3 February, 2010, headed by former judge Srikrishna, to look into statehood demand. The Committee submitted its report to the Centre on 30 December, 2010.

* Telagana region witnessed a series of agitations like the Million March, Chalo Assembly and Sakalajanula Samme (general strike) in 2011-12 while MLAs belonging to different parties quit from the House.

* With its MPs from Telangana upping the ante, Congress made Union Home Ministry to convene an all-party meeting on December 28, 2012 to find an “amicable solution” to the crisis.