Sorry if this was posted elsewhere.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Movement-launched-for-bifurcation-of-Tamil-Nadu/274722/
<!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->
Movement launched for bifurcation of Tamil Nadu
Agencies
Posted online: Tuesday , February 19, 2008 at 05:06:22
Updated: Tuesday , February 19, 2008 at 05:25:23
Print Email To Editor Post Comments
Chennai, February 19: Joining the growing chorus of demand for smaller states across the country, two-caste based parties in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday announced the launch of a movement to press for the bifurcation of the state for 'effective administrative' purpose.
The demand to divide the state into north Tamil Nadu and south Tamil Nadu along river Cauvery, which flows across the state, had been raised by leaders of the All India Moovendar Munnetra Kazhagam founder N Sethuraman and Vanniyar Peravai President A K Natarajan.
Talking to reporters in Chennai on Tuesday, they said the 'North and South Tamil Nadu Movement' would soon organise a consultative meeting in Chenai, in which leaders demanding separate states across the country would participate.
Campaigns would also be launched at grassroots level across the state to mobilise people's support for the bifurcation of Tamil Nadu, Sethuraman said.
He said demands for new states such as Telengana in Andhra Pradesh, Vidharbha in Maharashtra and trifurcation of Uttar Pradesh had gone down well with politicians in the country.
The leaders said the population explosion in Chennai, the state capital, had led to several difficulties like traffic congestion, drinking water shortage, environmental pollution and lack of space to live in the metropolis.
The fruits of globalisation and industrialisation had not been enjoyed by people of other parts of the state as major industries had been set up only in and around Chennai.
In order to ensure uniform distribution of economic growth and power and for effective administration, the state should be bifurcated, they stressed. Sethuraman also demanded the setting up of second state reorganisation committee. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd--><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Bihari politicans are worse than Raj Thackeray.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b> Bihar opposition hoots Governor of Maharashtra origin</b>
Fri, Feb 22 05:35 PM
Patna, Feb. 22 (ANI): Opposition leaders in the Bihar Assembly hooted Governor, R.S. Gavai, a Maharashtrian, during his customary inaugural address at the opening of the 40-day Assembly session on Thursday.
The Governor faced a tough time as the opposition shouted slogans such as "stop atrocities on Biharis" and demanded that Gavai be sent back to Maharashtra.
Gavai faced the opposition members' ire in the wake of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS)-related violence on Biharis in Mumbai because of their eastern and northern origin.
The Governor had to make a hasty exit from the Assembly, but took time off to tell the media that it was regrettable that his work was being targeted because of the ethnic row.Opposition leaders calling me Maharashtrian, I don't mind that, but they commenting on my work I do not appreciate that. But at the same time, I am not angry over this issue," said Gavai.
Raj Thackeray has been charged by the police for instigating hatred between communities through his vitriolic campaign against people from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar flocking to Maharashtra in search of jobs.
MNS activists recently went on a rampage in Mumbai and damaged vehicles, besides ransacking a cinema showing a regional language film.
The violence, in which a youth was killed in Nasik and several injured, prompted many migrants to flee Maharashtra.
Local authorities had to initiate a peace rally to calm North Indians living in the city.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Cong chickens coming home to roost now: TRS MPs quit Lok Sabha, accuse UPA of betrayal
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Accusing the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) of "betraying the people of Telangana", four Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) MPs on Monday submitted their resignations to protest the government's delay in creating a separate state for their region.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-Viren+Mar 3 2008, 05:45 PM-->QUOTE(Viren @ Mar 3 2008, 05:45 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->Cong chickens coming home to roost now: TRS MPs quit Lok Sabha, accuse UPA of betrayal
<!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Accusing the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) of "betraying the people of Telangana", four Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) MPs on Monday submitted their resignations to protest the government's delay in creating a separate state for their region.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
[right][snapback]79243[/snapback][/right]
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/jun/01trs.htm
The Telangana sentiment in Telangana region is such a minority there is no chance of Telangana formation after the latest bypoll results. Even their leader could scrape through the polls by just 15,000 votes. Congress and TDP are two strong contenders of the state power irrespective of the region. I hope the bullshit is over for the next elections. If there is a vote on real issues with clarity and not on divisive Telangana issues there is a chance for real winner.
