Subregionalism in India: The Case of Telangana Author(s): Duncan B. Forrester Source: Pacific Affairs, Vol. 43, No.

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Subregionalism inIndia: The Case ofTelangana

DuncanB. Forrester
been closelystudied, and it is now possibleto speak of an acceptedinthereasonsforits finalsucterpretation of the forces behindthemovement, of the resultant cess in the i95os, and at leastsome of the consequences reorganization.' The rootsof the variousparticular movements forredrawing of provincialboundarieslie in regional culturalrenaissances which can oftenbe traced back to the nineteenth century. An enhanced sense of regionalidentity and a new culturalawarenessquicklymobilizedthe supportof risingcastesand alliancesof castesseekingenhancedstatusand economicpower;but they werealso awarethattheir in multilinguistic influence provincesdominated by an English-educated elite must necessarilybe restricted. Linguisticseparatism of large sections capturedthe imagination of the student population partly, perhaps, because of the problems involved in highereducationthroughthe medium of English,but more markedly becauseof the desirefora pool of jobs withinthe stateeffectively reserved forthem.The movement was strengthened becauseCongress had attempted overseveraldecadesto mobilizeit in support of thenationalstruggle, and it had also found some, rathermore grudging,supportfrom government prior to independence. The Congressgovernment finally, and somewhat reluctantly, concededmost linguistic demandsby i959. The consequences of thisredrawing of boundaries appear to have been an indigenization and democratization of provincial politics, which gave a strongimpetusto the development of diverseregionalpoliticalcultures, enhancingthe political significance ofcasteand ofregional educated elites. In thispaperI use theterm"region"to refer to a cultural and socialarea, the regionalboundaries in peninsular India now in most cases being those of the major languages? By regionI mean verymuch the same as Lenin
II am grateful to Mr. N. Ram and the staffof the Hindu libraryfor making much material concerning the Telanganaproblemavailableto me, and to a number of my colleagues and students, K. SivamohanReddi, N. Dilip Uthappa, C. A. Ponnappa,P. N. particularly Vaithyanathan, and N. AnandaKumar,forhelpful suggestions and criticism. 2 Cf. N. M. Srinivas' essay,"The Problemof Indian Unity," in his Caste in ModernIndia and OtherEssays (Bombay: Asia Publishing House, i962), pp. 98-III; and W. H. MorrissJones, "Language and Regionwithinthe Indian Union,"in PhilipMason (ed.), India and Ceylon: Unity and Diversity (London: Oxford University Press,I967), pp. 5i-66.

HE MOVEMENT FOR

states linguistic in thenon-Hindi areasof Indiahas

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Pacific Atairs discussion ofthe "national Marxists andStalin (andallthe question" among is a histheir meant "A nation which flows from writings) by"nation": economic torically evolved, stable community of language, territory, life, in a community of culture."3 Naandpsychological make-up manifested in boundaries also political tional or regional frontiers are nowusually India. By"subregion" I understand a smaller areawithin a region or"nareasons is aware tion" which for economic, geographic, historical, andsocial ofpossessing a distinct in identity. Telangana is,as we shallsee shortly, many ways a typical subregion. The significance of suchsubregions and their claims to separate consideration were rather lostsight ofduring the movement forlinguistic states. But subregionalism and theaccompanyingpolitical subcultures arenowincreasingly calling fortheattention of political scientists as phenomena likely toprove ofmounting importance in Indiaandprobably nottobe explained in thesame terms as regionalism. Historical and economic factors produce subregional problems and encourage thegrowth ofcompelling political subcultures which notonly do not correspond butconflict with thelarger unities oflanguage, culture, and caste represented bythelinguistic state. Insofar as subregionalism is the result of economic imbalances between historically defined subregions, it may beconsidered a by-product ofmodernization. which oftoday oftwenty districts corPradesh is a state The Andhra andculture responds fairly accurately tothe area inwhich Telugu language to the i96i census was The total are dominant. population according well-defined 35,983,447. The state is divided intothree subregions: the For and Telangana. calledthe Circars, Delta,sometimes Rayalaseema, are treated as theDelta and Rayalaseema administrative most purposes and and fertile, is themostprosperous one.The Delta,well-irrigated is a dry, ofthe infertile three wealthy subregions; Rayalaseema area, subject Telwhich The ninedistricts to frequent andfamine. droughts comprise are backward angana relatively economically.4 In terms there the three ofcaste arenofundamental differences between tend to havea horizontal subregions-the samecastes spread throughout the alstate. Kammas arethe twodominant andReddis agricultural castes, theKammas sometimes are concentrated in theDelta districts, though known as Kamma areheavily while theReddis centred in RayRashtra, and there is a In Telangana alsotheReddis alaseema. arepredominant, for Reddi traditional caste andfactional conflicts todisregard tendency ties the boundaries. subregional Thetwo significant untouchable castes ofMalas aresimilarly andMadigas theregion, andmost spread throughout Chris8J. Stalin,Marxismand the National and Colonial Question(London: MartinLawrence, n.d.), p. 8. 4Adilabad, Nizamabad,Medak, Mabhubnagar, Nalgonda,Khammam,WaranHyderabad, gal, Karimnagar.

