A Rebuttal To Visalandhra

A Rebuttal to
Visalandhra Goebbels Propaganda
Compiled by
Konatham Dileep Sujai K Amar Nath K Soonya
Published By
Telangana Vision - TDF Washington DC Telangana Development Forum - USA - India
A Rebuttal to
Visalandhra Goebbels Propaganda

Published By Telangana Vision - TDF Washington DC Telangana Development Forum - USA - India Copies : 1000 Contribution : Rs. 150/For Copies : Disha Pustaka Kendram, Chikkadapally, Hyderabad Photo on cover : A sea of humanity @Telangana March held on September 30th 2012. www : A Pdf copy of this book can be downloaded from www.MissionTelangana.com Layout & Cover ankush Nallakunta, Hyderabad - 44. Ph : 040-27663211, 9912929078
Printing : Charita Impressions Azamabad, Hyderabad - 44.
CopyLeft! Any part of this publication can be freely reproduced, stored, copied and distributed to any sane individual, living anywhere on earth. This work is merely a compilation of meticulous research done by some committed individuals.
Acknowledgements
We would like to express our gratitude to Telangana activists, who have done meticulous research to back the Telangana statehood demand. This book is merely a compilation of many facts that were unearthed by them in last sixty years. Our sincere thanks to all the authors, journalists, historians & researchers, whose work has been extensively quoted in this book. We would also like to thank Sri Vijaykrishna Chatla, Sri Jagadeesh Bondugula, Sri N. Venugopal, Sri Janardhan Janumpalli, Sri G. Narender Reddy, Sri Sunkari Thirmal Reddy who have extended their help in bringing out this book. Last but not the least, we would also like to thank Upendar at Ankush Graphics and Bal Reddy at Charita Impressions.
Contents
Introduction Answers to VMS lies Annexures
7 11 - 98 101 - 111
A Rebuttal to Visalandhra Goebbels Propaganda
Poisonous propaganda on Telangana aspirations

