Irreconcilable differences – By Sheena Roy

sheena / Spotlight / / 19 Comments

The term Irreconcilable differences is used when significant differences exist between a married couple, and the differences are so great and beyond resolution as to make the marriage unworkable, and the law grants a divorce the couple.

The difference here, however is that only one party claims irremediable or irretrievable breakdown while the other says everything is fine the way it is and we should stay together. The impasse by itself is an irreconcilable difference in the path of clean de-merger or bifurcation of Telangana from Andhra Pradesh.

Typically in these cases, a no fault divorce is granted if both parties agree. In this case, Telangana claims the fault sorely lies with the Andhra and Seema rulers.

On the other hand, for the Andhra people, the bone of contention is not so much the divorce of TG, but the claim of joint property in Hyderabad. They claim that they invested 53 years in Hyderabad and they want Hyderabad to be a Union Territory, a free zone. Telangana people argue that greater than 400 years of history binds them to Hyderabad and since it lies in the middle of Telangana and can not be wrested from them at any cost.

The tug-of-rope between the two is causing a major headache for the U.P.A govt and becoming a classic catch-22 situation. If they go ahead and bifurcate the state, they may lose the vote of Costa and Seema districts. If they don’t, they will lose miserably in the Telangana districts. Added to all this is the fact that in the recent 2009 assembly elections, every single party in their manifestos promised to give Telangana state. When KCR the chief of TRS went through an indefinite fast, U.P.A govt quickly went into a huddle to avert a major riot in Telangana, came out and announced that it will start work on the bifurcation. But the hue and cry raised by the Costa and Seema leaders and the staged protests by the people left the govt aghast and scrambling to retract their statement in less than a week. This 180 degree turn by the politicians indeed took every one by surprise. Firstly the politicians never thought that their bluff would be called by the U.P.A. Govt and secondly they did not expect the ire of their constituents. Now, the central govt is confused and is dilly dallying the issue even as Telangana leaders threaten the govt with a deadline for Jan 28.

The differences continue to be raised and magnified in the mean time. The fight for political sovereignty, water rights, resource allocation, and administrative control have now gone beyond that, and the same people who used to co-exist peacefully are back biting and telling each other they are different in culture, language as well. They spar over how there was emasculation, belittling of their culture (mainly the Telanganites point the blame at Coastal/Seema people) They fling hundreds of reasons at each other why they should separate or not separate. No one listens or comprehends the other persons debates or arguments whether they are factual or made up, but the rebuttals come instantaneously. Telangana people claim that the Andhra dominated movie industry does not depict any locations from Telangana regions citing that it is always A for Amalapuram in Andhra but not A for Adilabad in Telangana or A for Ananthapur in Seema and B for Bheemavaram in Andhra and not B for Bonagiri in Nalgonda. The examples given are many saying that the hero always hails from Andhra, speaks with Andhra accent, and the Telangana guy ends up being the villain or comedian. The dubbing is all done in chaste Coastal accent and Telangana accent is laughed upon.

The Andhra people claim that Telangana leaders were the useless leaders and that they are more educated and more entrepreneurial while Telangana people are feudal and backward.

Telangana people accuse that Costa and Seema migrants to Hyderabad never integrated into the society but instead cocooned themselves in their expensive bungalows in Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills.

The biggest squabble is about the land grabbing/land mafia in the Greater Hyderabad. Telanganites point the figure at Mr. Naidu and Mr. Reddy the last two chief ministers who sold the govt and wakf lands at almost nothing to their kith and kin. Now those lands are worth in millions. Mr. Lagadapati, the son-in-law of a cabinet minister Upendra Parvathaneni’s worth is considered to be $1 Billion. The Lanco Hills property of Mr. Lagadapati lies in Manikonda that was alleged to have been grabbed illegally.

As the time progresses, it is getting worse and worse. Even people who were neutral before are taking a stance for or against Telangana.

Why is the division becoming so hard for the U.P.A govt when BJP successfully bifurcated three states in the recent past? What will happen on January 28? Will all the parties in Telangana come together and announce their resignations or will they squabble amongst themselves as usual and put aside the movement?

Will the Telangana Rashtra Samiti party be adjusting and be a consensus player? So far it has exhibited remarkable control considering that K. Chandra Shekhar Rao, a firebrand with a caustic and wayward tongue is at its helm. However, his daughter landed in trouble when she started telling the Telangana supporters to stop the movies by the unified Andhra Pradesh proponents. This irked some of the Greater Hyderabad elected representatives and some movie goers. The opinion was divided amongst the common man about the banning and blocking of the movie. The rift between TRS and Congress became apparent when Congress ministers Mukesh Goud, Danam Nagender clearly sided with their constituents who comprised mostly of Andhra and Seema migrants.TRS in turn accused them of appeasing the costa/seema sentiments.

Another silent spectator is Marri Shashidhar Reddy, who seemed to want to stay away from the mess. His father Marri Chenna Reddy is considered as a betrayer of Telangana by his peers belonging to Telangana Praja Samiti who defeated Congress in 1969 with thumping majority. TPS as it was known had a single item in its manifesto. ‘Bifurcation of Telangana from Andhra Pradesh’. After the election, Mr. Chenna Reddy was believed to have succumbed to Congress’s bribe, the chief minister post.

MIM, a Muslim political party won 7 seats in Hyderabad (old city) area. They fare extremely well amongst the 35 lakhs of Muslims in Hyderabad. They want a piece of the pie as well. Their main worry is that if Congress doesn’t give into the desires of the Telangana people, Congress may suffer an ignominious defeat in the elections and BJP may come to power. BJP, a party that favors Hindus raises fear and doubt in the Muslims.

That leaves TDP, Telugu Desam Party which is headed by Chandra babu Naidu, the ex chief minister of Andhra pradesh hailing from Andhra/Seema area who is said to have been a front runner in the Jai Andhra movement in the seventies. Although his party is divided vertically on the Telangana issue, majority of the Telanganites express doubts on the leadership. TDP has aspirations to be a national party, and is hoping that under Mr. Naidu it will have a stake in both the states.

Mega star, Chiranjeevi’s Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) has lost all its base in Telangana and became irrelevant in the struggle, since they have only one assemblyman from that region. Seeing the writing on the wall, Chiru as he is known moved his base to Costa and sided with the Samaikhya Andhra movement.

While the U.P.A govt considers its game plan, the chasm between the Andhra/Seema people within Hyderabad has become deeper and the tensions have become tauter. The talk in clubs, during the basketball, cricket games, in the kittie parties revolves around Telangana.

When hate is increasing between the two groups and neither is willing to back down, doesn’t it make more send and grant them a divorce on the grounds of irreconcilable differences?

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