BJP should learn lesson from this election and Karnataka election to build its base and not try to go on the wrong path. Karnataka and AP are similar in many aspects and if it can win in KT why not in AP?
From Deccan Chronicle, 25 June 2008
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->No justification for a separate Telangana
By Nitish Sengupta
No word of thanks is enough to express our gratitude to those voters of the Lok Sabha and Assembly constituencies in the Telangana districts of Andhra Pradesh who in the <b>recent byelections decisively rejected the Telangana Rashtra Samithi and the separatism that it stands for. It was almost a referendum, and people voted overwhelmingly to reject the separatist candidates. </b>
Andhra Pradesh is a state which has made impressive progress since <b>the 1956 reorganisation of states, which created a bigger state of Andhra Pradesh by merging the original Andhra (the Telugu-speaking districts of the undivided Madras Presidency) and the eight Telugu-speaking districts of the former Nizamâs dominions of Hyderabad. It may be recalled that the reorganisation of states in 1956 had abolished the Nizamâs Hyderabad by merging its Marathi-speaking districts with Maharashtra, Kannada-speaking districts with Karnataka and Telugu-speaking districts with Andhra Pradesh.</b>
While both the Marathi-speaking districts and Kannada-speaking districts accepted the new order gracefully, <b>some sections in the eight Telugu-speaking districts, earlier called the Telangana area, have been intermittently demanding a separate state of Telangana by dividing Andhra Pradesh. </b>This demand somehow received support from some national parties in the last General elections, and this resulted in the strengthening of the agitation for separate Telangana. The Telangana Rashtra Samithi joined the UPA government at the Centre and formed part of the government. The failure of the UPA government to concede their demand for a separate state led to their protest resignation last year, and thus necessitated these byelections, when they appealed to the people on the issue of a separate state of Telangana. The result has been a decisive "no" from the people. <b>Clearly, the majority of the people of these eight Telangana districts see much merit in remaining part of Andhra Pradesh and do not fancy the idea of a separate Telangana state.</b>
On no economic ground can Telangana be justified. <b>The city of Hyderabad has benefited enormously from being the capital of an enlarged Andhra Pradesh. The wealthier sections from coastal Andhra Pradesh have invested substantially in Hyderabad city, resulting in a prosperity which everyone can see. It is only a tiny minority which does not appreciate that the stopping of the steady flow of resources from coastal Andhra Pradesh to Hyderabad and the other districts in the Telangana area, which do not have much physical resources, will make Hyderabad suffer immensely. In the last few years it has become one of the new metropolitan cities of the country. It has one of the best international airports in India, and is also a major hub of railway traffic in the South. Interestingly, it is the only city outside the four metros where the United States is opening a consulate, thereby indicating how important it is in US perception. Earlier Iran had also opened a consulate there.</b>
Hyderabad has become the focal point of high-tech industries and a number of other industries like drugs and pharmaceuticals. <b>All this might come to a halt if a separate Telangana state is created. It will benefit only a small class of Telangana politicians who are hoping to gain ministerships in the new state.</b> But for ordinary people, whether in coastal Andhra or in the Telangana areas, the <b>creation of a separate Telangana can only be a retrograde development</b>.
The time has, therefore, come when the Centre should formally turn down the demand for a separate Telangana state. <b>The people of Telangana have given enough grounds by their recent voting behaviour. This amply indicates that while some of them might still outwardly make noises for Telangana for some time to come; in their heart of hearts they know that it is neither possible nor desirable.</b> There is a saying in Canada that a separate country of French-speaking Canada is neither possible nor desirable, but French-Canadians would like to keep this matter alive in order to gain maximum political advantage. Hopefully, the situation vis-Ã -vis Telangana can be compared to this.