"If you repeat a lie often enough, it becomes the truth. " - Joseph Goebbels, Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany In the third paragraph of the 'Introduction' to the book 'Refuting An Agitation', Dr Parakala Prabhakar, General Secretary, Visalandhra Mahasabha (VMS) wrote: "The separatists began their agitation with the claim that Telangana region has been neglected, that it was backward, and that it was exploited." This is a blatant lie. Telangana people did not start their agitation with the claim of being discriminated. The discrimination in a united state only intensified the agitation. Telangana's aspirations for a separate administrative unit began in early 1950s - much before Andhra Pradesh was formed. The merger with Andhra was severely opposed by Telangana people. Sadly, anti-Telangana forces want to rewrite history to suit their Goebbels propaganda. The people of Telangana used the most appropriate forum to voice their statehood aspirations - The States Reorganization Commission (Fazal Ali Commission) in 1955. The Commission recognized the genuine aspirations of Telangana people. It recommended formation of Telangana state. But, hectic lobbying by Andhra leadership resulted in a forced merger of Telangana with Andhra state to create Andhra Pradesh in 1956. Andhra State, which had separated from Madras state on October 1st 1953, was steeped in several problems such as lack of a proper capital city (Kurnool, a small town was their capital city), and a deficit budget. Andhra leaders thought that a merger with Telangana would solve their capital city problem and financial woes. Telangana leadership resisted that merger tooth and nail. The Congress leadership, including the then Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru mediated a conditional merger - based on a 'Gentleman's Agreement'. This agreement provided several safeguards in education, employment and political power to Telangana region. But, even before the ink on the signatures dried, Andhra leaders violated the agreement. Telangana people, who came on to the streets demanding Telangana state in 1955 - a full one year before Andhra Pradesh was formed - are still on the streets even today. The statehood movement intensified in 1969, when agreements were broken, pacts were dishonored and the region was discriminated in recruitments, budget allocations and irrigation.
The popular peoples' movement of 1969 was crushed with brute force. About 369 people were gunned down and that phase of movement was suppressed. The current phase of movement, which started in early 1990s, reached a crescendo in December 2009. The December 9th statement of Indian government that "the process of formation of Telangana state would be initiated" is a culmination of 6 decades long peoples' struggle. The grievances of Telangana in a unified Andhra Pradesh state are not mere complaints by Telangana people, but have been vindicated by several government committees and commissions. (Please refer to Annexure - 1 for more information) The discrimination meted out to Telangana region was recorded by the highest accounting authority - the CAG, and the highest judicial authority - Supreme Court Justice. At least two Chief Ministers (who hail from Andhra region) have issued Government Orders to correct injustices done to Telangana in public employment. Kasu Brahmananda Reddy, Chief Minister hailing from Andhra, had accepted on the floor of Assembly that surplus funds from Telangana were spent on Andhra region. K. Rosaiah, the then Chief Minister of AP, accepted in state Assembly that the revenue receipts from Telangana region are higher than Andhra region, where as the expenditure is more in Andhra region than Telangana. The surprising aspect about Visalandhra Mahasabha's latest book is that it denies several historical facts that are universally accepted. It tries to peddle several half-truths as facts and at times lies shamelessly about even well documented facts. The book is another shoddy attempt by the anti-Telangana lobby to show the Telangana movement in poor light. Some of the 'lies' that Visalandhra Mahasabha has listed in their book, were never actually uttered by any Telangana leader. When the media confronted Visalandhra Mahasabha about the source of such 'lies', the Visalandhra Mahasabha leadership childishly stated that that these were taken from the arguments and discussions they had on online forums and television talk shows. We would like to clarify that the movement is not answerable to every argument that some school kid makes on some online forum. That said, in the following pages, you will notice how Visalandhra Mahasabha folks, in their mad rush to counter Telangana aspirations, have ended lying a thousand times. The fact that Parakala Prabhakar, the General Secretary of Visalandhra Mahasabha, was with proTelangana political parties BJP and PRP, until recent past, speaks volumes about how reliable he and his book is. Parakala Prabhakar was with Bharatiya Janata Party when it passed the Kakinada Resolution favoring formation of Telangana in 1998. He continued in that party for several years after that resolution, but did not utter a single word against Telangana. He quit BJP only citing other reasons, but not the Telangana issue. Parakala Prabhakar then contested the MLC election in 2007 as an independent candidate and lost miserably.
In 2008, he joined film star Chiranjeevi's Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) and served as the official spokesperson of the party. It is a widely known fact that PRP supported Telangana state formation unequivocally. Here is an extract from a news that appered in The Hindu newspaper on 16th Oct 2008: On separate Telangana, he (Parakala Prabhakar) said no party other than Praja Rajyam had clarity on the issue. "We want the State to be divided like brothers in a family. We respect the 'atma gouravam' and 'atma abhimanam' of the Telangana people and we said we will never come in the way if separation is necessary," he said. Again, Parakala Prabhakar never opposed the formation of Telangana while he was in PRP. True to his nature, Parakala left PRP only after being denied a party ticket. He was thrown into political oblivion post his PRP stint. In a desperate last ditch attempt, he is now trying to gain some name and fame by bad mouthing the Telangana peoples' movement. Parakala Prabhakar keeps challenging on TV debates that if we give him some time, he would convince any Telangana activist and turn them into a united Andhra Pradesh supporter. We keep wondering if he is unable to get that much needed time to convince his wife Smt Nirmala Sitaraman - who as the national spokesperson for BJP, is actively supporting the Telangana statehood demand. The other major partner in Visalandhra Mahasabha, is an NRI named Nalamotu Chakravarthy. Almost a full decade after the current phase of Telangana movement intensified, Nalamotu woke up from his deep slumber and suddenly remembered his "roots". He penned an English book named "My Telugu Roots", to tell why the Telugus should stay in one state. The utter hollowness of Nalamotu's argument can be understood when we know that he himself had left Andhra Pradesh long back, in search of greener pastures. What's even more hilarious is that Nalamotu can't speak or write in proper Telugu. He had hired a professional translator to translate his English book into Telugu. The fact that his book sold about 60 copies (by his own admission) speaks volumes about how much sense Nalamotu Chakravarthy's book made to the people of Andhra Pradesh. Visalandhra Mahasabha is just a propaganda organization funded by vested interests, who have a lot to lose once Telangana state is formed. These include Andhra politicians, businessmen and power brokers, who have accumulated wealth by illegally grabbing Telangana resources. We would like to reiterate that no movement can be sustained for six long decades on lies. Telangana movement is a just demand voiced by 3.5 crore Telanganites. In 1953, India's First Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru had dismissed the idea of Visalandhra (Andhra Pradesh) as an idea bearing expansionist imperialism. The idea of Visalandhra died the moment Andhra leaders violated the Gentleman's agreement. The modern day Visalandhra consultants are only trying to resuscitate a dead horse.
Konatham Dileep
Telangana Development Forum - India
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Telugu regions were under the same rule for a major part of history
The VMS authors attempt to rewrite history to suit their propaganda, but they do a very poor job of it. Telangana and Andhra were under various political dispensations for a major period of their history. However VMS claims that all Telugu regions were under the same rule during the following periods: - Satavahanas - Kakatiyas (A.D. 1162 - 1323) - Vijayanagara Rayas (A.D. 1336 - 1565), - Qutub Shahis (A.D. 1518 - 1687) and - Nizams (A.D. 1720 - 1948)
Visalandhra Goebbels Lie
Except Kakatiyas, who incidentally had their capital in Warangal, Telangana, none of the kingdoms listed above ruled all the regions of current day Andhra Pradesh. Let us examine the maps of some of these kingdoms: Satavahanas: Their rule extended from about 221 BC to 250 AD. Their empire was located in Central India, with different rulers having control over different regions of India. At one time, their kingdom covered current day Maharashtra, Gujarat and parts of Madhya Pradesh too. There are many theories about the area controlled by them. However, they never controlled the entire area of current day Andhra Pradesh as is evident from this map. Vijayanagara Empire: The map of Vijayanagara empire clearly shows that most of Telangana region was not under the Vijayanagara empire.
Map of Vijayanagara Empire under Krishna Devarayalu
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The following map of Nizam's territories (1940s) show that Nizam's rule was limited to Telangana region of current day Andhra Pradesh
History and Geography are interdependent. Current day's India is a lot different than the India ruled by many kingdoms in the past. Yet, current day India comprises of only a section of what was British ruled territory. Yanam a small region within the state of Andhra Pradesh, is part of the Union terrritory Pondicherry. The reason for its inculsion in Pondicherry is simple. It was a French colony for about 200 years. Likewise, the roots of Telangana statehood demand lie in its unique history.
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There was considerable hostility between Hindus and Muslims during the Nizam rule.
The true nature of anti-Telangana forces could be understood by their constant attempts to create a wedge between Hindus and Muslims in Telangana by distorting history. Hindus and Muslims have had a very harmonious relationship for most part of Nizam's rule. The anti-Telangana forces have constantly tried to portray the Nizam's rule and the resistance movement by Telangana Peasants as a Muslim Vs Hindu struggle. When the Musi river was flooded in 1908, the Nizam, on the advice of some Hindu priests, wore a Jandhyam (sacred thread) like a Brahmin and offered Turmeric and Vermilion to the Musi river. It is also well known to people of Hyderabad that Mir Osman Ali Khan had gifted a diamond bindi to the goddess in Lal Darwaza Mahankali Temple. Several visiting historians and foreign writers documented the communal harmony during Nizam rule. John Zubrzcky in his well-researched book "The Last Nizam" writes: "(During Osman Ali Khan's rule) Hyderabad also became a model for religious tolerance in India. To assuage the feelings of Hindus, Osman Ali Khan banned the slaughter of cows and made offerings at their shrines. 'Muslims and Hindus are my two eyes', became one of his favorite expressions." Lucien D. Benichou in his "From Autocracy to Integration: Political Developments in Hyderabad State" tells us about the reaction across India when Nizam banned cow slaughter in 1923. The Express (8/2/1923) of Bihar stated : "Every Moslem of this country should follow the example of...the Nizam who has done more to promote Hindu-Muslim unity than any other prince in India." The Nizam also made gestures of unprecedented originality such as that of 29 May 1926 when: "In connection with [a] religious festival at [a Hindu] shrine of Gulbarga, the Nizam...carried on his head, to the astonishment of all beholding the tray containing offerings of sandal and flowers to the shrine. He walked this a long distance barefooted by large crowd. His sons and brothers also carried the tray...]" So what do all these reflect? A communal king as purported by the messiah of truth? Or a ruler who seems to have respected the aspirations and customs of people even if they were from a faith different from his own? That's a question our bigoted friends might not want to answer! We should not forget that Hindu Doralu (land lords) and Deshmukhs ruled wide swathes of Hyderabad state. The Razakars (Nizam's private militia) were provided shelter by these Hindu Doralu and Deskhmukhs. Several Muslims participated in the struggle against Nizam. We would like to highlight the following three people to show the secular nature of the peoples' resistance movement.
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- The first martyr in the Telangana Peasant Armed Struggle was a Muslim by name Sheik Bandhagi. - Shoebullah Khan, a young journalist ran a newspaper, in which he criticized the Nizam's rule and supported the resistance movement. He was brutally hacked to death by the Razakars. - Muqdoom Mohiyuddin, an Urdu Revolutionary poet, played an active role in the Telangana Peasant Armed Struggle against the Nizam. There is no denying that Telangana people suffered under the Nizam's rule, but seeing that rule from only from a communal angle is downright mischievous.
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Telangana activists claim that Telangana under the rule of Nizam had no relations with Andhra, which was under British rule.
We would like to inform our learned friends that the leadership of Telangana movement has never made any such statements. This is a classic case of throwing mud on some one so that they need clean it! Visalandhra Goebbels Lie
Telangana under Nizams has had relations with not just Andhra, but with several regions in India as well as with distant countries in Africa, Europe and Asian continents. Museums in Hyderabad are full of historic proofs (like rare Roman coins) that confirm this fact. It would be wise for VMS folks not to put in our mouths what is not said. That is beyond double speak. That would be trying to be judge, jury and the accuser! VMS also tries to pass of another lie by saying "The separatists would not even like to mention about the glorious Telangana Armed Struggle because it was a fine example of the oneness of all Telugus." Telangana statehood movement has always revered the Telangana Peasant Armed Struggle. In fact the current day statehood movement draws a lot of inspiration from the fighting spirit of the Telangana Peasant Struggle. To say that we do not like to mention about that struggle is nothing but a travesty of truth. And the gentlemen they ought to be, they never acknowledge our demand that a Chakali Iylamma's statue must adorn the Tank Bund if they believe that Telangana Peasant Armed Struggle must be acknowledged and be given its place in history.
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Telangana activists say that Andhra Mahasabha was an organization run by the people of Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema
Again, VMS guys attribute something, which was never stated by Telangana movement leadership.
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Z
Nehru was not against Telangana's merger with Andhra.
Nehru's opposition to Visalandhra is very well documented (see relevant news clip in next page) The fact that Nehru was opposed to the formation of Visalandhra (Andhra Pradesh) effectively means that he opposed the merger of Telangana and Andhra. Two years before Andhra State was formed, the Congress party met in Bangalore in
July 1951 to finalize its election manifesto. Ayyadevara Kaleswara Rao, a strong votary of Visalandhra raised the question of Visalandhra at this meeting. Nehru warned him that if he continued to talk about Visalandhra, he might not even get Andhra state. What can we call VMS behaviour? Classic goebbelism? Or charlatanism? Take your pick!
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Nehru never accused votaries of Visalandhra as having a "taint of imperialist expansionism"
VMS tries to pass off another blatant lie as a fact. Nehru's opposition to Visalandhra is an irrefutable fact. When the Andhra leaders brought up the subject of Visalandhra on Oct 1st 1953, he rebuked the Andhra leaders by saying "I am unable to understand the Visalandhra slogan in current situation. The word "Visala" smacks of imperialist expansionist mindset"
Here is a news clip from Andhra Prabha newspaper dated Oct 3rd 1953, which nails the lie of VMS guys.
Andhra Prabha Oct 3, 1953
Is this news clip a figment or one's imagination or would the 'reality deniers' still take recourse to goebbelism?
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Nehru never referred to the merger of Andhra and Telangana to a marriage in Nizamabad meeting :
Ex. MP Narayan Reddy, who himself participated in the meeting at Nizamabad, was a witness to Nehru's statement comparing the merger of Andhra & Telangana to a marriage.
Nehru used to refer the merger of Andhra, Telangana to a marriage several times, in 1950s. Not just Nehru, but several other leaders, the media and common people also used to refer this merger to a marriage. Let us see what Nehru said on Nov 1st, 1956 inaugurating the Andhra Pradesh state: "So this particular combination of a part of Hyderabad State with Andhra - this marriage, as I call it -- has many features, good and bad, which often accompany marriages. That is to say it is good if the two cooperate and flourish to the advantage of each other. But, there are also risks and dangers if different temperaments and other things which may come in the way of smooth working so essential for the success of the marriage. Therefore, it is necessary, that there should be a very great degree of capacity to adjust oneself, capacity to appreciate other view points, capacity to allow the other person to grow in his own way and not impose oneself on others."
Source: The Indian Express, November 2nd 1956.
So is this too a lie Monsieur Parakala and party?
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The merger of Telangana with Andhra was done according to the wishes of Telangana people
This is perhaps the most shameless and blatant lie in the book published by VMS folks. In 1950s the merger with Andhra was vehemently opposed by people of Telangana.
When the States Reorganization Commission (Fazal Ali Commission) visited Telangana, several leaders and organizations submitted memorandums to the Commission requesting it to constitute Telangana region as a state. The people of Telangana expressed their opposition to merging with Andhra. Fazal Ali Commission has elaborately mentioned the concerns of Telanganites in their report. Here are some relevant excerpts: 376. The existing Andhra State has faced a financial problem of some magnitude ever since it was created and in comparison with Telangana the existing Andhra State has a low per capita revenue. Telangana, on the other hand, is much less likely to be faced with financial embarrassment. The much higher incidence of land revenue in Telangana and excise revenue of the order of Rs.5 crores per annum principally explain this difference. Whatever the explanation may be, some Telangana leaders seem to fear that the result of unification will be to exchange some settled sources of revenue, out of which development schemes may be financed, for financial uncertainty similar to that which Andhra is now faced. Telangana claims to be progressive and from an administrative point of view, unification, it is contended, is not likely to confer any benefits on this area. "377. When plans for future development are taken into account, Telangana fears that the claims of this area may not receive adequate consideration in Vishalandhra. The Nandikonda and Kushtapuram (Godavari) projects are, for example among the most important which Telangana or the country as a whole has undertaken. Irrigation in the coastal as of these two great rivers is, however, also being planned. Telangana, therefore, does not wish to lose its present independent rights in relation to the utilization of the waters of Krishna and Godavari. 378. One of the principal causes of opposition of Vishalandhra also seems to be the apprehension felt by the educationally backward people of Telangana that they may be swamped and exploited by the more advanced people of the coastal areas. In the Telangana districts outside the city of Hyderabad, education is woefully backward. The result is that a lower qualification than in Andhra is accepted for public services. The real fear of the people of Telangana is that if they join Andhra they will be unequally placed in relation to the people of Andhra and in this partnership the major partner will derive all the advantages immediately, while Telangana itself may be converted into a colony by the enterprising coastal Andhra. 379. Telangana, it has further been urged, can be a stable and viable unit considered by itself. The revenue receipts of this area on current account have been estimated at about Rs. 17 crores, and although
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the financing of the Krishna and Godavari projects will impose a recurring burden on the new State by way of interest charges, the probable deficit, if any is unlikely to be large. In favorable conditions, the revenue budget may even be balanced or indicate a marginal surplus. This fairly optimistic forecast can be explained or justified by a variety of reasons." After the 1st SRC report, the general mood of the people in the country and particularly in Telangana was that there would be two Telugu speaking states. Even the reputed Andhra newspaper Andhra Patrika confirmed the formation of Telangana state with a map and details about the two Telugu states. The Hyderabad state assembly never passed a resolution favoring the merger. But, the forces opposing Telangana continue to lie about the "resolution" Such was the resistance to the merger that the police had to impose prohibitory orders in Hyderabad, when the assembly was discussing the issue. During the discussion,14 Telangana MLAs threatened that they would resign if the merger with Andhra was thrust on them.
Source: Andhra Partrika 1955
VMS guys deliberately try to mislead that people of Telangana region have welcomed merger with Andhra. The fact is, the whole Telangana region opposed the very concept of Andhra Pradesh. There were thousands of rallies, protests and meetings across Telangana region demanding implementation of SRC recommendations. Some news clips from Golkonda Patrika, which show the intensity of the Telangana agitation of 1955, are given in next page.
Source: Golkonda Partrika 1955
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Golkonda Patrika Newsclips showcase the First Telangana Statehood movement during 1954 - 56
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States Reorganization Commission (SRC) headed by Fazal Ali was NOT against merger.
The VMS writers claim the above as a lie while quoting the below lines from SRC -
"386. After taking all these factors into consideration we have come to the conclusion that it will be in the interests of Andhra as well as Telangana, if for the present, the Telangana area is to constitute into a separate State, which may be known as the Hyderabad State with provision for its unification withAndhra after the general elections likely to be held in or about 1961 if by a two thirds majority the legislature of the residency Hyderabad State expresses itself in favor of such unification." From the excerpt from SRC's report above, Fazal Ali unambiguously recommended that 'the Telangana area is to constitute into a separate State, which may be known as the Hyderabad State' after taking 'all factors into consideration'. To understand the factors that led to this recommendation, we should read the report further. Para 282 of the SRC report said "opinion in Andhra is overwhelmingly in favour of the larger unit, public opinion in Telangana has still to crystallize itself. Important leaders of public opinion in Andhra themselves seem to appreciate that the unification of Telangana with Andhra, though desirable, should be based on a voluntary and willing association of the people and that it is primarily for the people of Telangana to take a decision about their future". SRC clearly mentioned 'public opinion hasn't crystallized itself' in Telangana as the concept of Visalandhra was never on their political agenda. The last election in Hyderabad state was not fought on Visalandhra issue and so SRC recommended Telangana state be formed upon disintegration of Hyderabad state and it be not merged with Andhra. SRC's idea was that the next election in Telangana (1961) would help people in Telangana debate and form an opinion on whether to continue as a separate state or merge with Andhra. That is why para 386 added 'with provision for its unification with Andhra after the general elections likely to be held in or about 1961 if by a two thirds majority the legislature of the residency Hyderabad State expresses itself in favor of such unification." However Andhra leadership realised that opinion in Telangana is against merger and that it would only consolidate with passage of time. So using Congress high command's influence on Hyderabad Congress leaders, they forced the merger immediately, without even an Assembly resolution. Thus SRC recommendation was violated in letter and spirit. However, the VMS writers dismiss this violation as 'the only departure from SRC recommendation was advancing the merger timeline, as 2/3rd legislators favored immediate integration rather than waiting for 5 years.'
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Their agenda of propagating lies gets murkier when they selectively quote Nehru to support this violation. They claim Nehru said "..it seemed wrong to postpone something to be done after five years, to keep it pending for that long." whereas this is what Nehru said actually "As I said, both sides had some logical arguments to advance. It is not that either side was wrong. On the one hand, it seemed wrong to postpone something to be done after five years, to keep it pending for that long. On the other hand, there was fear in the hearts of the people of Telengana, of being displaced by the people of Andhra". Now what do you call this - 'part representation of reality to obfuscate' or do you see a malfeasance to paint a wrong as a right? We leave it to intelligent readers to decide.
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Burgula Ramakrishna Rao supported Telangana's merger with Andhra
Burgula Ramakrishna Rao was originally opposed to Telangana's merger with Andhra. In a letter written to Congress high command, Burgula Ramakrishna Rao explained the opposition of Telangana people to the merger. Visalandhra Goebbels Lie
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The letter of Burgula Ramakrishna Rao, which VMS alleges is 'fabricated' by Telangana activists, was actually released by Burgula Ramakrishna Rao's family member Burgula Narsing Rao himself. In fact Burgula Narsing Rao released this letter when he was deeply pained by the false propaganda by some anti-Telangana folks about Burgula Ramakrishna Rao's role during the merger. In a press conference conducted by Burgula's family on 19th Dec 2009 to release the quoted letter, Narsing Rao clearly stated that Burgula Ramakrishna Rao had expressed many reservations on the merger. In the letter, Burgula Ramakrishna Rao clearly states "Telanganites feel that apart from being Telugus they had built up their own way of life over the past 175 years. This way of life is different in several respects from the way of life of the Telugus in Andhra. There is more cosmopolitanism in Telangana than in Andhra. The merger, they (the Telanganites) fear, will destroy this way of life. That is why they are worried." (Indian Express 20th Dec 2009) KV Narayana Rao's book "The Emergence of Andhra Pradesh" clearly states that Burgula Ramakrishna Rao opposed Visalandhra. It states: "The Chief Minister (Burgula Ramakrishna Rao), it was reported, did not insist on the disintegration of Hyderabad; he was considered to be against Visalandhra, if disintegration became inevitable." So, who is 'fabricating' VMS?
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There was nothing called a Telangana state prior to 1956, so, reinstating it does not make sense.
This is just semantics. We are demanding demerger of the Telangana region, which existed as a part of Hyderabad state and was forcibly merged with Andhra in 1956. In Hyderabad we call it 'baal ka khaal kheenchna'. How does it matter if Telangana people want to call their state as Telangana or Hyderabad state or to be politically correct 'erstwhile truncated, post-few districts merged with Karnataka and Maharastra state. The demand is for the demerger of the region that was merged with the Andhra State. Simple !
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"Idli Sambar go back" agitation was against Tamils of Madras.

