‘I am willing to go hungry but my children should not live in the same condition… a separate state will provide economic security’

Ever since she joined the agitations for a separate state,Mallava is staking everything for the sake of her two sons,Santosh who is in Class XII and Mahendra in Class XI. “When they complete college education,I don’t want them to join the growing number of unemployed graduates. I don’t want them to seethe with anger that all government jobs and business opportunities are being grabbed by people from other regions. If we have our own state,it will create new jobs for the people of Telangana,my sons will have respectable government jobs,” she says.

As she speaks,60-year-old Ilaini Pochaiah parks his cart of corn nearby. “Jai Telangana” he says with a toothless smile. “I have no dependents,neither do I depend on anyone. But I want Telangana,” he says.

Across the highway,an earthen hearth fires up at a roadside dhaba. Madhu Reddy,the burly owner,looks askance at us. “Why do you want to know what is the mood in Telangana about the demand for a separate state? If you have any doubts,you will soon find that we have only become more passionate and resolved to have our own state,” a worked up Reddy says. Pointing to the hearth,he says,“That fire cannot be put off by the police or scheming politicians. It will be put out by us when we have a separate state.”

Siddipet in Medak district is at the threshold of turning into a well-developed town. It is also the place where K Chandrasekhara Rao sowed the seed of a renewed Telangana movement before he launched Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) in 2000,and in the 2004 elections won 26 Assembly seats.

With the second highest number of rice mills in the state,150,72 oil mills,200 poultry farms,and assorted businesses,one would think that Siddipet should be content being a part of the state’s economic success.

“You are mistaken,” bluntly says T Harikrishna at his rice mill,a few kilometres away on the Warangal highway. “A few pockets of semi-developed places don’t define Telangana. It continues to remain a socially and economically backward belt. I have everything I need,but I still feel that as a separate state,this region will develop much better and provide a decent living for everyone.”

As one drives past sunflower fields towards Warangal,one realises that for hundreds of kilometres there is not even a single industry,the trappings of a developed state such as Andhra are nowhere visible. Except for road infrastructure there is little else here. Near Gopalpet bus stop,C Hemant,a public health official,is waiting for any kind of transport that will take him to Hanamkonda. “On a good day you may get a bus or a shared autorickshaw. Sometimes you have to stand for more than an hour or request a ride from passing cars. This highway goes to Warangal,one of the most important cities in Telangana. But there is very little improvement in public transport. You won’t even find fuel outlets or a decent eatery for more than 90 km,” he says.

Huzurabad . 12 noon

We take a detour into Huzurabad that is known for its highly evolved women self-help groups (SHGs),who have mastered rural micro financing,and immediately run into them at the town square. Huzurabad represents women power. But today,they have got together to show their solidarity to the students of Osmania University who are agitating for a separate state. But instead of fiery speeches and noisy demonstrations,they form a circle and,with a revolutionary folk song on their lips,go around in a light dance. Goaded by their husbands some of them carrying children in their arms,the women brave the afternoon sun.

Sandwiched between two burgeoning cities — Karimnagar and Warangal — Huzurabad is on the Hyderabad-Nagpur highway. The town developed as an educational hub for students who could not get admissions in Karimnagar or Warangal. Though private educational institutions have come at a rapid pace like the Kamala Institute of Technology and Science,government-sponsored development like creation of civic infrastructure lags far behind. But the town and its surrounding villages are better known for the entrepreneurial and organisational skills of women. In 2005,32 women successfully launched a jute bag manufacturing unit after training for 21 days in Kolkata. Looking at their enterprise,the state government sanctioned loans of up to Rs 1 lakh,which they started repaying from the money they earned by making jute bags. Later,they diversified into screen printing techniques. Some of the most successful self-help groups are in Huzurabad. But unemployment and lack of development has left it far behind.

“We want equal development in Telangana. Look at the towns in Andhra,they have all facilities and infrastructure. Why don’t Telangana areas receive such attention? It is a foregone conclusion that we are all united in our demand for a separate state,and what is happening in Hyderabad only increases our resolve. When the time comes we women won’t hesitate to take up arms if necessary to fight for our state,” says Sandhya Kumari,head of Venela Mahila Group.

About 45 heads of SHGs gather at the town square,and as word spread,almost the entire town makes its way there,on foot and two-wheelers,and they stand united for their cause alongside the women. They had invited the local TRS MLA Etala Rajender. He hasn’t turned up for the fear of being insulted by the women for not doing much for the cause,the women say. An old lady carries her grandson into the centre of the circle and claims,“After me,this boy will fight for Telangana” and the crowd surges forward with chants of ‘Jai Telangana’.

“Many people feel that since the TRS is not doing well,it means that there is no sentiment for a separate Telangana. They are mistaken. It is people’s movement that started in the 1960s and not a political movement. Politicians have joined the movement and gone. KCR is just one spoke in the wheel,no doubt he provided the trigger this time,” emphasises Pavan Kumar,a retired principal of the Huzurabad Degree College.