<b>Except for Haryana, the creation of smaller states like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand has not been an unmixed blessing. With a much smaller number of MLAs to manage, these states have become easy grounds for horse-trading and manipulation, resulting in prolonged political uncertainty. Often political changes can be brought about by managing a handful of MLAs with money power and muscle power. This also affects economic growth.</b> If a separate Telangana comes up, there is every likelihood of such a scenario being repeated. All right-thinking people in Andhra Pradesh and elsewhere should, therefore, resist this. <b>Just because a small but vocal minority shout for smaller states like Telangana, Gorkhaland or Vidarbha, there is no reason to support such demands, ignoring the long-term political and economic interests of the nation.</b> They should be treated with the contempt they deserve. <b>Nor is there any case for constituting a second States Reorganisation Commission.</b>
Dr Nitish Sengupta, an academic and an author, is a former Member of Parliament and a former secretary to the government of India
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Yet the TDP split on this very issue! The root cause might be something else but Telengana provides a conveneint launching point for political ambitions from M Chenna Reddy onwards. There are some psychological factors of the residents of Telengana that have to be addressed for the problem ot go away. One factor is it is after centuries that Telugu people of Telengana have obtained self rule. Its from Kakatiya days to be exact. So there is a dhimmi factor and feeling of alienation and entitlement among the elite that is at the root cause.
<b>Muslims oppose formation of Telangana state</b>
29 Oct 2008, 1701 hrs IST, Kingshuk Nag, TNN
HYDERABAD: In a new twist to the vexed Telangana issue, Muslim politicians and organizations have now started opposing the formation of the new state. On Wednesday morning, a team of Muslim leaders from the Congress left for New Delhi to persuade the party leadership that the formation of a new state would jeopardize the interests of the minorities. The Majlis-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) - the main opposition party representing Muslims in Andhra Pradesh - had earlier expressed reservations about Telangana.
The development came after indications started reaching Hyderabad that the Congress leadership may be seriously thinking about taking a decision on Telangana and chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy was summoned to Delhi - for the second time in three days - to discuss Telangana matters. On Monday, Y S R Reddy had convinced Sonia Gandhi that a resolution in the Andhra Pradesh assembly agreeing in principle to the formation of a Telangana state would be enough to take care of the party's interest in the forthcoming elections but two days later obviously this is not being considered as going far enough.
"Y S R Reddy has told Madam that he would be able to deliver two-thirds of the Lok Sabha seats from Andhra Pradesh in the elections. Even though Madam felt this was an overestimate, she felt that YSR would be able to win half of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state," a top-level source told The Times of India.
The Congress's interests have been lately jeopardized by the support announced by the main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) to the Telangana cause on Gandhi Jayanti day. The TDP now wants to tie up with the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) - the estranged partner of the Congress - for the 2009 elections. The new interest taken by the Congress party headquarters is mainly because of this development which now threatens to adversely affect the party's prospects.
It is understood that the Muslim group that has now rushed to Delhi is selling the line that Hindutva elements would have a chance to entrench themselves in Telangana and therefore its formation must be opposed. As an indicator of the shape of things if a new state is formed, they cite the Vatoli incident of last fortnight in which a family of six Muslims was beaten and burned to death in a Telangana village. "That is why the BJP is so keen for a new state of Telangana" is what some Muslim leaders argue.
Speaking to TOI, Asaduddin Owaisi, the new boss of MIM said: "It is not that we are opposed to Telangana per se. If a new state is formed the tally of seats of our party in elections will go up. But we have to first ensure the safety and welfare of Muslims and other things such as the future of Urdu language. Will these be safe in Telangana is the issue," Owaisi added.
Analysts, however, feel that the "Muslim reluctance card" has been very smartly played by Y S R Reddy, who is opposed tooth and nail to the formation of the new state. "Finding himself isolated politically on this issue, the master politician that YSR is has played this masterstroke. The Congress, which strongly represents minority issues, cannot ignore their views," a political analyst said.