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in India: The CaseofTelangana Subregionalism

TABLE I: TELANGANA COMPARED WITH THE REST OF ANDHRA PRADESH: POPULATION

Population (Lakhs) Density (persq. mile)

Telangana

andDelta Rayalaseema

232.71 I27, I2

286

376

Andhra SOURCE: Handbook Bureau of Statistics: Pradesh, 1966-7 (Hyderabad: ofAndhra Government ofEconomics andStatistics, Pradesh, i967). tians in Andhra Pradesh are drawn fromthese two castes.Muslims and North Indian Marwaris,the tradingand moneylending are communities, morenumerous the old in the townsof Telangana, and indeed throughout in AndhraPradesh.The Telangana village HyderabadState,thanelsewhere may be more backwardand traditional than the villagesin the Delta,5the castesystem less modified by modernizing influences, and landlessagricultural labour-very open to Communistinfluence-more numerousin the Delta than in Telangana. But it remainstruethatit is not possibleto distinguish Telangana sharply fromthe restof Andhra Pradesh in termsof caste.The principalcastesin the threesubregions are the same, although thereare certainly interesting minor differences in caste configuration betweenTelangana,Rayalaseema, and theDelta.6 If subregional distinctiveness cannotoften be tracedto caste,cultural, or it is clear thata history of divisiongoes farto createsublinguistic factors, regionalfeelings withina broad culturalregion.Andhra has a long history of unity,but in the middle of the eighteenth it was brokenup. century Most of it came underBritish rule,but Telangana remainedunder Indian rule as partof the territories of theNizam of Hyderabad.Telangana therefore has a separate political history ofsometwocenturies. The four coastal districts, known as the NorthernCircars,developed rapidlyunder Britishadministration and benefited fromthe particularly works which harnessedthe Krishna and Godavari large-scale irrigation rivers foragriculture. The Circarsbecame the most prosperous partof the and the rice-bowl of Andhra enjoyingthe benefits Telugu country of a stable and enlightened administration and developingnot only economically but sociallyand politically at a far faster rate than the Nizam's Dominions.Thus we may agree with the statement in a Communistparty publication: It is an undeniable ofhistory fact that itwastheCircar districts, from theonceunited to Nellore, Vizag district especially thefour deltadistricts of Guntur, Krishna, West
5 Good studiesof ruralTelangana are S. C. Dube, Indian Village (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, I955); and P. Y. Luke and John B. Carmen,VillageChristians and Hindu Culture (London: Lutterworth Press,i968). 6 See the unsignedarticle, "Telangana and Caste," in the Economicand PoliticalWeekly (EPW), March8, i969, pp. 455-6.

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Pacific Aflairs
and East Godavaries, whichhad been thehub of socialand political activities. Whether non-brahmin it was the so-called movement in the early twentieth century, or the languagerenaissance movement ofgrandhic blashaversus gramya bhasha, or themovement of a separate Andhra province or for Visalandhra, or the successive national movements of the 1920S, 30s, or 40s, or the progressive student, youth, and women's or in the spreading movement of the socialist and communist movement-it is from thisregionthatthe major contingents came forth....7

in Telangana. But local peasantsseemedlackingin initiative, perousdistrict were reaped by immigrant and many of the profits farmersfrom the has essentially Thus Telangana backwardness Circars.9 politicalroots:with the considerablewater resourcescould have been betteradministration more fullytapped for irrigation. Telangana is stillmainlya dry farming but the reasonfor this in Telangana is long-term area, like Rayalaseema, of the area. The rule of the Nizams was failure the potentialities to harness and the official autocratic language, both in politicsand education,was Urdu. The people of Telangana were effectively insulated fromthe Telugu renaissance and both theirlanguage and theirculturecame under strong Islamic and Urdu influences. Popular participation in politicswas actively and the Indian National Congresswas cautiousabout extenddiscouraged, to the princely ing the nationalstruggle states. It was not until I938 thata HyderabadState Congresswas formed, to only be banned shortly afterby the Nizam, and not until i95i was the HyderabadCongressmergedwith the Indian National Congress. Withinthe HyderabadCongresstherewere threeProvincialCongressCommittees, one foreach of the threelinguistic areas of Karnatak, Marathwada,and Telangana. Thus, along with an
7 Why the Ultra-'Left' Deviation?An Examination of the Basic Causes of Left Defections in Special Reference to Andhra (Calcutta: Communist partyof India (Marxist), i968), pp.

constructed a major scheme theNizam's century government irrigation Nizamabad onthe themost based Nizamsagar dam, thereby making pros-

In theearly cultivation."8 ofthepresent to attempt ryot anyintensive years

ofRayalaseema were alsoincorporated in theMadras districts The ceded waslessamenable in Rayalaseema andin economic butnature Presidency, backward ascompared tothe Circar coast. remained terms the area was separate from therest of the For twohundred years Telangana in a rather backward maintained feudal condition Telugu country, bythe Thejagirdar oflandholding Asaf seems Nizams ofthe Jahi dynasty. system in thewayofagricultural to havestood endowed development: "Though inches thepoor soiland with fairly goodrainfall averaging 35.2 annually, seem tointensive topresent the a handicap rugged decountry agricultural the conditions under the in velopment. Besides, agrarian Jagirdar system seem not to have olden did incentives to the the days provided adequate

20-I.

i969.

CensusofIndia,1961. Vol. II. Andhra Pradesh. PartI-A(i) General Report, p. 20. 9 "Unitedby History, DividedbyPassion,"unsigned in Citizen, article Vol. I, No. 9, July I2,

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in India: The CaseofTelangana Subregionalism

