New States - T Issue

History is full of ironies. The fight for separate statehood so as to gain identity, which is happening in Andhra Pradesh whereby as usual unscrupulous politicians are taking advantage of ignorance and thoughtlessness of ordinary people, is a mirror image of what happened 105 years ago in Bengal.

The partition of Bengal by British had a hidden agenda, of diving and ruling a state which was leading the voice of dissent and was getting more and more vociferous in its demand for a national identity, even though the justification was administrative convenience of smaller regions. The proposed partition idea bounced back as people of Bengal found their voices, rose united against the proposed division and was largely led by great intellectuals of the stature of Rabindranath Tagore and Sri Aurobindo Ghosh (later sage Aurobindo of Auroville in Puducherry). It was a mass movement against partition which also gave a fillip to the hitherto dormant nationalist movement called “swadeshi” movement, giving a call for boycotting all foreign goods and buying everything indigenously made.

However what do we see in the case of proposed Telengana? This is just opposite to anti partition movement, as it is pro-partition. Unlike people of Bengal who knew what they wanted, the Telegu population is divided and confused. Some of them sense immediate gains and are happy while others are apprehensive. The movement is not supported by masses as the political parties who advocated the idea got badly beaten in the last election. The movement is led by a so called leader who is unscrupulous to the core and who commands little or no respect. The movement was stage managed by various political parties who smelled big opportunities in the form of money and power but who nevertheless were not sure of the outcome. The haste with which the split decision was taken gives rise to suspicion that perhaps the entire incident was a grand theatrical performance and the face saving exit was provided to the unscrupulous leader. There is a tug of war for the city of Hyderabad and its rich resources.

The proposed division is not based on any ideology or even administrative reasons, but is perpetrated to leverage the perceived bias in resource allocation and consequent anger among largely ignorant populace, and to grab power and money and more power and more money.