“Oh, what a tangled web we weave… – By Sheena Roy

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“Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.” So said Sir Walter Scott.

“Deceit!” Cried the Telanganite. “We are once again Cheated” bellowed many a young men from Telangana. The fury on the road is visibly scorching. Effigies are burned, ministers convoys get attacked. The news channels broadcasted the angry tirades of the Telangana student JAC leaders. The Sree Krishna Committee’s terms of references elicited a violent and explosive reaction in many people, surprisingly from some of the Andhra and Seema people as well.

The clichéd expression of ‘Tangled web’ is entirely applicable to the UPA government that seemed to do nothing right in regard to Telangana. Did the UPA government really set out to cheat and deceive the Telangana people, or did it end up here because of Congress party’s incompetence?

Let’s tackle the machinations first. The accusations against congress party are many. Firstly, that they have succumbed to the money bags from Seemandhra businessmen and politicians. Secondly, there is speculation that Congress wants to demerge Telangana from A.P in time for Rahul Gandhi’s accession to the Prime Minister’s throne in 2014. Thirdly, Congress is scared of losing elections in Andhra and Seema areas if the division does happen.

Is it likely that there is tremendous influence of the Seemandhra MPs on the congress core committee in Delhi? Most emphatically yes. It has been very obvious from the beginning that Veerappa Moily, Ahmed Patel, and Pranab Mukherjee have been seen rubbing shoulders with YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, KVP Ramachander Rao, Lagadapati Rajagopal, T. Subbiram Reddy, Kavuri Sambashiva Rao, the five rich businessmen/politicians that have the most to lose if Telangana splits from Andhra Pradesh. There have been accusations that money changed hands, and this is done with the knowledge of Mrs. Sonia Gandhi and the congress high command. Whether the charges of corruption and bribery are true or not, the Telangana people lost their faith in getting justice from Congress.

What about Sonia’s aspirations to see her son becoming the PM in 2014? If this is really the intent of Congress, I am not sure if it is entirely thought out. It is highly unlikely that Congress would win the elections in Andhra and Seema areas in 2014 if the center caves in to the Telangana demands. The win in Telangana also is dicey, because the delay is going to give TRS and TDP the grounds to attack congress. They are not going to relent in the next three years. Congress is growing increasingly unpopular in Telangana as it delays the decision. Would it be better if Congress acts faster on the Telangana issue? It is possible that at least it will score big in Telangana area, and given three years to forget, it might not fare too badly in the opposing side. Right now, with the delay, both the voters, and the JAC is leaning on congress leaders to resign. It has become increasingly unsafe for the representatives and ministers to travel in their constituencies.

If you analyze the politics in Andhra and Seema area today, the following facts emerge. Chiranjeevi of Praja Rajyam is marginally popular in only two coastal districts. The powerful Kamma community supports the TDP almost exclusively. Jagan, son of YSR is threatening to break away from congress and start a new party in Andhra area if Congress goes ahead with the bifurcation.  But his popularity seems to be waning (or never existed) and he is seen as both inexperienced and not a suitable heir to his father. Since Congress is popular with the backward and scheduled castes as well as the minorities, it might even come slightly ahead of the three in 2014 as memories fade away in the next three years.

Is the Congress party intentionally deceiving Telangana person because of the reasons above? If this is indeed the case, then the web it weaved has become cumbersomely tangled. Is it more likely that the party is incompetent and has taken wrong steps from the beginning? Let’s view the sequence of things from Dec 9, 2009. First the union cabinet met to discuss KCR’s fast un-to-death for Telangana amidst rumors of his failing. All the eight parties from Andhra Pradesh came to a consensus and declared that they were not opposed to the separation of Telangana.  At midnight that day, the home minister Mr. Chidambaram announced on behalf of the cabinet that the process for Telangana would be started and appealed to KCR to end his fast. The announcement brought great joy to the pro-separatists but anger and sporadic protests in Andhra.  Although Chidambaram is accused of taking matter into his hands and that he has an ulterior motive of giving his home state Tamil Nadu an edge over Andhra Pradesh by splitting AP into two, this was a little far fetched. More than incompetence from the center, this looked like a deception of the Andhra and Seema leaders for agreeing to Telangana during the 2009 elections and then again around KCR fasting but now demanding a united Andhra.

The next steps that the center took on Dec 13 were more reactionary than well thought out. The announcement on Dec 13, took the process of Telangana backward. The Telangana people considered this retreat a deception. It was a conciliatory step toward Seema-andhra, but shouldn’t the government stand by what is right? The agitations continued with gusto in Telangana ever since the retracing by the center. Despite the Andhra media controlling the news of the grass root level movement, the Telangana people showed their extreme displeasure by their innovative methods. All men, women, child, community, educational, and professional organizations participated with fasts, and sit-ins. Students organized and conducted massive protests and convened in hundreds of thousands in the seven universities in Telangana region. Medicos, lawyers participated in hunger strikes. Almost half a million people partook in a human chain across 500 KMs. Music shows, strikes, bandhs, cooking on the streets, classes on the street, you name it, the Telangana person engaged in it. But the center paid no attention to it. This is gross negligence and incompetence. Instead they brought in a new governor citing the presence of Naxalites, the maoist extremists in Telagana region and their infiltration into the student movement.

If the center is turning a blind eye to protests, then should it not pay more attention to what’s happening to the losses to business in Andhra Pradesh and how it is affecting India? Every time a bandh happens in Hyderabad, the losses incurred by the state and center increase. What is important for the rulers in Delhi, the economic health of India as a whole, or it’s own self-preservation?

What is it really hoping to achieve with one more committee, has not the case for Telangana been made repeatedly in the past fifty-three years? It is inconceivable that the center does not know that the people of Telangana feel discriminated and have been at a disadvantage?  Is it not public knowledge that inequalities exist in the areas of political power, jobs, irrigation projects, urban land allocations, monopolization of government contracts in favor of the Seemandhra businessmen? The center wants to ignore all this – this is both deception and incompetence.

Telangana was blindsided yet again, after Dec 9 announcement they had their hopes high.  They hoped that the Sri Krishna committee would be tasked to develop a roadmap to divide the state but the committee’s terms of reference include united Andhra Pradesh State option. Whether it is their naivety or stupidity, it doesn’t matter. Now the agitations will continue for another ten months (The SKK committee deadline is December 2010), more suicides will occur in Telangana, businesses will suffer, and student education will be in limbo land.  The disenfranchised and frustrated Telangana youth who has so far protested peacefully might turn violent – I sincerely hope not. One year of economic downturn, and persistent agitations will definitely make India as a whole a loser and give advantage to China. At the end of the day Congress will be a loser all right, tangled in it’s own web of self-deception.

Visit the author’s blog at:

http://sheenaroy.wordpress.com/2010/02/13/oh-what-a-tangled-web-we-weave%E2%80%A6-2/

http://sheenaroy.wordpress.com/

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