Yadagirigutta . 2 pm

“When will they give us Telangana and when will these agitations end?” mutters Anjeneya under his breath at his roadside tea stall on Yadagirigutta Road,Nalgonda. Nalgonda,which has emerged from the throes of Naxalites after more than two decades,leans heavily towards the Left. The separate state sentiment has not caught on so much in the district. “No one I have spoken to has been able to explain to me clearly what benefit we are going to get out of a separate state. Will a few lakh government jobs solve our purpose? I think creating separate states don’t solve regional imbalances. Nalgonda is one of the most backward regions in Telangana,still I feel we should pressurise the government to bring development here rather than pressing for a separate state,” opines P Suryanarayana,a former coal miner.

A few kilometres away,repeat visuals of police caning students at the Osmania University catch the attention of a few youths waiting at the Rural Livestock Support Centre. If they were divided over the call for a separate state earlier,they close ranks as soon as reports of police lathicharge or MLAs and ministers withdrawing their resignations trickle in. “No one is going to fight for us. We have to do it ourselves,” Vijay Kumar says.

Warangal . 4 pm

On December 11,2008,when three youths threw acid on two girls,Warangal rose in unison demanding an eye for an eye. Two days later,the police shot all the three youths dead in an alleged encounter that did not raise any eyebrows here. The city is far away from Hyderabad,the epicentre of the agitation,but the mood,especially among the students,is like a raging wild fire that threatens to consume everything that may stand in their way.

The Kakatiya University,which produced stalwarts of the Naxalite movement,has now turned into the nerve centre of the Telangana movement. At the university’s common mess,students leave their lunch to join a heated debate on the benefits of a separate state. Any suggestion that Telangana is better off being a part of Andhra Pradesh is met with angry glares. “People of Andhra know only how to grab power and money. They have exploited us. Godavari flows for the better part through Telangana,69 per cent of the catchment is in the region,but they built a dam in Andhra and 90 per cent of water goes there. We have been denied our share of water by successive governments. How long do you expect us to forgive this?” asks Prasad Rao,convenor of the students association of Telangana.

Armed with statistics of the alleged bias and neglect,students have started a relay hunger strike since one month. “Every student of the university comes and participates in the hunger strike at least for one day. That is the spirit here. We have prepared charts and notes on the exploitation of Telangana. Whether the political class supports us or not,we will take this fight to the finish now,” says Gopal,a member of the Joint Action Committee on Telangana.

“There are 15 lakh jobs in government and departments that receive government grants. Based on Telangana’s population at least 6 lakh people from the region should have got the jobs. But it is less than 3 lakh. Of the 5,000 employees in the state secretariat less than 10 per cent are from Telangana. There is not a single industry in the region worth mentioning if you leave aside Hyderabad. We don’t see any future for ourselves in such a situation in spite of getting the best degrees. This has to change,” he says.

Passing through the city one finds that almost every vehicle owner has replaced ‘AP’ with ‘TG’ in the registration number plate. Though it is illegal,the traffic police don’t dare stop them,apprehensive of sparking off an agitation. Overnight,shopkeepers have renamed their shops adding the word Telangana which protects them from being attacked even if they are open during the bandh.

“Unlike in the past,the agitation started by students of Osmania University and KCR’s fast before that are well publicised events on television news channels. It has created a lot of awareness and mass hysteria,everyone knows what is happening in Hyderabad and other parts of Telangana. It has become a sentimental issue because every student suicide is being attributed to Telangana,” observes Keerti Reddy,an advocate having tea outside the court premises.

The Kakatiya Canal looks like a drain. It was supposed to serve the irrigation requirements of Warangal,Adilabad and Karimangar,but the dry concrete bed now serves as a cricket or football pitch for boys.

Indiranagar village,Karimnagar . 6 pm

The family members of Akula Rajaiah gather around his cot outside their small house as they discuss what to do about their daily water problem. His wrinkled face lights up when he sees a media person. “You have come at the right time,please highlight our drinking water problems,” he says.

Karimnagar is one of Telangana’s most backward districts with 80 per cent of the population dependent on agriculture. Ask what he thinks about the Telangana issue and there is momentary hush. While Rajaiah remains silent,the barrage comes from the women. “If we have our state,many of our problems will be solved. Andhra people are taking away our water,jobs,and land. They are prospering while our condition hasn’t changed since decades,” Lakshmamma,the joint family’s fiery lady,says. As they sort red chillies that have been kept out for drying,the discussion veers towards Rajesh,an Arts graduate,who works in nearby fields.

“Look at him. He is not supposed to be doing this kind of work,but he is forced to do it because someone from the other region has taken away his job. We want Telangana so that these inequalities and bias towards us end,” Kankamma,who joins from the adjoining house,says.

“We watch news channels and know what is happening in the state. The bias towards Telangana is true. People say we are not competent and that is why we don’t get government jobs,but actually we don’t have the kind of political backing that people from Andhra and Rayalaseema have and that is why are elbowed out of every competition,” says Radhakrishna,an electrician.