I was Govind Ballabah Pant's information officer when he was home minister, and the Fazl Ali Commission submitted the report on Reorganisation of States in 1954. While working on the proposals, Pant would often ask why they had taken up the controversial task of redrawing the map of India when there were so many more urgent problems facing the country. Fifty-five years later, the nation can rightly pose the same question to its rulers. In fact, the problems have increased to include insurgency, terrorism, inflation and unemployment.
It is not so much the carving out of Telangana from Andhra Pradesh in the south that is the problem but the timing. Development was just beginning to pick up pace after the recession, but the Congress party panicked over the death of hunger-striking K. Chandrasekhar Rao, chief of Telangana Rashtrya Samiti, and conceded. Should New Delhi have disturbed the hornets' nest at a time when numerous ethnic or linguistic groups want a state of their own? With 70 per cent of people immersed in dire poverty, the government's first task should be to feed them, not to poke at sleeping dogs.
Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister, also panicked when Potti Sriramula, a person from Andhra Pradesh, starved himself to death. That was when the Fazl Ali Commission was appointed. Nehru subsequently admitted that he made a mistake and should have attended to other more pressing problems before taking up the reorganisation of states.
As far as Telangana goes, the Fazl Ali Commission had recommended its formation because it felt that the territory, primarily the old Nizam State, was linguistically and culturally different from the rest of Andhra. The twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad were predominantly Urdu-speaking, while the official language of Andhra was Telugu. It is another matter that in the last 50-odd years the state has been integrated administratively and economically. Indeed, there are calls for Andhra Pradesh to remain united.
There was strong opposition when Nehru amalgamated Telangana and Andhra into one state, just as he forcibly merged Gujarat and Maharashtra. Gujarat broke away and became a separate state through agitation. But Telangana stayed part of Andhra Pradesh, although the demand for separation continued. The debate in the country is more about the hurried manner in which the central government accepted the demand for a separate Telangana. What was the urgency that pushed the government to announce the split?
Signs of weakness
The message that has gone around is that New Delhi can be swayed if determined elements take to the streets. Violence has come to the fore. Agitators justify it on the grounds that their cause is ‘just'. Burning public property or breaking the law is considered a means to an end. The atmosphere of the entire country has been charged, with tension reaching as far as Assam.
I suspect that when the top Congress leaders, including Sonia Gandhi and her political advisor, Ahmad Patel, met to decide about the creation of Telangana, they had politics uppermost in their mind, and were convinced that the decision would translate into votes.
The creation of linguistic states is understandable, but applying the principle to accommodate every ethnic group is akin to playing with fire. Small states are welcome because more attention is paid to local needs. But they shouldn't become too small. Economic viability as well as historical and cultural considerations should be considered. All three of the states created by the BJP are dependant on aid and are known to be corrupt. Jharkhand has the distinction of electing corrupt chief ministers, one after another. One of them is behind bars. The last chief minister, Madhu Khoda, reportedly made Rs4,000 crore in less than two years.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, next to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, has announced that there will be no more new states after Telengana. This is like shutting the gate after the horse has already bolted. How can the central government make such a statement after it has capitulated under pressure? Already there are agitations and hunger strikes in eight areas that want a state of their own. The government should have consulted at least the Andhra chief minister before announcing the formation of Telangana.
This phenomenon points to bigger problems, such as a lack of development and indifferent administration. If the basics are not in place then people come to believe that they have only to exert pressure to get their way.
The Telengana decision will create widespread unrest; the signs are already there. The appointment of another commission on the reorganisation of states would only open Pandora's Box. Even small linguistic groups might claim states of their own. This would undermine the country's unity.
Political parties should get together to consider how to reach out to the people who do not currently get any benefit from the system. Electoral reforms are needed to ensure the participation of small groups, perhaps through proportional representation. However unthinking Congress may have been in its decision, all political parties should help to put out the fire, lest it consume them all.
Kuldip Nayar is a former Indian high commissioner to the United Kingdom and a former Rajya Sabha member.