backwardness vis-a-vis therestof the and political awareness of economic of distinctiveness basedon a feeling developed Telangana Telugucountry, cultural experiences."' and,to someextent, different political werelatein becoming politically The peopleof Telangana mobilized, in themovement for the wereinvolved northeelite and neither themasses led by Telugu This had been initially setting up of AndhraPradesh. of Tamil Brahmins in by thepredominance Brahmins who wereannoyed of theexisting and in thelegaland educational systems theadministration in the had controlled ThesesameBrahmins Congress MadrasPresidency. in I9I7. Non. its inception PCC from Andhra and theAndhra districts, as in Tamilnad, in theTelugucountry was never as strong Brahmin feeling challenged bytherising wasgradually Brahmin dominance butnevertheless the Kammas and Reddis,who tended castes, particularly non-Brahmin finding theJustice party and theAndhraMovement, initially to support thesetting up ofAndthemselves eachother only after with at loggerheads of Telangana rivalry was a feature in 1953.11 Reddi-Brahmin hra Pradesh None arena.12 rather thana political as well, in a social butitwas expressed to any or involve thepeopleofTelangana seemed to attract ofthese events They them politically. madeto mobilize great extent, norwas anyattempt bepresumably affected by theTelugu renaissance, wereonlymarginally by the Telugu was despised Urduizedand unliterary causetheir rather was very slowto involve as we haveseen, Congress, people oftheCircars.'3 struggle; hereagain the in thenational states thepeopleof theprincely The non-Brahmin moveas spectators. actedmainly peopleof Hyderabad mentdid not spreadto Telanganaor politicize the peoplebecausethe beNizam as they under a Muslim beenas dominant Brahmins had never political India.Nor didthehorizontal parts ofBritish camein neighbouring of linguistic politics, which has beenso characteristic mobilization of caste, up marriage and other Reddis kept frontier. Telangana cross theHyderabad and Rayalaseema, fellows in theCircars withtheir caste traditional contacts
10Anand Rao Thotha (ed.), The TelanganaMovement: An Investigative Focus. Based on Papers Presented at the Telangana University and College Teachers' Convention on May 20, i969, at Hyderabad.(Hyderabad: publishedby the editor,i969, pp. 9-i0.) 11Selig S. Harrison, India: The Most DangerousDecades (Madras: Oxford University Press, i960); pp. 2II-3; Eugene F. Irschick, Politics and Social Conflict in SouthIndia (Berkeley and Los Angeles:University of California Press,i969), pp. 38-4I, I76-7, 244-51; Lloyd I. Rudolph and SusanneH. Rudolph,The Modernity of Tradition(Chicago: University of ChicagoPress, i967), pp. 78-9; G. N. Sarma, "Aspectsof Andhra Politics" in Iqbal Narain (ed.), State Politics in India (Meerut:Meenakshi Prakashan, n.d.), pp. 99-i00; N. M. Srinivas, op. cit.,pp. 26-8. 12 Krishna P. Mukerjiand SuhariniRamaswamy, Reorganization of Indian States(Bombay: Popular BookDepot, 1955), p. 88. 13 "There is much anthropological wisdomin the Shavian remark about two countries being dividedby a common language."Srinivas, op. cit.,p. 99. Cf. Thotha,op. cit.,p. 9; Mukerji and Ramaswamy, op. cit.,p. 83; and Sarma,op. cit.,p. 98.

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Affairs Pacific ac. as far as caste were in a backwater political Reddis buttheTelangana Pradesh Andhra ofTelangana the with until integration tion wasconcerned Andhra in thefactional politics of theReddi-dominated involved them a separate or pressure faction did notform they Congress. Eventhen, of thealready reasons to oneor other butgravitated forvarious group C. vonFiirer-Haimendorf as Professor Nevertheless, existing groupings. districts ofthedismemoftheTelangana out, "the inclusion haspointed tilted Pradesh hasdefinitely Andhra State in thegreater bered Hyderabad districts arefarstronger whoin those oftheReddis, thescales in favour the than Kammas."'14 first unit in theTelugu-speaking setup their The Communists illegal most of ofHyderabad in I940, andfor at least the first five years only part The in Telangana were from theDeltadistricts.'5 leaders theCommunist themselves in favour state in which ofa linguistic Communists proclaimed control of the be united and sooncaptured would all theTeluguareas andadopted more became which a front organization Mahasabha, Andhra in addition to itsoriginal objective andeconomic policies radical agrarian the dissatisfaction oppreswith ofa united onpeasant Capitalizing Andhra. adandtaking ofthelandlords, sive rule oftheNizamandtheexactions time ofthe atthe Hyderabad government vacillations ofthe vantage ofthe theCommunists an agrarian upspearheaded ofpower in India, transfer districts ofNalgonda and border mainly in theTelangana rising centred Therevolt lasted extent into Madras. but tosome from stretching Warangal section leadership ofthe in i950. A large supressed I945 until it wasfinally toa Communist according wasstill drawn from the Deltaandatonetime, of 3,000villages had beenSovietized, and one "a total party document, guerrilla Regular acres of landhadbeenseized bythepeasants. million an estimated provided andvillage squads 2,000 members squads numbered and indeed sisted Communist it tooka considerable guerrillas, bythese the In general say that alfor the Indian forces toquell onemay revolt. time Telangana, a united Andhra including theCommunists supported though be attributed remarkable in Telangana must butto their success nottothis in thearea.Although party localandparticular theCommunist problems baseofthe the area, the social whole Telugu wasformally a united onefor
14C. von Firer-Haimendorf, "Caste and Politicsin South Asia," in C. H. Philips (ed.), and Society in India (London: GeorgeAllen and Unwin,i963), p. 62. It is notablethat Politics a few Kamma groupsin the Circarsat present support a separate Telangana,presumably as a of the Reddisin Andhrapolitics. way of reducing the political dominance Nor is it an accident that the Swatantra party,led in AndhraPradeshby N. G. Range, a Kamma, also supports separation. 15 Whythe Ultra-'Left' Deviation?pp. 25, 29; Gene D. Overstreet and Marshall Windmiller, of California in India (Berkeleyand Los Angeles: University Communism Press, i960), pp. 266-7,286, 292, 439. 16 Overstreet op. cit., p. 300. and Windmiller,
I0

