What's in store for the Telugus?

Desaraju Surya

Hyderabad: Every Telugu, residing not just in Andhra Pradesh but in any other part of the globe, is waiting with bated breath for the dusk of December 31. Not to bid adieu to Year 2010 or welcome 2011, but to know whether their state will remain Andhra Pradesh or get divided into Telangana and Andhra or anything else. December 31 is the “D-day” when the five-member Justice Srikrishna Committee, appointed by the Government of India on February 3 this year for consultations on the situation in Andhra Pradesh, submits its report after an extensive field work in the wake of the demand for and against the bifurcation of the state. Though the recommendations of the Committee are unlikely to be publicised the same day, every citizen of this state has come to see it as a landmark day that defines their future.

The Committee was appointed in the backdrop of the agitation for and against the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, when the demand for creation of a separate Telangana state reached a feverish pitch in late 2009. The Justice Srikrishna Committee was asked to examine, among other things, the situation in Andhra Pradesh with reference to the demand for a separate state of Telangana as well as the demand for maintaining the present status of a united Andhra Pradesh; to review the developments in the state since its formation and their impact on the progress and development of the different regions of the state; to identify the key issues that must be addressed by consulting all sections of the society, especially the political parties and seek from the political parties and other organisations a range of solutions that would resolve the present difficult situation and promote the welfare of all sections of the people. It was also asked to identify the “optimal solutions” for this purpose and recommend a plan of action and a road map.

The last months of year 2009 saw turbulence caused primarily by separatists seeking Telangana state while early 2010 witnessed a spontaneous movement by people of Andhra and Rayalaseema regions opposing the state’s division. This led to political disorder and public unrest in the state after the Congress’ flip-flop on “initiating the process for creation of Telangana.” Order was restored in the state to an extent only after the Srikrishna Committee was appointed to look into the statehood demand, a move seen as the Congress’ desperate gambit to undo the damage caused by its mishandling of the whole issue.

Though initially every political party reacted with scepticism to the Committee’s constitution, the common people welcomed it with the hope that it will come out with an everlasting solution to the contentious statehood issue. All political parties, barring the Bharatiya Janata Party, subsequently presented their case, for and against the division of the state, before the Committee while all other stakeholders too submitted their views on the issue. The Committee members – eminent and widely-respected in varied fields – toured almost every part of Andhra Pradesh in the last ten months, collected tonnes of data from different sources, interacted with people at the grassroots level and drafted a two-volume report. In doing so, they kept their promise of completing their task “within the set deadline.” Now, Justice Srikrishna and his four colleagues are about to submit the report to Union Home Minister P Chidambaram in New Delhi.

While holding a mirror to the past and the present of Andhra Pradesh since its formation on November 1, 1956, the Srikrishna Committee report should hold the beacon for its future as well.