Even as the Muslims raise their opposition to a Telangana state, a minister in the Y S R Reddy cabinet, J C Diwaker Reddy, who belongs to the border Anantapur district has renewed an old demand made by him. He says that if the map of Andhra Pradesh is redrawn then Anantapur should be merged into neighbouring Karnataka. Anantapur is close to Bangalore and distant from Hyderabad. Issues about the future of Hyderabad are also expected to come up in the next few days.
Muslim leaders are now claiming to be opposed to Telangana but the irony is that the new state proposed is none other than the areas that were ruled by the Nizams of Hyderabad. The Muslim subjects of the Nizam were the staunchest supporters of the rule that stretched for two centuries and was by and large secular <b>(WHAT!!!)</b>. "In this situation it would appear strange that Muslims would oppose Telangana. But then a lot of water has flown down the Godavari since 1948, when the Nizam rule came to an end," an analyst said.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/article...0,prtpage-1.cms
Quote:17 statues of Andhra greats destroyed
Hyderabad, Mar 10 (PTI) They were towering symbols of Telugu glory and stood immortalised in the form of life-size bronze statues on the picturesque Tank Bund on Hussain Sagar in Hyderabad.
Statues they may be, but they had ''life'' in them.
Each one of them was a legend in his or her own right and contributed their might for enhancing and enriching the Telugu culture in varied forms over the ages.
But, this evening, 17 of the 33 statues adorning the Tank Bund, one of the most-famous tourist spots in the Andhra Pradesh capital city, were destroyed by Telangana supporters.
As many as 11 statues were, in fact, uprooted and dumped in Hussain Sagar lake by the protesters who stormed the Tank Bund road seeking statehood for Telangana.
The Tank Bund presents a gory sight now.
What should one say of Emperor Srikrishnadevaraya, who ruled the famous Vijayanagara empire 500 years ago? Annamacharya was the first Telugu ''vaaggeyakara'' who penned thousands of ''keertans'' glorifying Lord Venkateswara with deep devotion. Siddhendra Yogi was the founder of the world-famous Kuchipudi classical dance form more than 600 years ago.
While Kandukuri Veeresalingam Pantulu was a freedom fighter and social reformer, Gurazada Appa Rao was an acclaimed writer whose famous work Kanyasulkam itself was a legend in Telugu literature.
Yerrapragada was part of the triumvirate (Nannaya and Tikkana were the others) that translated the Mahabharata into Telugu.
Sir Arthur Cotton, a British national, was the darling of Telugu people''s hearts as he built barrages on rivers Godavari and Krishna that turned Andhra Pradesh into a rice bowl.
N T Rama Rao, himself a legend, conceived the idea and installed the 33 statues on Tank Bund when he was chief minister of Andhra Pradesh in his second term between 1984 and 1989. His main intention was to immortalise the lives of such legends and showcase them as an inspiration for future generations.
There were other luminaries like Palnati Brahma Naidu (a historic personality dated back to the Chola period), Raghupati Venkaiah (movies), Mutnuri Krishna Rao (journalist) and Tripuraneni Ramaswamy Choudary (reformer) whose statues too were destroyed today.
The statue of playwright and actor Ballari Raghava was also destroyed. Statues of Shalivahana, Nannaya, Yogi Vemana, Kshetraya, Sri Sri, Gurram Jashua and CR Reddy have been partly damaged and desecrated.
Incidentally, the statues of Suravaram Pratap Reddy, Rani Rudrama Devi, Molla, Maqdoom Moinuddin and a few others were not touched.
Expressing anguish over the vandalism, TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu held the Kiran Kumar Reddy government squarely responsible for it. Praja Rajyam Party president K Chiranjeevi also condemned the destruction of statues and said any protests should be organised in a peaceful manner.
http://news.in.msn.com/national/article....id=5018260
I never argued for one Telugu speaking state as that in itself is a subversive post British construct but this is rapidly taking on shades of Uddhav Thackeray's MNS, DMK and the Taliban.
|