"Idli Sambar go back" Slogan was coined during the 1952 Mulki agitation. Justice Pingle Jaganmohan Reddy was the chairman of the commission of enquiry, which was set up to enquire into Mulki agitation.
In his autobiography 'The Judiciary I served' - He wrote "the maltreatment of the Telengana people by the Andhra officers resulted in the Mulki riots which spread to the whole of Telengana area". This nails the lie the writers resort to. The facts about 'Idli Sambar go back' agitation are documented and are known widely. The authors' claim that Mulki agitations were directed against Tamils is deplorable if not laughable!
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Merger of Telangana Praja Samithi with the Congress Party was NOT a betrayal.
We think the VMS guys have some problem with comprehension of simple facts. Otherwise what is the problem in accepting this simple fact? Telangana Praja Samithi, led by Marri Chenna Reddy played an active role in the 1969 Telangana agitation. They won a whopping 10 seats in 1971 Lok Sabha elections.
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In that election Indira Gandhi, rode to power riding a hugely popular slogan "Garibhi Hatao". She had absolute majority in Lok Sabha and with growing hostilities with Pakistan, she was in no mood to concede the demand for Telangana state. At that juncture, TPS leader Marri Chenna Reddy agreed to merge his party with Congress, in return for certain safeguards to Telangana. Marri Chenna Reddy was offered the Chief Minister post of Andhra Pradesh in return. This merger is regarded as a betrayal by Telanganites. We do not understand what is wrong in feeling so. 1972 elections were not a referendum on Telangana nor were they fought on that single issue. Multitude of issues, quality of leaders and various socio-economic equations influence the outcome of an election, unless it is a referendum on a single issue. Going by the logic of the writers, we can construe a variety of conclusions about what people supported and rejected after any election, even without putting them on agenda! How shoddy and concocted views the VMS came up is revealed in this point. There was never a political party with the name Nava Telangana Praja Samithi (NTPS). In their habitual lying, VMS seems to think they will pass off anything as fact. And high decibel intellectual posturing does not change facts!
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Hyderabad was chosen as a Capital city of Andhra Pradesh in accordance with the aspirations of Telugu people of all three regions.
The merger with Andhra itself was opposed by Telangana people. Hyderabad became the capital city of Andhra Pradesh because it had all the requirements for one. Visalandhra Goebbels Lie
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When Andhras separated from Madras state, they tried to grab Madras city from the Tamils. We use the word 'grab' because at that time Tamils constituted almost 70% and Andhras were at 15% of the population of Madras. Yet, ambitious Andhra leaders insisted that they should get Madras city. A botched attempt to grab Madras from Tamils resulted in the tragic death of Potti Sriramulu. After his death, the Andhras resorted to unprecedented violence, which shook a young nation that became independent just 5 years earlier. In spite of the pressure exerted by Andhra leaders, Nehru did not yield to the blackmail and stated that Andhra state would be formed without Madras city.
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Serious differences cropped up between Andhra leaders over the location of their capital city. And when they failed to reach a consensus, Kurnool was decided as Andhra's temporary capital. But Kurnool was a small town and lacked infrastructure facilities of any kind. All the important offices were located in make-shift tents. Even after 2 long years of deliberations, Andhra leaders could not decide on a permanent capital for their state. Different leaders and parties, each one with a vested interest, kept suggesting multiple towns such as Waltair, Tirupati, Guntur, and Vijayawada for capital city. The people of Rayalaseema insisted that Kurnool should be retained as permanent capital. When Andhra leaders were making serious attempts to "snatch" Madras from the Tamils, C Rajagopala Chary, the then Chief Minister of Madras state advised them to try and merge with Telangana, so that they can get Hyderabad city, which would solve their capital city problem. Sometime after the merger of Hyderabad state and Andhra state in 1956, Monica Felton who wrote Rajaji's biography: 'I meet Rajaji', was in Hyderabad when Rajaji arrived there and had met with Ayyadevara Kaleswara Rao, who was the first Speaker of the Andhra Pradesh Assembly. Mr. Rao was a close confidante of Rajaji for many years and also served in various positions in Rajaji's cabinet in erstwhile Madras state (He was also President of original Vishalandra Maha Sabha and Vice- President of the Andhra Provincial Congress Party by the time the erstwhile Andhra state was inaugurated in October 1953). He invited Rajaji to tea with a small set of friends, including Dr. Jayasuriya and Pattabhi Sitaramayya. Ms. Felton mentions in her book that Rajaji began to talk about the disputes over separation of Andhra from Madras State and the then demand for the inclusion of Madras City in Andhra. Monica Felton describes the conversation as below. He (Rajaji) said: "You were determined to have Madras". They laughed "Indeed, yes", somebody chuckled. "But you gave up the idea at once", Rajaji said, "when I offered you Hyderabad as your capital". "Ah, yes", said another, "we never thought of that possibility". (Rajaji said) "No, that was a real surprise, wasn't it?" It is clear from the excerpt above that even while Hyderabad was operating as a separate state from 1948, influential Andhra leaders bargained and got a deal from Rajaji, the towering figure in INC, that they would have Hyderabad city as their capital if they stop claiming Madras. This also confirms what Rayalaseema leaders like MV Ramana Reddy have been repeatedly saying - That making Kurnool as capital of Andhra was just posturing and was never a serious attempt in building a new capital for Andhra.
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Six-point formula was not violated.

There are hundreds of examples of how Six-point formula was violated. Several government departments have already issued GOs to repatriate employees recruited in violation of Six-Point formula. GO 610 is prominent among them.
Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission had blatantly violated the Presidential Order of 1975 by creating non-existent 7th Zone. Refer "Visalandhra Lie 31" for more details.
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Andhra and Telangana are NOT different cultures
Many historians feel that Andhra and Telangana are in fact two different languages and cultures. BSL Hanumantha Rao, a noted Andhra historian terms, Andhra and Telangana as two different languages. Visalandhra Goebbels Lie
The word Andhra is now a synonym for all things bad because of the behavior of Andhra ruling classes. If anyone has to be blamed for this situation, it is the Andhra politico-business class that has looted and marginalized Telangana in all spheres of life. In this section, VMS quotes Madapati Hanumantha Rao, which is another classic case of how VMS can quote selectively from sources and twist history to suit its propaganda. Read this extract from VMS book. "Nawab Aliyavar Jung, a senior official in the Nizam Government once said to Sri Madapati Hanumanth Rao: "it came to our government's notice that the purpose of your Andhra agitation is to merge the Andhra districts of Madras and the Andhra districts in Nizam's dominion". Though they did not quote the reference for the above lines, we know that this was taken from Sri Madapati Hanumantha Rao's book "Telangana Andhrodyamamu". But, the dishonesty of the VMS guys is exposed when we know the lines that followed the above lines. In reply to Nawab Ali Yar Jung Bahadur's question, Madapati Hanumatha Rao assured him that they were not stupid enough to entertain such impractical ideas! Now that is selective quoting to suit one's needs! What would you call this? Chicanry? or intellectual dishonesty?
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Telangana Culture is NOT different

The belief that language is the basis of culture has been proven wrong in many instances. Kingshuk Nag, the editor of Times of India newspaper explains the 'bitter cultural divide' between Andhra and Telangana in his recent book "Battleground Telangana". He says:
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"If language were the basis of culture, Punjab and Bengal would not have been partitioned at the time of independence. Language is just one component that goes towards the creation of a homogeneous culture. Two groups of people could be speaking the same language (though different dialects), professing the same religion and yet consider themselves poles apart culturally. Nowhere is this dichotomy seen so strikingly as in Andhra Pradesh. In spite of being together as part of the same state since 1956, the people of Telangana consider themselves distinctly different from their counterparts in Andhra because of their different histories that have led to the creation of different cultures. They, however, speak the same language. Trying to unite these two culturally different people - though Telugu they both were - would be a Herculean endeavour." Culture is influenced by numerous factors ranging from history to geography. Language is just one dimension of a person's culture. Culture has several other dimensions, which include (but are not limited to) the traditions, values, beliefs, types of food, clothing, etc. of a specific population of peoples. It is a widely accepted fact that people speaking the same language can have different cultural identities. People of many English speaking countries (like North America and the UK) have completely different cultures. Same is the case with many Spanish language speaking people. Telangana region has a distinct Dakhni culture. This cosmopolitan culture was shaped by centuries of shared history, and the region's unique location on the Deccan plateau. When VMS authors argue that Telangana culture is a part of 'grand Telugu culture', we can clearly understand their supremacist attitude and an expansionist aspiration.
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Coastal Andhra Telugu was not imposed on Telangana

It's a widely documented and acknowledged fact that Coastal Andhra Telugu, (particularly that of central coastal districts) was imposed on Telangana in all spheres of life. This has been accepted not just by people of Telangana, but even by intellectuals of Andhra and some foreign scholars too. To argue that it did not happen only confirms that the VMS folks have buried their heads in some anti-Telangana sand.
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J.P. Gwynn, in the Introduction to 'A Telugu-English Dictionary', Oxford University Press, 1991 writes that the language of central coastal districts is considered as "Modern Standard Telugu"
This "Standardized Telugu", which is actively promoted by Andhra dominated print media, electronic media and cinema industry, trampled on Telangana dialect and led to irreparable damage. Several generations of Telangana students suffered academically as the Andhra Telugu language taught in the text books varied considerably when compared to the native Telangana dialect. Over time, the Central Coastal Andhra dialect, which was actively promoted as Standard Telugu created a widespread belief and arrogance among Andhras that this is 'pure', 'real' and 'higher' Telugu. Telangana dialect was looked down upon and not considered worth being published in literature. Writers from the region were ridiculed and told to 'correct' themselves and use the 'proper' Telugu.
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Literary giants from Telangana region like Kaloji and BS Ramulu have documented several instances of how the Telangana language, literature and literary figures were ridiculed by their Andhra counterparts. As early as 1932, an Andhra scholar named Mudumbai Raghavacharyulu wrote to noted Telangana scholar Suravaram Pratapa Reddy that there were no Telugu poets in Telangana. Irked by this insulting comment, Suravaram Pratapa Reddy then compiled a book containing 1418 poems by 354 poets from Telangana titled Golconda Kavula Sanchika' (Compendium of Golconda Poets). Even in 1970s, Andhra scholars used to ridicule Telangana language as "Tourakyandhramu" (Muslim Andhra language) This is what Loksatta Party Chief Nagabhairava Jayaprakash Narayana, (who hails from Andhra region, and is generally considered as opposed to the idea of Telangana state) had to say about how Telangana was alienated by the mainstream: "Nevertheless, when popular art is dominated by a certain dialect or cultural idiom, those who are left out feel genuinely aggrieved. Telengana has always been home to the richest Telugu indigenous (as opposed to the highly Sanscritized) vocabulary. But our popular films, media and literature have increasingly homogenized Telugu language and culture, and have led to alienation and a sense of marginalization of the local dialects in Telangana and elsewhere." (http://news.loksatta.org/2011/06/drjps-response-on-srikrishna-committee.html) The words, sentence formation and idiomatic expression of Potana, Suravaram, Vanamamalai Varadacharyulu, Dasarathi, Kaloji and Varavara Rao differ considerably. To say that all of them wrote in "Standaradized Telugu" reeks of cultural arrogance. The fact that Namasthe Telangana newspaper is forced to use the same Telugu as Andhra newspapers proves the point that post 1956, Telangana language was marginalized by the Coastal Andhra Telugu. The current statehood agitation has also become a cultural renaissance movement of Telangana. Today, several Telangana writers have begun writing in Telangana dialect. The Sunday supplement of the Namasthe Telangana newspaper regularly carries articles and stories written in Telangana dialect. Several popular TV anchors and Radio jockeys speak Telangana dialect with pride. And what's more, even common people from Telangana, now speak their native tongue with pride. And last but not the least, we are appalled when VMS authors lie shamelessly that Andhra Bhoomi newspaper was published from Nizam region before AP formation. The fact is Andhra Bhoomi began in 1960, after AP formation.
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Telangana people's ability to speak Urdu

While we do not want to answer every specific observation made by every Telangana person on various forums, we want to ascertain once more that Telangana culture is in fact more composite when compared to Andhra culture.
We reproduce the some extracts from the article "The Idea of Telangana" written by Chris Chekuri (Asst. Prof of History at San Francisco State University, CA) & Himadeep Muppidi (Associate Prof of Political Science at Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY.) These lines succinctly explain the composite culture of Telangana. "In creating Telangana, India has a wonderful opportunity to showcase the global cultural heritage in its geographical center. The cosmopolitanism of Telangana culture is invisible to those who see the world through colonial eyes. But if we shed that colonial perspective then we can craft a state, in the heart of the Indian nation, which highlights the most hybrid aspects of Indian civilization. Historically, Telangana has been at the crossroads of multiple cultures and communities. To echo the words of Jawaharlal Nehru on India's diversity, Telangana manifests the "widest tolerance of belief and custom" and does so not only at the elite level but also at the level of ordinary folks and everyday life. Iranians, Turks, Kayasths, Marwaris, Chinese, Bengalis, Syrian Christians, Marathis, Tamilians, Jews and Parsis, among others, have long found a home here. To listen to Prof. Jayashankar, one of the main intellectuals of the movement for over 50 years, is to listen to someone eloquent in Urdu, English and Telugu. Watching him move mellifluously among these three languages is to witness the best of India's plurality on display. What is remarkable is that such multicultural competence is not at all unusual in people from this region. The idea of Telangana represents something far richer and far more cosmopolitan than the idea of an integrated Andhra state. It is the idea of a plurality of cultures, religions, languages and social identities inhabiting a particular place and seeking to protect that against the ravages of a supremacist and onedimensional dominance. Creating Telangana means crafting a state that is territorially local, culturally global and equitably and emotionally well integrated into our national imagination."
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Telangana is NOT more cosmopolitan than Andhra