of India's "police action"of I948 was reio,ooomore."16 The government

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in India: The Case of Telangana Subregionalism as Selig party and theDelta.In thelatter, wasrather different in Telangana on theprosperous S. Harrison has shown, theparty relied Kamma heavily movement of the in Telanganait was largely an anti-landlord landlords; landagrarian masses. fewofthelarger The fact that relatively Telangana in theAndhra lords wereKammas to avoidan opensplit mayhavehelped to some party, which in theDeltawas willing withlandlords to co-operate masses. andlasting topoliticize the presence inTelangana orpermanently as a separate After thepolice remained action Hyderabad political entity, the diand indeedthere was a certain amount of publicfeeling against of thestate in the vision on a linguistic basis:on June i6, I952, a motion of thestate Hyderabad forthedismemberment was Legislative Assembly defeated the mulkist9 by 79 votesto 63.18Awareof their backwardness, feared exploitation atthehands in Andhra. oftheir fellows Telangana played no partin theagitation whichresulted in thesetting up of the stateof AndhraPradeshin I953, composed in of the Telugu districts formerly Madras. The national withthe leadership of theCongress seemed to flirt idea thatHyderabad might be retained as a multilingual a kindof state, bastion against linguistic feelings. In addition, it was suggested thatthe Urdu tradition in Hyderabad madeit an ideal centre from whichHindi couldbe propagated throughout theSouth. A largesection of theMuslims and many professional peopleand bureaucrats wereagainst disintegration, whileall thepolitical parties wereat leastformally committed to breaking up thestate among thesurrounding linguistic states. Mostofthedispute was concerned with thequestion ofwhether disintegration should be immediate or delayed.20 This was thesituation in Hyderabad to which theStates Reorganization Commission addressed itself. Only Hyderabad, Mysore, and Jammu and Kashmir theformer among princely states retained their separate identities, "theinternal although structure of theseStatesas also their relationship theCentre with werecastintoa newmouldso as to fit them intotheconstructure stitutional of India."21 The Commission was facedwitha strong and organized demand,partly fromAndhrabut echoedin powerful sections of the Telanganacommunity, forimmediate absorption of the regioninto AndhraPradesh. It rejected the argument thatHyderabad should be retained undivided as "a realcultural synthesis and an interminofIndian gling which people" "should . . . be preserved as a model for other to imitate." The backwardness regions of Telangana, and theother parts
Von Fiirer-Haimendorf, op. cit.,p. 6o. op. cit.,p. 85. Thotha,op. cit.,p. II; Mukerji and Ramaswamy, 19Inhabitants of Hyderabad State. 20Mukerjiand Ramaswamy, op. cit.,pp. 82-8. 21Report of the StatesReorganization Commission (Delhi: Government of India, 1955), P. 5.
17 18 TI

a strong extentat least.17The Communists to establish faileddramatically

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Pacific Affairs could ofHyderabad, be solved ifthese areas were attached to "more only units." advanced ButtheCommission wasimpressed two factors: while by inTelangana sentiment tobeinfavour ofsplitting appeared up the HyderabadState, was as yetno consensus there on thequestion whether Telangana should remain or be incorporated intoAndhra separate Pradesh and,secondly, in certain there weredeepfears that quarters immediate integration would notbe to theadvantage of Telangana, it virmaking tually a colony ofAndhra. TheCommission concluded that "the unification of Telangana withAndhra, though should be basedon a desirable, andwilling voluntary association ofthe andthat itis primarily people for the people ofTelangana totake a decision about their future." Their recommendation wasthat theTelangana areashould be constituted a sepainto rate state "with provision for itsunification with Andhra after the general elections likely in orabout tobe held i96i, ifbya two-thirds the majority oftheresiduary legislature Hyderabad State itself in favour expresses of such unification." Thisperiod offive orsixyears could beutilized tobring theadministration of thetwostates intotuneand to allowopinion in Telangana tocrystallize.22 These recommendations ofthe SRC were setaside, as a result of largely pressure from thenational Congress leadership, Mr.Nehru, particularly andfrom the Andhra districts. on which Safeguards themerger wastobe based were incorporated in the"Gentlemen's Agreement" signed in Delhi on February 20, i956, by representatives of Telangana and Andhra.28 Guarantees were provided for for Telangana utilization within theareaof theprovision Telangana revenues, of improved educational facilities, recruitment to thestate public services, theposition oftheUrdulanguage, andthesaleofagricultural landto outsiders. It wasalsodecided to constitute a regional council with a watching brief on theinterests of Telangana. The legal status ofthis Agreement is notclear-probably it is no more thana statement of goodintentions-but it went farto alleviate Telangana's fears of absorption, and on thisbasistheunited Stateof Andhra Pradesh came into existence on November I, i956, thereby uniting allthe inone Telugu areas linguistic state. The all-round backwardness ofTelangana as compared with theDelta districts hadbeen a major element in theSRC'scaution in recommending a period in which Telangana would be a separate state. The integration of into Telangana Andhra aroused some immediate problems, andgradually public in Telangana opinion became convinced that their subregional in22
23

Ibid., pp.

101-9.

B. Gopala Reddi, N. Sanjeeva Reddi, G. Lathhanna,and Alluri Satyanarayana Raju signedforAndhra;B. Ramakrishaa Rao, K. V. Ranga Reddi,Dr. M. ChennaReddi and J. V. NarasingRao for Telangana. The textof the Agreement may be foundin Thotha,op. cit., Appendix I.
I2

