Mobilising necessary support

Employees in Telangana region felt a unified and amplified voice will help

Hyderabad: This article is in continuation to the last article focusing on the Jai Telangana Movement (1969-70), which is one of the important topics for the government recruitment examinations.

The ordinary people also started lending support to the movement for protection of safeguards promised in the Gentlemen’s Agreement. A huge procession was taken out in Nizamabad town under the leadership of Posetty, the president of Vidyarthi Parishad on January 10. Tension mounted in Khammam town and many more joined the hunger strike camp. Consequently, the mounting pressure from the people, the Kothagudem/Palwancha issue was settled in favour of the agitating employees. They succeeded in getting the reservation rule for mulkis implemented.

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But soon, some persons whose nativity was Andhra area approached the High Court challenging the mulki reservation rule. The High Court gave a verdict on June 3, 1969, that the local reservations rule was not applicable to corporations and autonomous bodies. With this verdict, the people who were active in the agitation, mainly the students and political personalities who were vigorously pursuing the cause of safeguards, came to a conclusion that justice was a mirage and Telangana would not get what was due to it in the State of Andhra Pradesh and demanding for separate Statehood for Telangana was the only genuine solution.

After the Kothagudem episode, the employees in Telangana region awoke to the reality that unless they demand with an amplified voice, the benefits promised in the Gentlemen’s Agreement, which was the basis for the formation of the Andhra Pradesh State, would not be delivered. The Khammam district employees took the initiative and toured the entire Telangana area to mobilise support for the safeguard movement. Thus, the first phase of the 1968-69 Telangana agitation was started by such groups whose only intention was demanding strict implementation of the safeguards promised in the Gentlemen’s Agreement.

Gradually, the movement spread to Hyderabad and Osmania University played an important role in it. A strike was organised by the Osmania University Student Association on January 15, 1969, in support of Ravindranath’s fast. Thousands of students took part in the agitation and often it took a violent turn, as the police forces resorted to lathi charge and firings, at Zaheerabad, Shamshabad, Palwancha, etc. The movement turned violent by various means of protests such as dharnas, strikes, agitations, physical attacks, destroying government assets, etc. Government offices and educational institutions were closed down.

The first student martyrs of Telangana movement were Shankar and Krishna of Sadashivapet. However, due to the changing circumstances, Ravindranath’s fast was withdrawn on January 23, 1969, but the movement was intensified. Subsequently, Osmania University became the main centre of the Telangana movement.

On January 19, 1969, an 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 1,000 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.

Justice Bhargava committee, headed by Justice Vashishtha Bhargava which looked into Telangana surpluses, found that Rs 283 million were diverted from Telangana to Andhra region between 1956 and 1968. Economist CH Hanumanth Rao further analysed the data from the committee report and concluded that for Telangana, cumulative surplus with interest during that period was Rs 1.174 billion. During this period, the revenue budget of the State grew from Rs 586 million in 1957 to Rs 2.04 billion in 1968.

To be continued…