The VMS authors allege that Telangana people claim Hyderabad as the only 'cosmopolitan' place in the entire country.
No Telangana activist claimed that Telangana is the 'only' cosmopolitan place in the entire country. If ever, Telangana activists contend that Andhra and Telangana regions are quite different and say that Telangana is 'more' cosmopolitan than Andhra and this assertion is uncontested to any observer. There are many Marathis, Marwadis, Kayasthas, Gujarathis, Kannadigas people in various districts of Telangana whereas Andhra consists mostly of the people of that region. Hyderabad as the capital of Telangana influences this cosmopolitan character further where many cultures thrive. We may well quote these lines from Chris Chekuri and Himadeep Muppidi's article "The Idea of Telangana" "Telangana's culture has evolved in the direction of a hybrid Dakhni that is open to Marathis and Muslims and various socially marginalized communities. The idea of Telangana represents something far richer and far more cosmopolitan than the idea of an integrated Andhra state. It is the idea of a plurality of cultures, religions, languages and social identities inhabiting a particular place and seeking to protect that against the ravages of a supremacist and onedimensional dominance." http://telanganamatters.org/2011/03/24/the-idea-of-telangana/ The fact that the authors write something as nonsensical as "Since the British rule was less tyrannical than the Nizam rule, the Andhra and Rayalaseema culture witnessed the flowering of Telugu genius during the colonial rule and helped the people acquire a cosmopolitan outlook." tells us that they do not understand the word 'cosmopolitan' because if only one language flowers, it is indeed not considered 'cosmopolitan'.
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Nizam suppressed local languages & stifled the intellectual flowering of Telangana people
It is these very VMS guys, who on Page 25 of their book, say:
"The seeds of cultural renaissance in Telangana under Nizam flowered as long back as the beginning of the twentieth century. Starting with Srikrishnadevaraya Andhra Bhasha Nilayam which was established in1901 in Hyderabad, Rajaraja Narendra Andhra Bhasha Nilayam established in 1904 in Warangal and a series of such literary and cultural clubs were founded across the length and breadth of Telangana." Look how shamelessly they contradict themselves. On one hand they say "cultural renaissance began in 1901 under Nizam rule and on the other they say the Nizam stifled "intellectual flowering" We wonder how both of these phenomena could happen at the same time! It is a fact that the Nizam's administration happened in Urdu language and it was the medium of instruction. But to say that other languages were forcibly suppressed by Nizam is a travesty of truth. A full six decades after formation of Andhra Pradesh, most of the government administration happens in English. Does that equate to 'suppression of Telugu'? And the irony one cannot miss is that Monsieur Parakala and his cronies chose to publish their 'epitome' of lies in English firstly! Several Telugu libraries, newspapers and organizations were set up during the Nizam's regime. The fact that the first library - Krishna Devaraayaandhra Bhasha Nilayam was started as early as 1901 proves there were no specific restrictions on Telugu language. Permissions were required by people to set up peoples' or literary organizations because the Nizam's administration (much like the British colonialists) feared that such organizations would clandestinely support independence movement. A recent research by Sangishetty Srinivas listed at least 200 newspapers that were published from Telangana between 1886 and 1956. Sangishetty found out that the first Telangana newspaper was "Sedya Chandrika" - a publication on agriculture information published from 1886. Organizations such as Andhra Mahasabha freely existed and were also able to propagate their views without much hindrance. We should also not forget that noted Telangana scholar Suravaram Pratapa Reddy wrote the renowned book "Andhrula Sanghika Charitra" (which went on to win Kendra Sahitya Academy award), under the Nizam rule. All this would not have been possible if intellectual flowering of Telangana people was stifled under the Nizams. There goes another lie!
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Attributing regionalism to Tank Bund statues is not correct

From past 6 decades, Andhras have deliberately tried to destroy the Telangana identity in numerous ways. Imposing Andhra icons on Telangana people is one of the most visible attempts to annihilate the Telangana identity. Several attempts were made to erase symbols of Telangana heritage.
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A routine visit to any major town in Telangana will prove how Andhra hegemony has been imposed on Telangana people. Scores of statues of Andhra icons like Potti Sriramulu, NTR, YSR etc can be found in every nook and corner of Telangna. But, you will not find statues of any Telangana icons. In Andhra region, not even one Telangana icons statue can be found. Out of the 31 statues of luminaries installed on Visakhapatnam RK Beach Road, not even one is from Telangana region. So much for the Telugu brotherhood preached by the VMS folks! Even in Hyderabad city, you will find several statues of Andhra leaders, who have not contributed anything to Telangana region. In spite of several requests from Telangana people, many stalwarts from Telangana region do not find any place in Hyderabad. The fact that even the statues of Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah, who laid foundation for Hyderabad city, and Hussain Shaw Wali, the person who got the Hussain Sagar Lake dug, did not find a place on Tank Bund, is a telling proof of the bias shown by Andhra rulers. The pulling down of statues on Tank Bund during Million March was a reaction to 6 decades of Andhra cultural hegemony over Telangana. Pulling down statues is the hallmark of any agitation against hegemonic and despotic rulers. World history is punctuated with several examples of peoples anger on the statues imposed by their rulers. The Andhras themselves have pulled down the statue of the then President of India, Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy, during the Visakha Ukku agitation. Experts argue that many of the statues installed on Tank Bund do not even resemble the icons they represent. The fact is that there are no pictures or statues of these icons and we do not really know how these icons looked in reality. It is believed that stills from NTRs Telugu movies were used as a model for these statues. Chris Chekuri (Asst. Prof of History at San Francisco State University, CA, says ... Krishnadevaraya dressed in a more hybrid (Islamicate) style and by all accounts he did not look anything like the Tank Bund statue ...
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If the greatest Telugu emperor was engaged in Indo-Islamic cultural and political practices of his time, how is it that his modern statues portray him as a Hinduized prince of the nineteenth century? The answer is obviously in the erasure of Deccan identities during the colonial and postcolonial period, and a good beginning place would be to examine how modern Telugu nationalism systematically erased nonTelugu cultures and histories, especially those present in Hyderabad and the Deccan. Is it any wonder then that the very people that built Husain Sagar lake and Tank bund were not included in lineup of statues on Tank Bund? (http://telanganamatters.org)
This is how Krishna Deva Raya looked: A statue commissioned by Krishna Deva Raya himself at Tirupathi Krishna Deva Raya as depicted on the stamp released by Indian Government
Krishna Deva Raya as depicted in NTR's Telugu Movies
Observe how Tank Bund Statue resembles NTR's version rather than the original Krishna Deva Raya
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We should not look at creative fields from regional view

The authors did not dispute the fact that the Telugu film industry is dominated by
Andhras. However, they say we should not look at creative fields from regional view. The domination of the Andhras is so complete that it is hard not have the view on why the film industry, that operates from the heart of Telangana, is so overtly biased against it. This, despite the fact the film industry has settled in Hyderabad almost 4 decades ago utilizing Telangana's land resources. Did the VMS authors imply that Telanganas have no creativity!? Or is it that the elite Andhras are perpetuating their decades old bias against Telangana even in film industry? Perhaps, the content of Telugu films which routinely derogate and insult Telangana language and culture provides the answer. There are numerous instances of Telangana artists being discriminated in Telugu film industry. The fact that even VMS could count only one producer and one hero from Telangana region, while there are a hundred producers and heroes from Andhra, confirms this bias. The Andhra domination of Telugu film industry was also exposed by the stand taken by it during the 1972 Jai Andhra movement. The Telugu film industry openly supported the Jai Andhra movement. Several artists and industry bigwigs directly participated in that agitation. They donated huge amounts for the Jai Andhra movement and have issued newspaper ads pledging their support. In stark contrast, the same Telugu film industry kept mum when hundreds of youngsters were being gunned down exactly 3 years before - in 1969 Jai Telangana movement. Telugu film industry exhibits the same apathy towards loss of lives in current Telangana Statehood movement.
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Artists from Telangana, like Paidi Jairaj, went on to win the much coveted Dada Sabheb Phalke Award. But due to Telugu film industry's Andhra bias, even today he remains an unsung hero.
Here is a news clip showing noted matinee idol Krishna sitting on a fast in "Jai Andhra" movement
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Telugu films do NOT ridicule Telangana dialect.

Telugu cinema has long been used by the Andhras to ridicule Telangana dialect, culture and people. Right from the movie Kanne Manusulu released in 1966, to Cameraman Gangatho Rambabu released in 2012, scores of Telugu movies have directly ridiculed Telangana dialect, culture, and even statehood aspirations. In his book Battleground Telangana, Kingshuk Nag writes:
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Nowhere has the misrepresentation of Telangana culture been more striking than in Telugu films. People of Andhra Pradesh are avid film viewers and the Telugu film industry churns out more movies every year than even Bollywood. But in these colourful extravaganzas, the hero and heroine mouth the Telugu spoken in the Andhra area. However, the villain, vamp and the comic characters speak Telangana Telugu. We would also remind what Loksatta Party Chief Nagabhairava Jayaprakash Narayana, (who hails from Andhra region, and is generally considered as opposed to the idea of Telangana state) had said about how Telangana was alienated by the mainstream: Nevertheless, when popular art is dominated by a certain dialect or cultural idiom, those who are left out feel genuinely aggrieved. Telengana has always been home to the richest Telugu indigenous (as opposed to the highly Sanscritized) vocabulary. But our popular films, media and literature have increasingly homogenized Telugu language and culture, and have led to alienation and a sense of marginalization of the local dialects in Telangana and elsewhere. (http://news.loksatta.org/2011/06/drjps-response-on-srikrishna-committee.html) They say you can't wake up a person pretending to be asleep. Same seems to be the case with VMS
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Telangana culture is a sub-culture. Telangana activists are fomenting the illusion of singular identity
Its amusing to read the arguments of VMS authors to disprove Telangana identity. They do not seem to understand that the same arguments hold good for Telugu identity too. In every society, individuals have multiple identities like a family identity, a caste identity, a regional identity, a state identity, a political identity, a gender identity and so and so forth. To argue that one identity does not exist by showing another identity is silly. The VMS folks should understand that it is the failure of Andhras to respect the regional identity of Telanganites, that has fueled the statehood agitation.
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Any lay man can understand that Telangana and Andhra cultures are pole apart. A customary glance at the traditions, customs, festivals, language, food habits of Andhra and Telangana, proves that in spite of almost six decades of co-existence, there is little cultural exchange between the two regions. Noted journalist Roli Srivastava explains how there was no fusion between Telangana and Andhra cultures in her article The great divide? in Times of India. People from Andhra and Telangana regions may have coexisted for over five decades, but there has seemingly been no room for fusion of the two distinct cultures. Andhra Pradesh was formed in 1956 and ever since there has been an influx of people to Hyderabad, the bone of contention currently in the ongoing agitation for a separate Telangana state. The city may have retained its city of Nizams title, but it has a rather heterogenous character. People from Seemandhra rub shoulders with those from Telangana, many of whom are the original inhabitants of Hyderabad, but the two cultures have remained distinctly different. It is only obvious that at the heart of the Telangana agitation are the cultural differences between people of the two regions. The coexistence of the last many years does not reflect in the way the city lives. The Telugu dialect spoken by people of each region remains distinct and so do the festivals- Bathukamma is strictly a Telangana festival and Sankranti that of Andhra. Save a few, there have been no marriages that bond the two regions. To borrow Dada Saheb Phalke awardee Shyam Benegals words, Telangana has a unique and distinct culture like no other place in the country The argument of VMS that Telangana is a sub-culture of exposes the supremacist attitude of Andhras once again.
The States Reorganization Commission (SRC) recommended using language as the basis for redrawing the political map of India.
It is either the VMS authors are highly ignorant or they are habitual liars. Otherwise how can one understand their assertion that SRC recommended using language as the basis for redrawing the political map of India.
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In Part II of Report of the States Reorganization Commission (SRC) 1955, titled Factors Bearing on Reorganization, the Commission clearly said that it is neither possible nor desirable to reorganise States on the basis of the single test of either language or culture, but that a balanced approach to the whole problem is necessary in the interest of our national unity. Probably the VMS authors have never even looked at the SRC report, but in 1955 itself, the commission members have stated :
Such a balanced approach (to state creation) would appear to be: e) to reject the theory of one language one state, which is neither justified on grounds of linguistic homogeneity, because there can be more than one State speaking the same language without offending the linguistic principle , nor practicable, since different language groups, including the vast Hindi-speaking population of the Indian Union, cannot always be consolidated to form distinct linguistic units; India has created states based on many identities : regional, cultural, tribal, and language. If one takes a look at the division of Northeast, it is clear that is not just language but tribal differences which formed the basis for demarcation. When it came to creation of Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, it is not the language which formed the basis for the creation of these states, but other identities which include regional, cultural and other group identities which have local legitimacy. Such as hilly people versus the people of the plain in case of Uttarakhand. Goa has a status of a state only because of its history, and not necessarily language, Hindi belt consists of many states and therefore there is no reason why the second largest language in India, Telugu should not have two states.
Telangana festivals are NOT different