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Subregionalism in India: The Case of Telangana terests werenot beingadequately caredforin the new state. Immediate problems oftheservices. arose with theintegration in connection In general, in Andhra administrators hadbeenbetter and at all levels qualified lesswell paid thantheir in Hyderabad. The new arrangements equivalents meant thatTelanganaadministrators wereput on lowersalary scalesthanpreviously, their prospects of promotion wereimpaired, and a largeproportionofthemoreimportant positions in Telangana werefilled byoutsiders The government of educlaimed thatthebackwardness .-."non-mulkis."24 cationin Telanganamade the filling of postswithwell-qualified noninevitable, and when steps were education taken to it expand was mulkis also inevitable thata largenumber of non-mulki had to be imteachers ported in thefirst instance. Butdiscontent became overthesituation so rife thatin 1959 the central government feltit necessary to promulgate the Andhra Pradesh PublicEmployment (Requirement as to Residence) Rules, providing thatfifteen yearscontinuous residence would be required for appointment to government jobs.The Rules,however, provided loopholes, and false"mulki certificates" werenot hardto obtain. Non-mulkis continued to flood intogovernment service in Telangana, and mulki teachers and non-gazetted officers in particular becameincreasingly restive.25 This discontent wasa major factor in sparking off thei969 agitation. In July i968, theAndhra Pradesh government had passedorders that all non-mulkis in postsreserved forTelangana personnel should revert to theCircars and Rayalaseema, if necessary as supernumeraries, within three months, and thiswas reaffirmed-revealingly-six months later in theAllparty Accord ofJanuary result wasthat thePublic ig,i969.26The immediate Employment Ruleswerechallenged in thecourts, and at theendofMarch theSupreme Courtdeclared them discriminatory and contrary to theConstitution.27 This judgement spread consternation among Telangana government servants, and theWanchoo Commission, setup in Aprilto find some
24A list of grievances in thisconnection is to be foundin an anonymous pamphlet, Inside Telangana (Hyderabad:Telangana Mahasabha,I958). It is important to note that since the early 1930s the Nizam's government had required"mulki certificates" from applicantsfor government jobs. This was a concession to popular feelingagainstthe policy of importing Muslims fromother statesto fill government positionsin Hyderabad.See Sreedhar,"The of Telangana," Story Vol. VII, No. 44 (July Mainstream, 5, 1969), pp. 8-9. 25 "On the number of non-mulkis in Telangana thereare divergent employed views.Government circles estimate it to be nearly to thefigures 5,000. But according collected by theTelangana N.G.O.'s Union the figure is nearlyIo,ooo. .. . The TelanganaN.G.O.'s Union has alreadypublished a list of I,ooo employees who are alleged to possessbogus mulkicertificates." Thotha,Op. Cit., p. 47. 26 J. V. NarasingRao, SeparateTelangana: A Suicidal Slogan (Hyderabad:Department of Information and Publicity, of Andhra Government Pradesh, i969), p. 2. 27 In A. V. S. Narasimha Rao & Others vs. The Stateof AndhraPradesh& Others. Since thejudgement is based on Article i6(3) of the Constitution, and thisis not open to amendment in view of the SupremeCourt'sdecisionin the Golak Nath case, the only legal safeguards possiblefor mulkisin government employment would be withina separatestate or union territory. Hindu, July 7, i969.

I3

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Pacific Afairs tothe that local solution could constitutional only suggest governproblem, should be made in thedis ment appointments bytheheadofeachoffice andspearheaded tricts.28 Non-gazetted officers, therefore, still felt insecure much ofthe agitation. andteachers must be seen Theinvolvement ofstudents in theagitation andthe against the backdrop ofthe educational backwardness ofTelangana exfeeling that the educational system oftheareahasnotbeen adequately Nizam's andencouraged since Thelegacy panded 1956. ofthe government ofliteracy, andthe wasa lowlevel comparatively poor educational facilities, ofUrduas themedium tradition ofinstruction.29 Today17.3percent of the population ofTelangana is literate as against 30.8 percent inthe rest of Primary education hasexpanded, but the enrolment hasimproved Andhra.!0
TABLE 2: PRIMARY EDUCATION

No.of % increase No.of pupils % ofstate from schools % ofstate% increase i966-7 I966-7 total over I956-7 (lakhs) total I956-7
Telangana

Rayalaseema and Delta 26,388

io,807

70.9
29.1

40.6

23.8

24.88
6.29

79.8
20.2

24.7
25.8

Patrika Press, n.d.) p.g.

SOURCE: Some Facts about Telangana and AndhraPradesh(Madras: Andhra

the of Andhra. with therest as compared only marginally Furthermore, number led to a has of ofinstitutions rapid increase in thenumber large in. teachers being brought non-mulki there arealsodeeply felt endoftheeducational At theother spectrum in size hasincreased in Hyderabad grievances. The Osmania University has butthestate andin thenumber ofitsaffiliated colleges, government taken and has beenvindictively it veryclosely stepsto control parinitsfinancial Anamendment simonious assistance tothe university. tothe to nominate Osmania Actin i965 gavethesoleright or reUniversity tightened upgovernment control invarious other ways. Almost immediately theGovernor removed Dr. D. S. Reddi from thevice-chancellorship. Dr.
28 Rao, op. cit. See also "Improving the Crutches," EPW Nov. I, i969, pp. 1737-8; M. to Servicesin Telangana,"Hindu, Sept. Io, 1969. Pattabhiram, "Recruitment 29 The mother tonguewas introduced as the mediumof education in primary schoolsonly in 1944. 80Handbook of Statistics, Andhra Pradesh. i966-7. It should be noted that Telangana area of the twincitiesof Hyderabad literacy figures includethe highliteracy and Secunderabad. The ruralliteracy ratemay therefore be about 13 per cent.

movea vice-chancellor to thegovernor and (who is ex officio chancellor)

14

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in India: The CaseofTelangana Subregionalism in as vice-chancellor andhisoriginal Reddi wasa non-mulki, appointment with student Butinten hehadcome years agitation. I957 hadbeen greeted institution freedom from outside a Telangana demanding to symbolize hisremoval wasupheld Before Dr. Reddi's appeal against interference.3' andstudents ofthe hadrisen in university Court, thestaff bythe Supreme wasmerely when the andtheir strengthened governsolidarity hissupport, in a financial crisis in landed theuniversity vindictive ment's parsimony andimportant full salaries developcould not be paidtheir which teachers andcolleges in theuniversity andteachers were halted.32 Students ments that the of conviction united in i969 were government ofTelangana bythe and humiliate them. The to victimize Pradesh was determined Andhra to gavehisblessings himself (Dr. R. Satyanarayana) newVice-Chancellor the agitation. factor todiscontent wasthe offarmers from migration A further leading landcheaply, where it,and the developed they bought DeltatoTelangana, is quite theDeltato Telangana The flow ofpopulation from prospered. cities ofHyder' twin around the Theimportant new vineyards significant23 owned arealmost bynonabadandSecunderabad, entirely forinstance, partly bytherelfarmers were attracted to Telangana Immigrant mulkis. rates are ative agricultural wage andalsobythe fact that cheapness ofland, that a contributory It hasbeensuggested markedly lower in Telangana. that many oftheimmiconnection wasthefact cause ofthe unrest in this a were be accommodated within whocouldnoteasily grants Kammas, in migration andchange hierarchy. Butlarge-scale Reddi-dominated caste what landownership tensions no matter sort involve major social ofthis bythe complicated Andthesituation wascertainly theimmigrant group. for centuries bytheNizams, fact theTelangana landlords, oppressed that Muslim andharassed Action byfanatical thetime of thePolice around into that atlast they hadcome guerrillas, hadfelt Razakars andCommunist government-only todiscover a Reddi-dominated Congress their own under that lands reaped profits being their being bought and unexpected were from them more resentment of the Telangana enterprising outsiders. The by on their ownhome ground landed competition gentry against non-mulki hasmade movement. them tothe separatist very sympathetic from theDeltahavealsoentered trade andmoneylending Non-mulkis andhave as life ofthetwin cities, become very influential in thebusiness notonlyto rural areas. This has poseda challenge wellas in various businessmen butalsotothe andGujarati communities Marwari Telangana
31 See Robert C. Shaw, "StudentPoliticsand Student in an Indian University: Leadership The Case of Osmania,"in PhilipG. Altbach(ed.), Turmoiland Transition: HigherEducation in India (Bombay:Lalvani,I968), pp. 177-8o. Politics and Student 32 Weekend Vol. II, No. i8 (April i6, I968), pp. i8-I9. Review, 88 See Censusof India, 1961, citednote8 above,pp. 432-8.

