<div dir="ltr">New India state <span class="">Telangana</span> may fuel other statehood movements<br>
<br>
The central government in India announced Wednesday it would move to<br>
create a new state, <span class="">Telangana</span>, within the state Andhra Pradesh.<br>
<span class="">Telangana</span> is likely to serve as a precedent for other statehood<br>
movements.<br>
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By Mian Ridge Correspondent<br>
posted December 11, 2009 at 8:53 am EST<br>
<br>
New Delhi —<br>
Protesters set fire to vehicles and burned effigies of senior<br>
politicians across the southern state of Andhra Pradesh Friday over<br>
plans to create a new state, <span class="">Telangana</span>, within the state – a move<br>
analysts warn will be seen as a precedent for other statehood<br>
movements around the country. The central government announced<br>
Wednesday that it would push to carve <span class="">Telangana</span>, currently one of<br>
India’s most impoverished regions, out of Andhra Pradesh, one of<br>
India’s biggest states and home to the city of Hyderabad, where the<br>
Indian headquarters of firms including Microsoft and Google are<br>
located. The issue has long roused passions. Wednesday’s announcement<br>
followed a five-decade campaign for <span class="">Telangana</span>, which was last<br>
violently active in 1969, when over 400 people were killed in riots.<br>
<br>
Lately, the movement had died down, but in recent weeks, it gained<br>
momentum with the well-publicized fast of an activist, K Chandrasekhar<br>
Rao, and violent protests in Hyderabad – which quickly turned to<br>
triumphant celebrations Wednesday. <span class="">Telangana</span> may serve as a precedent<br>
to other statehood movements: The most active of these include demands<br>
for a new Gorkhaland state in northwest Bengal; Vidarbha in<br>
Maharashra; and Bodoland in Assam. “Whatever the arguments for and<br>
against the legitimacy of the <span class="">Telangana</span> cause, it’s clear that by<br>
ceding to it, the Centre has stirred up a hornet’s nest,” said the<br>
Financial Express newspaper in an editorial Thursday.<br>
<br>
State separatists have more than <span class="">Telangana</span> to encourage them, however.<br>
Although linguistic differences were originally used to carve out<br>
India’s large states, other claims, such as economic disparities, have<br>
prompted the creation of newer states in recent years. In 2000, three<br>
new states were made: Chhattisgarh, which was part of Madhya Pradesh;<br>
Uttarakhand, from Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand, out of Bihar. <span class="">Telangana</span><br>
will be India’s 29th state. More locally, there are fears that if the<br>
up and coming city of Hyderabad is included in <span class="">Telangana</span>, Andhra<br>
Pradesh, which has invested heavily in its main city, will lose<br>
significant amounts of revenue.<br>
<br>
Friday, more than 100 members of the state assembly were reported to<br>
have resigned in protest. The region – soon to be state – of <span class="">Telangana</span><br>
comprises 10 districts. Supporters of the statehood movement have long<br>
accused the central government of ignoring the region; while<br>
politicians have used the issue during electioneering. The Congress<br>
party, which leads the central government, formed an alliance with a<br>
party dedicated to the creation of the state, the <span class="">Telangana</span> Rashtra<br>
Samiti (TRS), in 2004, but the TRS accused the party of reneging on<br>
its word. Some observers believe that the government has been forced<br>
to promise the new state now because of local political upheavals. In<br>
September, Andhra Pradesh’s powerful chief minister, YS Reddy, was<br>
killed in a helicopter crash. His successor, K Rosaiah has not shared<br>
Mr. Reddy’s success in controlling the <span class="">Telangana</span> movement.<br>
<br>
The government has not set a time frame for <span class="">Telangana</span>’s creation. Some<br>
have seen back-pedaling in Prime Minister Manmohan’s Singh’s comments<br>
in parliament Friday that nothing would be done in haste.<br>
<br>
[Clarification: I include these articles about <span class="">Telangana</span> because<br>
Andhra Pradesh was the first state in Independent India to be created<br>
on a linguistic basis after an activist, Potti Sriramulu, fasted to<br>
the death in 1952 over the issue. Subsequently India passed the States<br>
Reorganization Act, which divided the old states, left over from<br>
British India, along linguistic lines. The formation of <span class="">Telangana</span> now<br>
nullifies the linguistic basis of Andhra Pradesh, the only<br>
Telugu-language state, which is what arouses the intense objection<br>
among non-<span class="">Telangana</span> Telugus. (HS)]<br>
<br>
<a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2009/1211/New-India-state-Telangana-may-fuel-other-statehood-movements" target="_blank">http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2009/1211/New-India-state-<span class="">Telangana</span>-may-fuel-other-statehood-movements</a></div>
<br clear="all"><br>-- <br>=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br>
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