Festivals are an important dimension of a regions culture. Telangana proponents have been showcasing Bathukamma and Bonalu to demonstrate their unique regional culture. The attempt to highlight these two festivals is also done to prove how Telangana culture is being discriminated in a unified state.
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The VMS authors try to compare the popular Telangana festival Bathukamma to a village festival like Sirimaanu and exhibit their ignorance. Sirimaanu is a village festival held only at the Pyditallamma temple in Vizianagaram town, where as Bathukamma is celebrated in 10 districts of Telangana. The lies peddled by VMS authors stand exposed when one reads what Kingshuk Nag, editor of Times of India newspaper, and a neutral observer, writes in his book Battleground Telangana The Medaram Jatara is a good example of the rich cultural mosaic of Telangana, but it is only one amongst many festivals held in the area that are virtually unknown in the rest of Andhra Pradesh.People in other parts of the state (Andhra) are totally oblivious about these goddesses and the festivals celebrated in Telangana People of Telangana have long been exposed to diverse cultures, not just from other states, but from other countries too. Many of todays local customs and traditions were imbibed from other parts of the world and India. Telangana people know fully-well how to appreciate cultural diversity. In fact it is the Andhra brethren, who have failed miserably in respecting the cultural diversity of their Telangana brethren. This is one of the reasons for the discontent of Telangana people in a unified state.
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Telangana was NOT more prosperous than Andhra

Any sane person would understand that when we say Telangana was more prosperous than Andhra, we say it in the context of finances of Telangana region Vs finances of Andhra state But, VMS guys show the poverty of common people from Telangana and also the high taxation during Nizams time and try to argue that the Telangana region was poor.
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Some of the highest ranking government commissions, bureaucrats and economists have documented the fact that the financial situation of Telangana region, was much better than the Andhra state at the time of merger. The States Reorganization Commission clearly documented the financial situation of both Andhra and Telangana. It said: The existing Andhra state has faced a financial problem of some magnitude ever since it was created and in comparison with Telangana the existing Andhra state has a low per capita revenue. Telangana, on the other hand, is much less likely to be faced with financial embarrassment When the idea of forming the erstwhile Andhra state from the then composite state of Madras, was mooted, quite a few doubts were raised about the viability of that state. Dr. BR Ambedkar himself observed: Is the proposed Andhra State a viable State? Mr.Justice Wanchoo had very candidly admitted that the annual revenue deficit of the proposed Andhra State will be of the magnitude of Rs. 5 crores. Is it possible for the proposed Andhra state to reduce this gap either by increase of taxation or decrease in expenditure? The Andhras must face this question. Is the Centre going to take the responsibility of meeting this deficit? If so, will this responsibility be continued to the proposed Andhra state or will it be extended to all similar cases? These are questions which are to be considered. Elaborating further the inadequacies of the proposed Andhra state and the difficulties it was bound to face, Dr. Ambedkar said: Andhra is Sahara and there are no oases in it. Source: Writings and Speeches of Dr. BR Ambedkar (Vol) Andhra state, formed in 1953, was a deficit state from day one. The 1956 budget figures of Andhra state show that its Revenue was at Rs 23.71 Crores and its Expenditure was at Rs 26.95 Crores, leaving a deficit of Rs 3.24 Crores. The per capita annual government revenue for Andhra was Rs 11, while that of Telangana was Rs 14. Whatever the differences in economic activity, the state revenues in Telangana were better, and in 1954-55, yielded a surplus of Rs 0.51 crore, while Andhra had a deficit of Rs 5.18 crore. Moreover, Andhra had an overdraft of Rs 2.67 crore, while Telangana had Rs 11 crore in marketable securities Hope you had enough facts. Now, get back some sanity VMS !
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The surplus funds of Telangana region were NOT spent on Andhra region
This shows how shamelessly the VMS guys can lie. Here is the cover of a book written by noted economist BPR Vithal, named The Telengana surpluses - A Case Study
Incidentally, BPR Vithal is the father of Sanjay Baru, who happened to release the VMS book. So, it is clear that these guys are lying deliberately. As early as 1970, two committees - Kumar Lalith Committee and Justice Vashishta Bhargava Committee - appointed by state and central governments respectively have done exhaustive study on how the surplus funds from Telangana region were spent on the Andhra region. While Sri Kumar Lalith Committee estimated the Telangana surpluses between 1956-68 at Rs 34.09 Crores, the Bhargava Committee put this figure at Rs 28.34 Crores. In a meeting held on 8-2-1968, the then Chief Minister Sri Brahmananda Reddy, who hails from Andhra region, accepted that the Telangana surpluses are about Rs 34.24 Crores. We are surprised that VMV guys have so scant respect for facts that are recorded by the highest ranking authorities of our audit and legal systems (Kumar Lalith was from the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Vashishta Bhargava was the Justice of Supreme Court)
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Government Order (GO) 610 was NOT violated. Girglani Commission did NOT find large scale violations in job reservations to Telangana.
Injustice to Telangana people in government jobs has been very well documented by numerous government appointed committees. Two prominent Government Orders GO 36 in 1969-1970 and GO 610 in 1985 were issued by the AP state government to rectify irregularities in recruitments in the state. Incidentally, both these GOs were released during the rule of Andhra Chief Ministers. J.M. Girglani Commission (2003) or the One Man Commission (OMC) was set up examine the non-
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APPSC old website shows Hyderabad and Secunderabad under an imaginary 7th zone. As per presidental order 1975, AP was organised into six zones only.
implementation of the GO 610, which reserved government jobs in Telangana for locals. This GO 610 was issued TEN years after the Presidential Order of 1975 and yet even today, its implementation is not complete - even after 28 years. This in itself should serve to tell any neutral observer the odds Telangana has been facing. The following words by JM Girglani, written as Foreword to the book Funeral of 610 GO By A Lokender Reddy, sums up everything for us: The basis of all unity is justice, fair play and equality. These three factors are the basis of what is called mutual trust. When one party, normally the stronger party, transgresses these principles, unity becomes vulnerable... ...How is it that we in AP are not able to live together as a United State in spite of the binding force of language? The answer can be found in the One Man Commission Report (Girglani Report). The answer is that when the principles of justice, fair play and trust are violated, the basis of unity gets eroded. JM Girglani (IAS Retd.) The Girglani Commission submitted its final report on 30.9.2004 with 126 findings and suggested 35 remedial measures. He did not just give one single para which the VMS selectively published! J.M. Girglani painstakingly prepared the report even as only 51 departments (a dismal one third), responded with data needed for his report. He recorded how the Government allowed the presidential order to be circumvented in all departments.
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As per Gautam Pingle, Director, Public Policy and Governance, Administrative Staff College of India, From the individual figures cited by Girglani, the overall figure of Telangana jobs lost to non-locals is a minimum of 150,000. Even at a modest annual salary of Rs 1 lakh per annum (averaged over the thirty year span of the job), this amounts to Rs 45,000 crores of income loss to Telangana people and undue gain to Andhras. Bearing in mind that these government jobs are entitled to pensions till the holder dies and then thereafter the widow getting her pension till she dies, the loss to Telangana is horrendous. VMS folks should be ashamed to misquote Girglani commission.
The Small States debate
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To start with, the whole argument of small states was brought forward by the antiTelangana lobby and not the Telangana protagonists. From past 6 decades, Telanganites have always maintained that Telangana is not a small state. When created, it would be one of the largest states in India. Organizations such as Telangana Development Forum have even published booklets to dispel the myth propagated by anti-Telangana lobby that Telangana is a small state.
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And now, very cleverly VMS is trying to divert the whole discussion by saying size is hardly a criterion to divide the state. Telanganites have realized that simple fact 6 long decades ago!
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Economic viability of a state is an old and outdated theory.
Since they have never read it, the VMS authors are not aware that one of the most important criteria laid down by States Reorganization Commission for creating a state was Financial Viability. In page 52 of SRC, the Commission stated: Financial viability as we have attempted to define it, should, in our opinion, be regarded as an important criterion bearing on the reorganization of states
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Even Srikrishna Committee, in spite of the general anti-Telangana tone, had this to talk about the economic viability of Telangana. Telangana ranks 13th in GSDP as well as in per capita terms. Thus, from the point of view of sheer size of economy, Telangana as a new state can sustain itself. So, it is clear that Economic Viability still remains an important criterion for creating a state.
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No injustice was done to Telangana in irrigation sector

Denial of fair share of river waters to Telangana region has been an ongoing concern of Telangana people.
The erstwhile Hyderabad Government planned to provide irrigation for around 70 lakh acres to Telangana Region through grandiose projects such as Tungabhadra project (left bank canal), Upper Krishna project (Right Bank canal), Bheema Project and Nandikonda Project (Nagarjunasagar) all in Krishna Basin and Godavari Valley project, Inchampally Project and Devanur Project in Godavari Basin. All these projects have either been shelved or curtailed after formation of Andhra Pradesh in 1956. Telangana region has been denied its fair share in both Krishna and Godavari rivers. Examples of Discrimination on River Krishna: 1) Rajolibanda Diversion Scheme: The Bachawat Tribunal had allocated 17.1 tmc ft of water of which 15.9 tm cft was exclusively meant for Mahabubnagar. Andhra leaders have been forcibly diverting water to KC canal, by blasting the gates of the RDS project, from past several years. This day light robbery of water rightfully belonging to Telangana region is a classic case of the injustice meted out to the region in AP. 2) Srisailam Project: Originally envisaged as a Hydro-Electric Dam, the Srisailam project was later converted into a multi-purpose project. About 3 decades back, the AP government planned Srisailam Right Bank Canal (SRBC) to irrigate Andhra region and Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) to irrigate the Telangana region. While SRBC (Andhra) is completed and is irrigating several lakhs of acres, the SLBC (Telangana) is nowhere near completion, even after 3 decades have passed. 3) Nagarjuna Sagar Project: This project was proposed as a joint project between erstwhile Hyderabad and Madras states. This project was supposed to irrigate equal acreage in Andhra and Telangana regions. Today, 70% of Nagarjuna Sagar ayacut is in Andhra while only 30% is in Telangana
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VMS guys try to do some statistical jugglery by telling us that about 15 lakh hectares of additional land was brought under irrigation in Telangana. The groundlevel situation does not corroborate with these statistics. Post merger 10 lakh hectares was brought under irrigation by wells and tubewells dug by Telangana people. While the government funded canal irrigation accounted for a paltry 1.6 lakh hectares or a meager 10%. This only proves the fact that irrigation development in Telangana happened largely because of selfinvestment of Telangana farmers and the state government has played a miniscule role in this phenomenon. The high cost incurred by Telangana farmers to create irrigation facilities has resulted in a debt spiral, which has in turn led to a spate of farmers suicides in Telangana.
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River waters across the world are NOT allocated based on catchment areas
Telangana activists put forward the catchment area argument in tune with the international riparian rights doctrine.
The riparian rights doctrine, which originated in Roman law and later found its way into the English Common Law has been defined thus owners of land bordering on a waterway have equal rights to use the water passing through or by their property. A riparian owner is thus a person who owns lands abutting a stream, and who as such has certain rights to take water from the stream. VMS folks show the Bachawat Tribunal allocations on paper, but they do not have the guts to accept that even according the Bachawat Tribunal allocations, Telangana is losing a major share of its water. In fact Bachawat Tribunal, clearly said the Telangana would have had better irrigation facilities had it not joined Andhra Pradesh: The State of Andhra Pradesh, no doubt, has been allocated enough water for historical reasons, but still Telangana part of the State of Andhra Pradesh stands in need of irrigation. The area which we are considering for irrigation formed part of Hyderabad State and had there been no division of that State, there were better chances for the residents of this area to get irrigation facilities in Mahboobnagar District. We are of the opinion that this area should not be deprived of the benefit of irrigation on account of the reorganisation of States. ((Volume-II of Krishna Water Dispute Tribunal Award) As explained below (Lie. 36) , Andhra and Telangana are supposed to share Nagarjuna Sagar water equally. But, in reality, Telangana gets only about 66 TMC (Each TMC irrigates about 10,000 acres. Telangana has about 6.6 lakh acres ayacut) The same happened in Srisailam Project too. While Seemandhra region is receiving water to lakhs of acres through Right Bank Canal, not even one acre is irrigated by Srisailam Left Bank Canal waters in Telangana. In the previous page, we have also explained how Seemandhra politicians grab a major share of about 16 TMC allocated to Telangana in Rajolibanda Diversion Scheme. It is a paradox that the people of Telangana have to fight with not only other state governments and also with its own AP government for proportionate share in irrigation waters. As Constitution does not provide for any forum or remedy for regions like Telangana to secure the irrigation interests, the only way out is to carve out Telangana state.
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No injustice happened in Krishna River water allocations to Telangana