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Pacificflairs commerce usedto dominate andbusiness in Hyderabad State. It is which andthere leaders arenon-Telugus, notable that several prominent separatist financed with aremany reports that theseparatist was liberally agitation itis quite clear that cannot besubstantiated, an Marwari While this money. hadconsiderhave agitation so long andso well-organized must drawn-out

Atleast a section ofthe Muslims alsosupported the Telangana agitation, their numbers andhigher status inthe oldHyderbecause probably greater ensure lesscompetition, would andperhaps abaddistricts greater security, for them ina separate Telangana. oftheagitation hasincluded a number It is true that theleadership of butit is naive to suggest, as some unsuccessful political observers leaders, have, theagitation canbe attributed to theactivities ofa small that solely clique ofdisappointed andfrustrated men. Personal ambitions mayhave their and there is certainly played an impression abroad that part, Telnotreceived dueshare leaders their angana have ofpolitical andinpower fluence in theunited Andhra Pradesh. Butagainst thisit must alsobe remembered that far leaders have lessexperience ofdemocratic polmulki itics than their colleagues from the ofthe rest state. They seem inmany cases tohave in defending been ineffective theinterests ofTelangana andsometimes havetried to advance their owncareers in Andhra politics without sufficient attention paying to thegrievances ofthesubregion from which they come. an imbalance There in political as between is,then, development Telrest the but angana andthe ofthe economic state, imbalance andthe feeling that hasbeen done toset toolittle itright, is the primary background tothe agitation. Irrigation thekeyto agricultural is, of course, prosperity and, as we haveseen, theeconomic goesfarto explain progress ofthecoastal areas. A number the ofmajor schemes, notably Pochampad andNagarjuna have been inhand, Sagar projects, there put isa feeling but among educated that hasnotderived people Telangana a fair share ofthebenefits ofthese schemes. Table how 3 shows large a proportion ofthe benefits ofgovernment hasgone tothe other ofthe state. irrigation parts hasproceeded in Telangana, Industrialization buthasbeen highly cons the cities andhasscarcely twin centrated around touched much oftherest hascertainly ofthearea. advanced Telangana since economically integra.' the is whether the area hasadvanced tion; question fast enough tobring it into a competitive with therest ofAndhra position and whether thedeandthe velopment rest ofthe gapbetween Telangana state is narrowing or The advocates ofa separate growing wider. Andhra argue that thegapis
interests in Hyderabad, contributed largeamounts to the agitation.
34 See Elkay, "Telangana Another Aspect,"Frontier (Calcutta) Vol. II, No. ii (June2I, i969) pp. io-ii. There have been rumours thatthe Birla family, whichhas extensive business

ablefinancial backing.84

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Subregionalism in India: The CaseofTelangana

TABLE

3:

AREA IRRIGATED BY SOURCES OF IRRIGATION (Lakh

hectares)

% ofA.P. Andhra and % ofA.P. Circars Rayalaseema total Telangana total Pradesh
canals Private Tanks Wells
Othersources Total canals Government
IO.7 0. I 3.0 o.8
2I.5

88.4
50 .0

I.4
.

6.9

ii.6
50.0 42.0

I2. I
0.2 II.9

58.o
72.7

66.7
72. I

5.0
I-5 0.3

33.3
27.3 27.9

4.5
I.I

8.3

29.8

Andhra Source: Handbook ofStatistics: Pradesh, 1966-7. of the otherareas is diand theysuggestthatthe development widening, at the expenseof Telangana because it has revenuesurpluses rectly which, they argue, are being utilized outside.The Gentlemen'sAgreementhad should be dividedbetween stipulated thatgeneralgovernment expenditure of two to one. The so-called"Telb Andhra and Telangana in a proportion rethe surplusof revenueover expenditure angana Surpluses"represent fromthe high yield sulting partly fromthe higherland revenueand partly These surpluses fromexcisein an area whichhas not enforced prohibition. of theTelangana area. The on the development wereto be spentexclusively betweenwhat ought to have calculationof thesesurpluses, the difference been spentand what actually was spenton Telangana,is verymuch in dispute. What is agreedis thatthe annual Telangana Surplusis a verylarge a considerable sum, and that since integration amount of this moneyhas been spentoutsideTelangana. Two commissions were set up in i969, one by thestategovernment and the otherby the Centre, to determine the Telangana Surpluses,and the government of Andhra Pradesh and the Telangana Regional Committee disagreeon how these should be calculated. We are not hereconcerned withthe detailsof thiscontroversy; it is enough to notethatall are agreedthatTelangana has been unfairly treated. Indeed, it would be trueto say thatTelangana has been cheatedof severalcrores of rupeeseach year.35 Such a positionadds forceto the separatists' contention that Telangana would have progressed fasterin isolationfrom Andhra Pradesh.Imbalancein economicdevelopment is surelythe greatest single cause for the i969 troubles. And the fact that development has markedly sloweddown in thelastthree yearsas a result of theso-called "plan holiday" adds fuelto theflames.36 The agitation proper began as a students' strike in Hyderabadat theend of December i968 but rapidlyspread to the otherTelangana towns and
35 On this complexquestionsee C. H. Hanumantha Rao, "Budgetary Surpluses of Telangana," EPW, Oct. i8, i969, pp. i665-76; T. V. S. Chelapathi Rao, Are TelanganaSurpluses Correctly Computed? (Vijayawada,n.d.). A croreis tenmillionrupees. 36"Andhra:Will It Remain?"EPW, Feb. i5, i969, p. 345.

