With the long-cherished dream of statehood for the region fast transforming into reality, supporters of Telangana are understandably euphoric. The immense possibilities that the emerging state is bound to offer has become the most widely discussed topic amid all strata of society.
The masses, long subject to suppression at the hands of an overtly anti-Telangana administration, look forward to the day when they will finally be acknowledged as stakeholders and not mere subjects in their own land.
However, the protracted struggle against Andhra hegemony has led to the rise of a detrimental emotion that demands Telangana at all costs. The fact that this desperation is culminating in a flawed birth seems to have escaped the attention of the leadership. It is not difficult to envision a time in the near future when the nascent state is faced with the prospect of a shattering of the collective dream, for no resolution of the Telangana imbroglio can be considered comprehensive without absolute control over Hyderabad being vested in the democratically elected government of the region.
The present solution proffered by the Union government aims at retaining control over the city through a common governor for the bifurcated states. Though obliged to consult the council of ministers of Telangana, the gubernatorial nominee will have absolute power to exercise individual judgment with regards to the discharge of his “special responsibility” in matters relating to law and order. For the people of Hyderabad, long subject to repression at the hands of the police, this proviso will be akin to the last nail in the coffin.
Any protest against exploitation of the city and its native population can and will be construed as a threat to the liberty of immigrants, resulting in harsh reprisals. Over the next 10 years, the yoke of subjugation will continue to prevent real stakeholders from becoming party to the decisionmaking process, ensuring unrestrained rampage of their city and its culture at the hands of berserk predators who will feed gluttonously before taking flight.
A glimpse of what lies in store for the city is manifest in the increasing audacity of the Metro Rail. The developer has blatantly asserted that it has no intention of paying the development fee of over Rs 200 crore. Add to that the claim to perpetual freedom from payment of property tax and advertising levy, and one starts to comprehend the extent of the super rip-off being perpetuated in the guise of a public service.
However, with the formation of Telangana state, there may be no possibility of recourse to protest, for public demonstrations of the citizen’s consternation can quite easily be construed as a threat to the “safety of life, property and liberty” of protected sections of the population. Emboldened by the prospect of unqualified support from the highest quarters, even minions associated with this dismemberment of the cityscape have turned highly vocal.
Telangana has a long history of repression by the state, with the law and order machinery repeatedly playing a despicable role in the suppression of mass sentiment. The brutality of the state police in crushing popular movements was first witnessed immediately after the merger of the then state of Hyderabad with the Indian Union. Continued support for the communists in their armed struggle against exploitation of peasants led to the formulation of vile instruments of subjugation by the then nominated CM M K Vellodi and his principal administrator, Capt. Nanjappa of the Indian Civil Service.
They found a perfect tool for implementing their heinous pogrom in PK Monappa, an Imperial Police officer from Madras who was brought in as the independent state’s first Inspector General to quell the peasants struggle. Within no time, the state police ensured elimination of all dissent. Following in the footsteps of their barbaric mentors, successive generations of the state police force honed the art of coercion to perfection.
Their zeal in fabricating cases and suppressing vulnerable sections of society has earned them the dubious distinction of being one of the most detested constabularies of the country. Given this gory history of police brutality, the citizens of Hyderabad are understandably horrified at the prospect of being at the mercy of a completely independent police force, answerable only to the governor.
The need of the hour is a leadership capable of taking on the challenge of ensuring justice for all without prejudices and personal gain hampering the triumphant culmination of the cherished dream. It is time to seek inspiration from the sacrifices of martyrs who laid down their lives for the cause and continue the struggle until absolute emancipation of Telangana becomes a concrete reality. Chale chalo ke who manzil abhi nahin aai.
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