Any sane person would understand that Telangana was denied its fair share in Krishna river, but sanity is what the VMS guys seriously lack. We have provided some examples of how Telangana was denied its fair share in Krishna Waters, in previous page.
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VMS first tries to pass of a lie as truth and then attempts to cover up a blatant injustice. Lets look at these two : 1) The argument of VMS on Nagarjuna Sagar Project shows the scant regard they have towards facts. In their book, VMS guys try to project that the Nagarjuna Sagar Left Bank caters to Telangana and Right Bank caters to Andhra. This is a blatant lie. Water distribution between Left & Right Bank Canals is shown in the table. The figures clearly prove that while Telangana region gets only 30%, Andhra gets 70% water from Nagarjuna Sagar project. Apart from Right Bank canal, there are two more outlets of water discharge from Nagarjuna Sagar Project, through which the water goes to Andhra region - the flood gates and the power generation vents. But VMS folks, as usual, keep mum about this. 2) Pothireddypadu Head Regulator Project is a classic example of how Andhra leaders have flouted all established rules and are looting water, which rightfully belongs to Telangana region.
(Figures in Acres. Source: Chief Engineer, Nagarjuna Sagar Project))
Pothireddypadu Head Regulator
This project was originally designed to discharge 11,500 Cusecs of water from Srisailam Project into Srisailam Right Bank Canal, using 4 discharge gates. But, YS Rajasekhar Reddy government expanded the project and built 10 more gates to draw about 45,000 Cusecs of water. The expansion is illegal as it facilitates water transfer to regions outside Krishna basin (to Penna basin), even before the basin's needs are met. It is against the basic riperian principles.
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This robbery did not end here. When Pothireddypadu extension was proposed, the state government promised that the old gates would be dismantled once the new gates were constructed. But, even today, water continues to flow from 10 new and 4 old gates. Please see the Google Earth image of Pothireddypadu Head Regulator, which confirms how the AP government flouts all rules and denies Telangana, its fair share of water. Yet, VMS just makes a passing reference to this project and does not utter a word about this water robbery.
Telangana's natural geographic limitation is offset by free power that the farmers enjoy
Looks like VMS folks think that using two lies in a sentence makes it a truth. Let us first look at the "natural geographic limitation", which VMS talks about. "Telangana is not getting canal water, because of its altitude" - This has been a very popular argument of anti-Telangana propaganda machinery.
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What they don't explain is that how Karnataka and Maharashtra, which are located at a much higher altitude than Telangana, are able to build irrigation projects on Krishna and Godavari rivers. We hope VMS folks are aware of the fact that river water flows from a higher altitude to a lower altitude! There are several lakhs of acres in Telangana region, which can receive canal water through gravity. Projects such as Sriram Sagar Flood Flow Canal, Srisailam Left Bank Canal, Inchampally are only a few of the several projects that provide water through gravity. Yet, these projects lie unfinished even after 4 decades of their inception. The VMS folks also tried to portray that Telangana is a beneficiary of free power. This is another travesty of truth. People of Telangana have been desperately trying to provide irrigation facilities to their fields by digging borewells. The success rate of these borewells is abysmal and each farmer ends up digging several borewells. Telangana farmers are sucked into a debt spiral due to the high costs involved in digging a borewell, getting powersupply, purchasing a pumpset, and pipes. Discrimination - a daily affair!
The discrimination meted out to Telangana in agriculture power supply was thoroughly exposed in February 2013, when it was notice that Power Distribution Companies were putting the power supply details on their website. People of Telangana were shocked to learn that the Northern Power Distribution Company Limited (NPDCL), supplying power to Telangana districts, has 2679 Feeders, of which a whopping 2647 Feeders received less than 7 Hours power supply. At the same time, the Eastern Power Distribution Company Limited, supplying power to Andhra districts, has 1139 Feeders and all of them have received 7 hours power. This blatant discrimination has resulted in a huge furore in state assembly. This incident proves yet again, that Telangana will never get justice in Andhra Pradesh state.
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A farmer in Andhra, who gets canal water, does not have any of these costs. But, the end produce of both Andhra and Telangana farmer gets the same price in the market. This results in lower margins for Telangana farmers. Moreover, the power supply situation in Telangana is so horrible that farmers hardly get 7 hours power-that too in two installments.
The mid-night power supply to agriculture connections in Telangana has added a new dimension to the Telangana tragedy. In last decade hundreds of Telangana farmers have lost their lives due to electrocution, while trying to water their fields in the dead of the night.
Flourosis problem is present in other districts and areas too.

We cite the case of Nalgonda Flourosis as an example of Andhra leaderships apathy towards the grievances of Telangana. The criminal negligence of the Andhra Pradesh government, has resulted in a human calamity of unimaginable proportions in Nalgonda district. But, as is their nature, the authors of VMS try to play down this serious issue by trying to equate it with similar problems faced by people elsewhere.
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Let us now examine why Nalgonda flourosis case is unique. The upper limit of optimum fluoride level in drinking water for a tropical country like India is 0.5 PPM or 0.5 Mg/l. The fluoride content of ground water in Nalgonda is as high as 20 PPM. About 850 villages in Nalgonda district are suffering with lethal amounts of Flouride in drinking water. The Flourosis problem in Nalgonda is aggravated by the dependence of the people on borewell water to meet their drinking water and irrigation needs. All this, while most Flouride affected villages are located only about 50 Km from Krishna River. People of Nalgonda have been agitating for clean drinking water, under the leadership of Flourosis Vimukti Porata Samithi, Flourosis Vimukti Vedika, and Nalgonda Jala Sadhana Samithi from past 3 decades. Their demand is simple. Provide Krishna River water for drinking and irrigation purposes. The struggle of Nalgonda people was heard by international aid agencies like World Bank, international media like BBC. Yet, the AP Government, instead of resolving the issue, has resorted to brutal repression on activists, who were leading the water struggle. Duscharla Satyanarayana, leader of Nalgonda Jala Sadhana Samithi, was arrested and jailed.
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The state High Court, hearing a PIL from Flouride victims directed the state government to initiate remedial measure immediately. The High Court unequivocally said quality water was a right of the people protected under Article 21 of the Constitution and also by a 1997 UN resolution. Dr. Deme Raja Reddy, who works as a Neuro Surgeon in Apollo Hospitals and is also convenor of Fluorosis Vimukthi Vedika, AP has done decades of research on Flourosis issue. He says that providing Krishna water for drinking and cooking and Krishna water for cultivation is the only permanent cure to this problem. The Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC), which could have provided safe drinking and irrigation water to the residents of Nalgonda, is no where near completion. The case of SLBC is by itself another proof of discrimination meted out to Telangana region in a unified state. While the Srisailam Right Bank Canal, which irrigates lakhs of acres in Seemandhra region was completed long back, SLBC continues to be a victim of neglect. Nalgonda Flourosis is a standing testimony to the step-motherly treatment that Telangana region receives in a unified state. This issue remains unresolved in spite of decades of peoples struggles and the intervention of the state High Court.
Duscharla Satyanarayana jailed for agitating on drinking water issue
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Telangana minerals are NOT looted by Andhras

The demand for a fair share in the mineral wealth of their region has been one of the issues raised by Telangana statehood movement. The region has long been denied its fair share in its mineral wealth. Mining is one of the highest wealth generating businesses in the world and across continents, local communities are demanding a fair share of mineral wealth. Mineral rich countries like South Africa, Papua New Guinea, Namibia, Ghana, Peru have all enacted legislations to share profits from mining with the local communities.
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In the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 2010, even Indian government is proposing benefit-sharing with the local community (26 per cent of profits), investments in CSR (3 per cent of the turnover).
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As shown in the graph, the top 3 mining districts in AP are in Telangana. The region contributes a lion's share to AP's mining revenue. A latest example of how Telangana's mineral wealth is looted is the case of Bayyaram Iron Ore Mines. The Bayyaram mines span an extent of about 1,41,725 acres and estimated to hold reserves of about 3.4 lakh tonnes of iron ore worth several Lakh Crores.
Top mining districts in A.P.
Such valuable mines, were handed over to Rakshana Steels, belonging to his own son-in-law, by the then CM YS Rajasekhara Reddy, who hails from Seemandhra region The controversial GO was scrapped only after Telangana activists raised a big furore. Telangana activists have long been demanding that a Public Sector Steel Plant be constructed near Bayyaram so that the valuable ore can be used to generate various forms of steel. Bayyaram has several advantages on its side. Coal an important raw material for steel production is available at Illendu, which is just 24 Km away. Dolomite another important raw material is available at Madharam, located at about 15 Km from Bayyaram. Water necessary for the steel plant can be drawn from Pakhala lake or Otteru and Alugeru streams located nearby. While a modern integrated Steel Plant has a captive power plant, any extra power requirement can be met by the KTPS power plant in Palvancha located about 75 Km from Bayyaram. The plant will generate employment to thousands of tribals in Khammam and Warangal districts. In spite of several protests and representations, the AP government decided to hand over the Bayyaram Iron Ore mines to Visakhaptnam Steel Plant located in Andhra region. Thus depriving the much needed employment to Telangana locals. Telangana activists have now intensified their agitation with a slogan Bayyaram Ukku, Telangana Hakku (Bayyaram Iron is Telanganas Right)
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Telangana is on par with Andhra in thermal power generation

The table on the left should nail the lie of VMS about power generation figures. It is clear that Telangana lags behind Seemandhra in Thermal power generation.
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Singareni Collieries is another example of how valuable Telangana resources are diverted to Andhra in a unified state. Singareni is one of the oldest and largest coal mines of India. Before merger, it belonged to the erstwhile Hyderabad state. If Telangana region was not forcibly merged with Andhra, it would have become the sole owner of Singareni Collieries. Thermal power generation plants are generally set up at sites which are nearer to the raw material like coal. Transporting coal is very costly, where as electricity can be transmitted to far-off places without much effort. But, in Andhra Pradesh, thermal power plants, which were originally planned in Telangana region, were moved to Andhra region. These plants were set up in far-off places such as Vijayawada and Kadapa, which are located hundreds of kilometers away from Singareni Coal Mines. This has resulted in huge loss to the state exchequer, as coal transportation costs to these far-off generation plants are translating to higher generation costs. Theese tables clearly prove that the state government is incurring a huge cost of Rs 1069 Crores per annum due to the partiality shown towards Andhra region. The diversion of the above two projects (VTPS & RTPP) has also resulted in a loss of 3806 jobs for Telangana region.
Excess power generation cost in Andhra region
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Lands in and around Hyderabad are not doled out to Seemandhra businessmen
There are dozens of examples of how successive governments have allotted thousands of acres of valuable land in and around Hyderabad to Seemandhra businessmen and politicians. The land allotments reached feverish pitch during the Nara Chandra Babu Naidu and YS Rajasekhara Reddy regimes.
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The national and regional media has written about several cases where lands around Hyderabad were illegally grabbed by a handful of Seemandhra businessmen. Indias highest investigating agencies like Central Bureau of Investigation, Serious Frauds Investigation Organization, Enforcement Directorate, Comptroller and Auditor General are currently investigating cases of rampant corruption, money laundering and loss to the state exchequer because of such land allotments. We are surprised that VMS is ignorant of the infamous YS Jagan Mohan Reddys disproportionate assets case, the EMAAR scam, the IMGB land scam, the Jadcherla Formulations SEZ scam. Here are some details: - 535 acres of land in Ranga Reddy district to EMAAR (A Seemandhra businessman named Koneru Prasad arrested as main accused in this scam) - APIIC, in July 2006, irregularly allotted 500 acres to M/s. Indu Tech Zone Pvt Ltd (250 acres) and M/ s. Brahmani Infratech Pvt Ltd (250 acres). Both these companies are owned by Seemandhra businessmen Apart from this, several other Seemandhra businessmen benefitted due to the land allotments in Hyderabad. These include. - Businessman politician Lagadapati Rajgopal, who runs the anti-Telangana movement, was allotted about 100 acres of Waqf Land at throw-away prices. The Waqf Board is currently waging a legal battle against Lagadapati Rajgopals company Lanco Infratech in the Supreme Court. - About 855 Acres of land, and 8 stadiums were sold to a fraud company named IMGB by the then chief minister Chandra Babu Naidu. This is a front company of a Seemandhra businessman named Ahobila Rao, a close friend of Chandra Babu Naidu. - During YS Rajasekhara Reddy regime, a bunch of Andhra businessmen grabbed lucrative projects in the name of Govt-to-Govt projects to Ras-Al-Khaimah. When one such group of Andhra businessmen tried to grab 2000 acres, in Hyderabad suburbs, in the name of Economic City, a Telangana activist named Capt L. Panduranga Reddy filed a writ petition in state high court. The state government, fearing reprimand from the court, shelved the project. These are just few major examples of how Andhra businessmen grabbed lands in and around Hyderabad.
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Education was NOT neglected in Telangana region