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Pacific Aflairs finally to most ofthedistricts.87 A fewdistricts, Khammam and notably Adilabad, remained a common relatively unaffected. The students shared belief that hadnot been Telangana tobegin getting a fair but with deal, they weredivided theseparatists between and moremoderate elements. As happens so often, theagitation quickly spread to theurban mob, andat least certain incidents seem some to havebeencalculated-with successto terrify immigrant to theDelta.38 Andhras intoreturning Morethan 5000 some2000 students, people, including and nearly werearrested 40 were killed in police in thefirst firings waveofagitation. The army was called in;the university, the colleges, andschools were closed indefinitely. Atthe endofFebruary convention wasinaugurated in i969, a students' Hyderabad by Dr. R. Satyanarayana, soonto become vice-chancellor of Theconvention Osmania that University. demonstrated the clearly virtually whole academic community wassympathetic totheagitation, andthat the students hadpowerful andfinancial political The initiative backing. was nowclearly taken whosetup a broader bytheseparatist group, organization, the Telangana Praja topress Samithi, their demands. With the appointofChenna ment Reddi as chairman ofthe the took a new Samithi, agitation

Andhra cabinetresigned, althoughmost of them were integrationists and argued that it would be easier for them to combat separatist demands if theywere freefromthe responsibilities of office.4' Apart fromeconomic measuresand strict adherence to the termsof the Gentlemen's Agreement, the Telangana moderates demandedthe resignation of the Chief Minister, BrahmanandaReddi, and the imposition of President's Rule.42Reddi submittedhis resignation to the CongressHigh Command but immediately secureda vote of confidence fromthe legislature Congresspartyon July 6, I969.43 The resignation was leftin suspense, and thePrimeMinister, Mrs. Gandhi, flewto Hyderabad to investigate the situation. On her returnto
87 "Uncertainty in Telangana," Citizen,May 24, i969, p. 23. The spark that set offthe agitation appearedto have been a veryminorconflict betweena non-mulki landlordand his The landlordis said to have brought in rowdiesfromthe Delta to intimidate mulkilabourers. and the incident was well publicized. his workers, 38 See D. Sanjivayya's statement: "I am pained and distressed to learnthatAndhraresidents have started leaving the twin citiesout of fear and feelingthereis no security for them." Hindu,June25, i969. 39 Elkay, op cit. Dr. Clenna Reddi, formerly a Union minister, had been disqualified by Courtin i968 from theSupreme office forsix years. holdinganyelective 40 "The TelanganaImbroglio," Citizen, April12, i969, pp. 26-7. 41Hindu, July 3, i969. 42Hindu, June23, i969. 43Hindu, July 7, i969.

Weekafter theagitation week on.The extremists dragged the gained of K. V. RangaReddi, opensupport former minister of deputy-chief Andhra andother leaders.40 All theTelangana Pradesh, ministers in the