While there are hundreds of examples of discrimination to Telangana region in Education sector, we have provided three major examples here : A) Municipal Schools: In December 2012, AP state government has decided to upgrade about 200 Municipal High Schools to Junior Colleges. According to this plan, each of these schools would be given an amount of Rs. 1 crore for improvement of infrastructure.
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For a casual observer, it looks like a very progressive step. But for Telangana people, they understand that this is the latest saga in an unending tale of regional discrimination. When Seemandhra and Telangana were merged to form Andhra Pradesh state, Municipal Schools were present only in the British ruled Seemandhra region and not in Telangana region. Instead of correcting this anomaly by establishing new municipal schools in Telangana region, AP government established more municipal schools in Seemandhra region!
B. Government & Aided Degree Colleges:
C. Budget Allocations to Degree Colleges (2008-09)
Source: AP Education Department
(in crores)
The number of Degree colleges in Andhra and Telangana and the budget allocations to these institutions clearly illustrates the discrimination meted out to Telangana region.
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D) Medical Education: Post merger, AP government established 8 Medical colleges in Andhra region and only 2 medical colleges in Telangana region. Isnt this a case of discrimination?
Government Medical Colleges in AP (2012-2013) Andhra 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9) 10) Andhra Medical College, Visakhapatnam Government Medical College, Anantapur Guntur Medical College, Guntur Kurnool Medical College, Kurnool Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Srikakulam Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Ongole Rangaraya Medical College, Kakinada S V Medical College, Tirupati Siddhartha Medical College, Vijaywada Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Kadapa 1) 2) 3) 4) Telangana Osmania Medical College Gandhi Medical College Kakatiya Medical College Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Adilabad
Govt Medical Seats in AP (2012-2013)
The tale of discrimination meted out to Telangana in a unified state is never-ending. Here are a few more dimensions of this : i. The Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU) was initially established in Warangal (Telangana); but was subsequently shifted to Hyderabad under the pretext of locating all state level universities of the State in the capital city. It was done by the then Congress Government. The Open University was originally launched on the northern banks of Nagarjuna Sagar in Nalgonda
ii.
district (Telangana); but was shifted within two months to Hyderabad, again, on the same pretext. And this was done by the NTR led TDP government. iii. The same NTR started the University of Health Sciences in Vijayawada (Coastal Andhra) and the Womens University in Tirupathi (Rayalaseema), conveniently forgetting the convention of locating the state level universities in the capital city. iv. NTRs successor and son-in-law Chandrababu Naidu followed his footsteps and located the Dravidian University in a remote village Kuppam and SVIMS in Tirupathi both in the Rayalaseema region.
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Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy continued this practice without any reason or restraint and went on the spree of establishing state level universities mostly in Rayalaseema and Andhra regions. They are: a) Horticulture University in West Godavari District (Coastal Andhra) b) Law University in Visakhapatnam (Coastal Andhra) c) University of Veterinary Sciences in Tirupathi (Rayalseema) d) Vedic University in Tirupathi (Rayalseema) e) RGUKT in Idupulapaya, a village in Kadapa (Rayalseema)
vi. State level universities situated in the capital city have a few noteworthy dimensions: a) When JNTU was shifted from Warangal to Hyderabad, it was endowed with the facility of having two constituent colleges, one in Kakinada (Coastal Andhra) and the other in Ananthpur(Rayalaseema), but none in Telangana. Recently, JNTU has been trifurcated by upgrading the campuses at Kakinada and Ananthapur into full-fledged universities and truncating the jurisdiction of the parent university in the capital city. But the nine districts of Telangana do not have a JNTU like the other two regions. b) The story of Agricultural University is much more difficult to comprehend. All the courses offered by this university were once an integral part of Osmania University. Therefore, all the seats were available mostly, if not exclusively, to the students of Telangana. After the formation of Andhra Pradesh, all the departments of this discipline were taken away from the Osmania University to form the present state level agricultural university. As a result, the students of Telangana are left with a mere 36% of the seats. It has not stopped at that. The establishment of the University of Veterinary Sciences at Tirupathi (Rayalaseema) and horticultural University in West Godavari (Andhra) caused considerable erosion in the significance of the parent agricultural university, which, in fact, is an offshoot of Osmania University. vii. Location of a university in a district/town facilitates and contributes to the development of that area. For instance, the University of Health Sciences in Vijayawada and SVIMS in Tirupathi have improved the medical facilities in and around those towns, besides providing employment opportunities to the locals. Similarly, the Dravidian University has considerably changed the face of Kuppam, a small village in the Rayalaseema region. Likewise four state level universities, besides one regional university, have made Tirupathi town compete with the capital city itself in the field of higher education.
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Andhra Corporate Educational institutions are flourishing because of their expertise

VMS had no option but the accept that the fact that the entire private educational institutions industry is owned by Seemandhrites. The growth of these educational institutions was not due to any expertise, but due to several questionable and unethical practices.
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A handful of Andhra corporate private colleges have turned intermediate (10+2) education into a modern slave business. Students are reared like poultry chicken in large buildings. High levels of stress in these colleges have already caused a spate of suicides. These corporate colleges resort to a number of illegal practices such as leaking question papers, influencing the intermediate board in setting question papers, influencing the answer sheet valuation, buying top ranking students etc. These corporate colleges have literally monopolized the intermediate education in Telangana. Their financial muscle, coupled with their unethical business practices has destroyed scores of small private colleges in Telangana. The detrimental impact of these corporate education institutions is already being felt not just by Telangana, but even outside the region.
Andhra settlers did NOT exploit Telangana

If that is the case, then there would not be so much public anger in Telangana region. History tells us that there are two primary types of migration one for livelihood and the other for exploitation. As stated earlier, Indias first Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru has understood the motive behind Andhras rush to merge Telangana. He has clearly stated that Andhra leadership's idea of Visalandhra (AP) is bearing a taint of expansionist imperialism. Visalandhra Goebbels Lie
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In 1955, Telangana people suspected that their region would be converted into an internal colony if they merge with Andhra state. In last 6 decades, Andhras have done just that. Migrants from Seemandhra occupied several thousands of jobs that rightfully belonged to Telangana locals. This fact was documented by several commissions and Government Orders. Seemandhra businessman-politician lobby occupied valuable lands in and around Hyderabad. With government help, they have monopolized several industries. They cornered lucrative infrastructure projects and earned thousands of Crores of money. Wealth accumulation by a select few, using their access to political power, will definitely be termed as exploitation.
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About the loot of Hyderabad

Andhras are perhaps one of the last of the migrants that have come looking for a livelihood in Hyderabad city. Before them, people from across continents have come to Hyderabad to make a living. None of the other migrants felt that they have developed Hyderabad.
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The most important dimension of this development of Hyderabad that VMS talks about, is that how the locals are completely deprived of the fruits of it. The development of Hyderabad only greased the pockets of scores of Seemandhra businessmen, who have used every possible illegal means to loot the resources of Hyderabad. Not a day passes by when the local and national media does not discuss about how a handful of rich Andhra business-political-cinema barons have looted Hyderabad. But, VMS guys act like Ostriches and act as if they are unable to see this daylight robbery! Some of the high profile businessmen / politicians from Andhra, who have tarnished the image of Hyderabad, are listed below: YS Jagan Mohan Reddy (5 major scams related to disproportionate assets) Chandra Babu Naidu (IMGB Scam) Ramalinga Raju (Satyam Scam) Matrix Prasad (VANPIC Scam) Nookarapu Suryaprakash Rao (Nadergul Lands Scam) Koneru Prasad (EMMAR Scam)
The fact that the key accused in all the major scams that have surfaced in the last decade hail from Andhra region is no coincidence. It only proves the criminal nexus between Andhra business-politiciancinema complex. Together, they have looted Hyderabad & Telangana.
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Hyderabad revenue does not belong entirely to Telangana

The fact is, Telangana people never demanded that the entire revenue from Hyderabad should be spent on Telangana. They have only asked for a legitimate share of those revenues. It looks like the VMS folks are blissfully unaware that there is an established policy in calculating the revenues from Hyderabad. Telangana people are simply demanding that the policy be adhered to. But, VMS folks, true to their nature, try to resort to false propaganda based on half-baked knowledge..
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The established policy of the State Government contained in Letter No 7193/68-1 dated 03.02.1969 of the Finance Secretary of the State Government which inter alia elaborated the principles of computing the income of different regions. The relevant extract of the Letter says: The receipts accruing in the respective areas will be credited to those regions while the receipts at the headquarters will be credited to the Telangana region except in cases where they specifically relate to Andhra region. In spite of this policy, the then state Chief Minister K Rosaiah, in a reply to a question on Telangana income and expenditures has supplied data, showing Hyderabad income under a separate head, to the state assembly By furnishing these figures, K. Rosaiah had admitted that even without reckoning the revenue receipts of the Headquarters, Telangana's contribution to the State's revenues is far higher when compared to the contribution of Seemandhra, put together or separately as detailed below: Telangana between 61.23% and 52.01% Seemandhra between 47.99% and 38.77% What more evidence is required to prove that the contribution of Telangana to the State's Revenues is always higher than the other two regions, even after showing the income of the Headquarters separately? Another important factor which does not figure in the state government income, is the several thousand crores of money accruing through the indiscriminate sale of Telangana lands, especially in and around the city of Hyderabad. It is the common knowledge that a substantial part of these receipts was spent, and also is being spent on the development projects in the other regions.
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Hyderabad developed because it became the capital of a large State

Linking a city's development to the size of the state is absurd. Infact, Hyderabad became the capital of AP because it was the most developed city in Andhra, Telangana regions. When VMS authors compare Hyderabad city with Mysore, Gwalior, Baroda, and Junagadh, we can't help but pity their ignorance. Hyderabad was the capital of Nizam's Kingdom, which was the largest and richest of all the Princely States. It was a very well developed city by early 1900s and was miles ahead than all the cities that VMS folks compare it with. Mir Turab Ali Khan (Salar Jung I), and Mir Osman Alikhan have played an important role in the early development of Hyderabad city. Hyderabad city had excellent road, rail and air connectivity even before India became independent. the city had state-of-the-art piped water supply and sewerage system in early 1900s. The fact that the city still uses Nizam era water supply and sewerage system is a testimony to the development that happened before Hyderabad was merged with AP. Nizam had established the "City Improvement Board" in early 1911 to take care of the infrastructure needs of Hyderabad city. Several years before it was merged with Andhra, Hyderabad had excellent healthcare infrastructure (Osmania Hospital, Gandhi Hospital, Kothi ENT Hospital, Unani Hospital, Charminar, Koranti Fever Hospital, Institute of Mental Health Erragadda, Jajgi Khanaa Hospital, MNJ Cancer Hospital & Radium Institute, AP General and Chest Hospital, Niloufer Children's Hospital, Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences NIMS, Afzal Gunj hospital, Princess Durru Shewar hospital for Children and Women, Princess Esra Hospital). The fact that post merger, not even one major government hospital was constructed in Hyderabad speaks volumes about how hollow the 'development' of Hyderabad argument is.
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The Capital of Telangana (1955)
Osmania University, Osmania Hospital, Unani Hospital, Begumpet Airport
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The Capital of Andhra (1953)
Even today, several AP state government offices (including the state assembly and high court) function in Nizam-era buildings. Dr. BR Ambedkar thought Hyderabad had all the qualities to be made the Second Capital of India. He had this to say about Hyderabad's infrastructure "Hyderabad has all the amenities which Delhi has and it is a far better city than Delhi. It has all the grandeur which Delhi has. Buildings are going cheap and they are really beautiful buildings, far superior to those in Delhi. The only thing that is wanting is a Parliament House which the Government of India can easily build." Several central government and defence research organizations came up in Hyderabad, not because it is the capital city of a 'large state' as VMS authors claim, but owing to the two advantages it had:
The status of Dera Nagar (Kurnool), where administration happend from makeshift tents
1) Availability of large tracts of land: Hyderabad had the largest land bank when compared to any other city in the country. This is because during Nizam's regime, thousands of acres of land in and around Hyderabad (called Sarf-E-Khas) were considered Nizam's private property. After Operation Polo, this land automatically became government property. Post-merger, the government of Andhra Pradesh inherited this huge land bank. Central and state governments could set up several organizations due to the availability of this land.
2) Strategic location of Hyderabad: Hostilities with Pakistan and China during the early decades of Indian independence forced the Indian government to look for locations that were not within a striking distance from these two nations. This search led them to two South Indian cities - Hyderabad and Pune. This is the precise reason why you will find several defence establishments such as DRDO, DMRL, DLRL, Midhani, Ordnance factory, Nuclear Fuel Complex, BEL and HAL in and around Hyderabad
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Telangana is NOT backward

Statistics in isolation do not prove anything. One needs to correlate them with the ground level reality. GDPs of countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan grow at a faster rate than USA. Does that mean thouse countries are developing faster than USA. But, VMS propagandists just want to quote some selective statistics to prove that Telangana is in fact "developed"
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The argument of Telangana people has been about denial of fair share in irrigation, jobs and public expenditure in united state. And that has been ratified by several government committees and commissions. We have never said Telangana has not developed at all. What we said is that development was inadequate, and is coming at a huge cost, because of discrimination in a united state. Telangana's backwardness was vindicated, when the central government selected 9 out of 10 Telangana districts under the Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF) for financial year 2009-10. The BRGF is a special financial package designed to redress regional imbalances in development.
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Closure of Telangana industries was natural

Telangana region was the biggest loser in the large scale sell-off of public enterprises that happened during Chandra Babu Naidu. Several PSUs, which employed thousands of workers were sold off for a pittance. The case of Nizam Sugars (NSF), which was established in 1934 and considered as the largest public sector Sugar Factory, clearly illustrates how Andhra leadership did irreparable damage by selling of precious public sector undertakings.
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Nizam Sugars ran into losses because of poor management. Ideally, a responsible government should have looked into the causes of these losses and initiated measures to put the company back on track. But the Chandra Babu Naidu government rushed to sell majority stake in Nizam Sugars to a private company called Delta Paper Mills (DPM). Several protests from Telangana farmers and political parties failed to deter the Naidu government. An Assembly House Committee appointed in 2004 pointed out that Nizam Sugarss joint venture agreement with Delta Paper Mills was deceitful, irregular and defective The state government parted with NSF assets worth Rs.500 crore without receiving a single rupee against the sale price and offered concessions worth about Rs.300 crore to Delta Paper Mills besides paying Rs.12 crore as VRS compensation to employees in 2002. Such examples clearly prove how Andhra rulers squandered away valuable Telangana public sector companies.
Telanganas industrial development is faster than that of Andhra