turn.39 violent

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Subregionalism in India: The Case of Telangana New Delhi sheproduced an eight-point to dealwith theproblems program of Telanganain the context of a united She recommended Andhra. the setting up ofa committee to determine theTelangana and devise Surpluses waysofmaking goodto Telangana that had beenincorrectly money spent outside thesubregion and theestablishment of high-powered development and plan implementation committees forTelangana. The ChiefMinister wouldconsider thepossibility offurther ofpower delegation to Telangana authorities andpossibilities ofreserving jobsfor The Prime Minister mulkis. herself would keepa watch onprogress.44 The Telanganaagitation gradually becameinvolved withthenational political crisis. The Centre was unwilling to impose President's Rule in a Congress state, and Brahmananda Reddi'sgradual as a leading emergence supporter of the PrimeMinister against theparty bossesmade his continuance as chief minister inevitable. Prompt steps weretaken to implement at leastsomeof thePrimeMinister's proposals.45 In Augusttheagitation beganto weaken, partly because funds wererunning out,partly because students and NGOs werelosingconfidence in the separatist leadership, partly because thegathering storm at theCentre distracted theattention of many leaders from subregional issues.46 By October it had virtually petered out,leavingthe TelanganaSamithi leadership discredited and no final resolution oftheunderlying problem. With the sole,and not verysignificant, exception of Swatantra, no political party was willing openly to support a separate Telangana. Most Congress leaders in Telanganain 1956 had beenin favour of a separate state, butwithintegration theTelanganaCongress was infected withthe factionalism oftheReddi-dominated Andhra Congress and developed some further factions of its own. The TelanganaCongress leaders, therefore, couldgiveno united lead,and muchof their energy was diverted to manoeuvring within the larger organization. The separate Hyderabad PradeshCongress Committee had beenabolished in I957, and as a result allocation ofparty tickets andoffices was no longer domestic toTelangana. The present agitation led toa split within Congress and thesetting up ofa rebel Telangana Congress Committee withKonda LaxmanBapuji as president on June i, i969. The rebel Congress enjoyed considerable support, including that ofmany Telangana MLAs. As in many casesduring thestruggle
44Implementation of the PrimeMinister's Plan for Telangana (Hyderabad:Government of AndhraPradesh, I969). 45 For example,in JulyI969 a Telangana man, Mr. J. V. NarasingaRao, was appointed deputy-chief minister, and anotherfour state ministers fromTelangana joined the cabinet. Hindu, July i9 and 24, i969. 46 "The Tide Turns in Telangana," Citizen,Vol. i, no. io (July 26, i969), p. 22, "Time for Peace in Telangana," Citizen,Vol. i, no. I2 (Aug. 23, i969), "DecliningDemand for Reddy to Go," Citizen,Vol. i, no. 15 (Oct. ii, i969); "Separatists' New Hope," EPW, Nov. 22, i969, pp. i804-5, "Openingin Telangana",EPW, Sept. 23, 1969, "Is Telangana Over,EPW,Oct. 25, i969. p. i697.
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Affairs Pacific of in face notholdtogether found it could states, Congress linguistic for policy national the declared with conflicted which loyalties separatist strong beoutfirmly against separation came Congress Thenational party. ofthe hadcome andtheSyndicate Minister thePrime between theconflict fore and Congress Telangana therebel both Thereafter theopen. into clearly caught up bythe were Congress theAndhra within factions thevarious inthe side winning the bybacking interests their ofadvancing possibilities central struggle. strong arenotnowvery party oftheCommunist wings The twomain from Telseats andtheCPI (R) five CPI (M) hasfour in Telangana-the The Assembly. Legislative Pradesh in theAndhra constituencies angana subto explain by a lackof theory hampered are clearly Communists with contrasts situation this in handling ineptness andtheir regionalism, had which states linguistic for ofthemovements manipulation theshrewd to their states-and ofthelinguistic in many strength to their contributed in Telfeeling was a general There in theHindiheartland.47 weakness to thedistinctive regard scant had shown that theCommunists angana rethinkthem to do some forced theagitation oftheareauntil problems of bifurcation opposed consistently have oftheparty branches Both ing.48 imbalance, oneof subregional as purely theproblem andtreat thestate andbig oflandlords movement as a reactionary theagitation interpreting both party, toa bifurcated distraction Indeed, it is a serious businessmen.49 when at a time are faction-ridden, Pradesh in Andhra of which wings movement peasant a revolutionary to re-establish areattempting Naxalites District.50 Nalgonda particularly in some ofTelangana, parts the troubles inTelangana first that note onemay ofconclusion, Byway of parts in many ofsubregionalism ofa newforce tobe symptomatic seem could wellspark that this agitation areaware observers India.Competent andvari. Marathwada, Vidharba, inRayalaseema, movements off separatist by was obscured of subregional localism The growth ousother places."' andchallengobvious anddidnotbecome states for linguistic thestruggle fixed. boundaries andtheir settled became states the newlinguistic inguntil conandfactional cancutacross thecaste sort conflict ofthis Subregional and politics, state ofIndian tobe characteristic which been found flicts have claiming hopefully arealways Marxists which Indian conflicts class alsothe ofthe indication another be yet therefore, Subregionalism todiscover. may,
47 Harrison, op. cit.,pp. I8I, 220-6, 243-4. 48 Thotha,op. cit.,p. 17.

Approach (New Delhi: CPI, 49Raj Bahadur Gour, Telangana Tangle: The Communist 1969), p. 7. 50 "SweetSmellof Revolution," EPW,Dec. 7, 1968,pp. I866-7. 51RomeshThapar, "Lessons fromTelangana," EPW, June2I, 1969, pp. 991-2; B. V. and Anon, "Averting New TelanMaharashtra" Borkar,"Danger of Telangana in Prosperous Citizen,Vol. i, No. iS (Nov. 22, 1969), pp. I6-I9, 26-17. gana in BackwardRayalaseema," 20

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Subregionalism in India: The Case of Telangana declining political influence of caste.Variousscholars have detected the beginning of thebreakdown of castepolitical and have attribW solidarity utedit to thesuccessful riseof a caste, in whichincreating a situation dividual mobility becomes possible andvoters andpoliticians cease gradually to take their political cues fromcastefactors.52 conflict Subregional can breakdown castepolitical solidarity in a different way and force state politics to concern itself not so muchwithbalancing the claimsof significant castegroups as withbalancing theclaims of various areaswithin the state toequality oftreatment, particularly ineconomic development. It is,therefore, probably correct to viewthiskindofsubregional conflict as one aspect of thegrowing painsof modernization. there are Certainly reactionary and traditional forces at work,and disgruntled politicians mayattempt to capitalize on thesituation, butnevertheless it represents a distinctively modern style of politics both in itsaimsand objectives and in thealignments ofgroups and forces which it arouses. Thiskindofagitation maybe supported or ledbythose wholongfor a restoration ofthepast, but itsessential drive is in thedirection of a balanced and equitable modernization. The agitation ranits course overa period of ninemonths at immense costin humanlivesand damageto property. It can well be argued that theunderlying problems shouldhave beenidentified and dealtwithfar earlier, and it is a real failure on thepartof Telanganaleaders and the Telangana Regional Committee that they did notdrawattention forcefully enough to thegathering storm. The direct and immediate involvement of thecentral government as thearbitrator in an essentially intrastate dispute is notable, as is thedelayed policy response on thepart ofthecentral government. On theother hand,theeventual petering out of theagitation may be attributed, in partat least, to thefactthatthenew measures proposed bytheCentre hadbegun to"bite," andthat separatists were being isolated as their followers became gradually reconciled to thepossibility ofa future for Telanganawithin AndhraPradesh. The tragedy of Telangana is thatso little was doneto identify or dealwiththelegitimate grievances ofthearea forso manyyears. The consequence, we mayhope,maybe a new sensitivity tosimilar situations developing inother states. Madras Christian College, December 1969
52 Rudolphand Rudolph,op. cit.,pp. 88-103; R. L. Hardgrave, The Nadars of Tamilnad (Berkeley and Los Angeles:University of California Press,1969).

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