On paper, Telangana looks more industrialized than Andhra. This is because a major percent of industries in Telangana are owned by Andhra businessmen.
In a study done by Telangana Chambers of Commerce and Industry (TECCI), it was found out that among the category of Medium and Large-Scale Industries in the state, 62% of companies were located in Telangana during the period 1991-2010. Out of those located in Telangana, as many as 75% were owned by Andhra entrepreneurs, the remaining 25% owned by those from Telangana. While companies located in Telangana accounted for 56% of total employment generated, what is revealing is that as much as 75% of this employment generated in Telangana went to Andhra youth, remaining 25% to the Telangana youth. As regards Small-Scale Industries till 2007, 56% of total employment was generated in Telangana. Out of this 70% belonged to Andhra youth, remaining 30% for Telangana youth. A case study of Hyderabad Unit of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited reveals that
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in the category of General Managers and Executives, over 80% belonged to Seemandhra. Even among the contract labour nearly two-thirds, and among staff and workers over half belonged to Seemandhra. As for the software industry in Hyderabad, the local youth do not constitute even 5% of total employment In his research paper Industrialization in Andhra Pradesh - an analysis of regional variations, D Sadanand echoes the same point Although Telangana region seemed to (be) industrially developed, personal enquiries reveal that the fruits are not reaching the people of Telangana properly as the industries set up in Telangana region are owned either by people from Andhra region, which is agriculturally developed or by people coming from other parts of the country. Thus the fruits of the industrial development are not reaching the inhabitants of Telangana.
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Andhra businessmen dont dominate businesses in Hyderabad
Even a customary glance at the list of top industrial tycoons from AP, proves that it is skewed heavily towards Andhra. But, VMS folks try to dispute even this by quoting a few Telangana entrepreneurs. The print and electronic media, cinema, software, real-estate, finance, healthcare, education, transport, infrastructure, retail, mining and agri businesses are completely dominated by Andhra businessmen. Visalandhra Goebbels Lie
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Entrepreneurship does not happen in vacuum. A political economy that favored Andhra businessmen over Telangana businessmen, has led to the current day situation in Andhra Pradesh. We firmly believe that Telangana statehood will be a right step in the direction of correcting this anomaly. Jaideep Mishra explains the connection between statehood and enterpreneurship in his article in The Economic Times that in the Indian context, the experience of the last several decades is that statehood can give rise to, sustain and actually boost entrepreneurship. Hence the rationale for a separate Telangana state, bifurcated from Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra, or Seema-Andhra . It ought to rev up entrepreneurship across the board in Telangana, and benefit the region and the nation. This is the precise reason why we believe that a Telangana state will help Telangana entrepreneurs and the domination of Andhras in all businesses will be reduced.
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Giving 3 acres of land to each Telangana family is not possible

Telangana movement leadership has promised land to the landless as a step towards social justice. The undemocratic and anti-people nature of VMS stands exposed by their opposition to the idea of land distribution to the poor.
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Telangana Peasant Armed Struggle is the precursor to land reforms initiative in Andhra Pradesh. During that struggle, lakhs of acres of land was redistributed to the landless. The Hyderabad Tenancy and Agricultural Land Act enacted in 1950 gave property rights to about 6 lakh tenant farmers. Land distribution has happened several times in AP state and an estimated 6 lakh acres of land has been distributed in the state. The current policy envisages giving each family either 2.50 acres of wet land or 5.00 acres of dry land. Keeping the above facts in view, it is neither unreasonable nor impractical to distribute 3 acres land to the landless in Telangana
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Providing employment to every unemployed youth in Telangana is not possible
It looks like the VMS folks dont like anything remotely related to the welfare of people. Otherwise how can we understand this silly nitpicking on welfare promises made by Telangana politicians? Visalandhra Goebbels Lie
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We do not see anything wrong in a political party promising employment for every employable person in the state. If VMS folks have a problem with even such welfare promises, then there is something fundamentally wrong with their mindset. Providing employment to its citizens is one of the most important responsibilities of an elected government. Since Telangana citizens have been denied their rightful share in public and private employment, they believe that statehood would result in better employment opportunities.
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Providing 12% reservation to Muslims is 'unrealistic'

Tamil Nadu has a policy of offering 69% reservations, which is obviously more than the 51 percent that these gentlemen quote about. If it is possible in Tamil Nadu why not in Telangana?
Is it a fact or not that Muslims are generally backward as much as the most backward among the backward classes? Is it necessary that they be given better opportunities so that they too can progress? If state policy is providing reservation as succour to backward classes of a society to uplift them and offer better opportunities, how come it is bad when it comes to Muslims? Is it that only so the called separatists are seeking 12% reservation to Muslims? Did not YSR, leading the Congress government, propose a 4% reservation? Is TDP not demanding reservation? What if it is mired in controversy? Has ever the policy of reservation without controversy? In competitive electoral politics, political parties do and offer benefits to their constituencies, which some "intellectuals" call as vote banks. Isn't TDP supporting sub-categorization among the Dalits in AP? Their argument is that it would ensure more equitable distribution of opportunities both educational and job related to a significant section of Dalits? VMS folks do not find anything wrong about either TDP or the Congress policies, but by trying to focus an attack on the movement for de-merger, show their true colours! Just to say that if something is going to be controversial one should not attempt to do seems to be credo of our friends! By the same token what Gurajada wrote in his times was controversial. What Kandukuri attempted was controversial! So was Mahatma Gandhis attempts to do away with untouchability. Does Shri Parakala and co., believe that the great men were wrong?
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12% reservation to STs is not possible

The same argument as above. The additional 6 percent for STs and the 12 percent reservation for Muslims together would constitute 18 percent and adding to the 50 percent that we already have would make it 68 percent well less than Tamil Nadu.
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VMS should figure out how Tamil Nadu has done it. VMS also should figure out how IIM's have done it. They add something called supernumerary seats or positions and arrive at it. Supernumerary reservation is already in existence for Armed Forces dependants, Physically challenged and others. In educational institutions it is about 3%! VMS argues that if there are more tribals in Telangana they would already be utilizing more than their share of reservation. According to their logic the reservation for STs in Andhra region must be reduced! It seems that Monsieur Parakala and party just want to 'sensationalize' and appeal to an upper-caste, upper-middle class sections of society. Here is the gentleman who courted with Prarajyam Party promising social justice! And he and his company no doubt show their true colours of being anti-people, anti-depressed classes and anti-progress. We get a sense that VMS is anti-reservation in general by the arguments that they are making.
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Division of the state would adversely impact the economic climate and alter the growth trajectory of Telangana
Telangana's development has suffered a lot due to the unfair treatment it got in a united state. Elsewhere in this book, we have seen how the people of this region were denied fair share in employment, river waters and government expenditure. Visalandhra Goebbels Lie
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Once Telangana is formed, the region would utilize its rightful share of river waters and plans to irrigate lakhs of acres. The region's revenue, coupled with its rich mineral wealth, will propel rapid development. Owing to the surplus revenues of Telangana, several government jobs, which are currently vacant due to lack of funds, can be filled. Repatriation of Andhras from posts illegally occupied by them, will also open up new opportunities for Telangana people. It is clear from the above facts that Telangana will flourish once it is demerged from Andhra.
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Andhras representation in IAS/IPS/IFS and other UPSC services.

It is obvious that UPSC is a central exam and it is nobodys case that there should be reservations on region basis in UPSC. But does it takeaway the right to examine the representation of various sections of population in a given service and figure out why it is so?
Can one deny the fact that bureaucracy and politicians together execute and define policy? That probably explains as to why schemes that benefit Telangana do not get executed or many promises from the government end up as empty ones! Or that the canals that are dug in irrigation facilities have less carrying capacity while the ones dug in Seemandhra have more capacity? Can VMS assure that everyone in the bureaucracy acts without regional biases? Or politicians for that matter? How do districts of Chittoor and Cuddapah have disproprionate funds allocated compared to all other districts, especially the ones from Telangana? If the administrative class and the political class was just, would such things happen? Is it wrong to seek to make the bureaucracy and politicos to account? Is it not democracy? If a disproportionate reprsentation in a particular ruling apparatus is leading to this distortion, what is wrong in hypothesizing and examining a particular status at a particular given time? Telangana movement has demonstrated that the number of government degree colleges in Telangana as compared to Seemandhra region are woefully less. The poor and economically disadvantaged access government colleges when they are present in a region. Obviously with less number degree educational facilities in the public sector in Telangana the number of aspirants from this region cannot access as compared to other regions of AP. How about municipal schools in Telangana? Who accesses them? Can any one go to a degree college without good number of schools and junior colleges? There is nothing wrong in hypothesizing that a ruling apparatus dominated by people from a particular region probably make it possible for the discriminations that the movement is fighting about. Hypotheses are built on co-existing phenomena. The researcher in Monsieur Parakala must accept it. That is the first step in research.
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Providing irrigation to 1 crore acres is unrelated to the statehood demand

Thanks for acknowledging that it is an admirable goal. Thanks for acknowledging that it will be possible with our quota of Godavari waters. Thanks for also acknowledging albeit it can be achieved under a strong leader in unified state.
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Does VMS think there will not be any strong leaders from Telangana state? If people were willing to kill themselves for statehood, would they keep quiet if there is weak leadership? The movement has thrown up so many leaders and created so much awareness, we are sure any government ruling Telangana would not have an easy task of hood-winking people. Especially with the civil society participating in the movement. Gone are the days where Telangana did not have its elite which could provide leadership. There is enough bandwidth and more today. There are many retired and working engineers who can make it happen today. Six decade of experiences in a united state prove Telangana would never get its fair share in river waters. Obviously VMS argument itself says it is possible to provide waters to 1 crore acres if there are enough finances. We have already demonstrated that a de-merged Telangana state would be in a much better financial situation than the existing Andhra Pradesh state. Therefore funding the irrigation projects wouldn't be a problem. Funds from central government would also be utilized for this purpose. The new state would claim its rightful share in rive waters and would ensure that irrigation is provided to the parched fields of Telangana. And we will prove the naysayers wrong!
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Telangana can't demand a share in admissions to HCU. There is no concept of reservation for locals in Central Universities.
It is clear from the above statement that VMS thinks whatever it says will pass off as truth. Let's first look at the claim of VMS about local reservations.
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Several Central universities located in other states of India have reserved a percentage of seats for local candidates. For example, Pondicherry Central University reserves 25% of seats for local candidates. Here's a relevant extract from the University's prospectus Nagaland Central University reserves almost 50% seats in certain courses to locals from Nagaland. A snapshot from the university prospectus showing local reservation for BSc (Ag) Course is provided below. The primary objective of starting Hyderabad Central University was to augment the facilities of university education in the capital city so as to compensate, at least Pondicherry Central University Prospectus partially, the loss sustained by the youth of Telangana region under the Six Point showing 25% reservation to locals Source : http://www.pondiuni.edu.in/ Formula. But no one, neither in the government nor in the university, seems to remember this fact of history; and thereby, the very purpose of starting this university has been defeated. We should also not forget that the Telangana region has contributed 2300 acres of prime land to this university, which today is worth several thousands of crores. Hope VMS will stop publishing such nonsensical propaganda at least now.
Extract from Nagaland Central University Prospectus
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Arguments about the state government statistics with respect to Telangana

Telangana protagonists have time and again raised the issue of authenticity of data presented by AP state government. Their stand has been vindicated several times. Here are two instances:
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- In 1972, two government committees have found out that surplus funds from Telangana region were being used in Andhra region. Immediately after that, the state government stopped publishing region-wise data on public expenditure. - When Srikrishna Committee asked for district-wise data of fund flow and expenditure pattern since inception of Andhra Pradesh in 1956, the state government officials said they don't have this data. But, it is a fact that the state government has this data, but is not divulging it because it would expose its discrimination towards Telangana region.
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Agriculture in Telangana is flourishing
Several research studies have proven the fact that the growth of Telangana agriculture is immiserizing growth or put simply growth that comes at a high cost and leads to more poverty! The growth of agriculture in Telangana is happening due to the sheer hard work and investment by its people and not due to the support extended by the AP state government. Visalandhra Goebbels Lie
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The high-cost of agriculture in Telangana is reflected in high incidence of rural indebtedness which led to a tragic outcome increased farmers suicides in Telangana. Vakulabharanam Vamsi, an Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Hyderabad, who has done his PhD on Immiserizing growth in Telangana, for University of Massachusetts writes: Telanganas agricultural growth has been accompanied by an increase in rural poverty as well as a significant decline in the consumption levels of both marginal peasantry and agricultural labourers during the last decade, as NSS 55th round 10 data suggest. These developments suggest that a process of immiserizing growth is taking place in this region. The fact that Telanganas agriculture is growing despite severe discrimination by Andhra rulers is enough proof that the region would really flourish if it gets its rightful share in river waters, and government expenditure.
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People of Telangana are NOT poor when compared to Andhra

Again the VMS folks resort to statistical jugglery to prove that people of Telangana are not poor. They say this even as the Per Capita figures they quote on the same page clearly show that Telangana lags behind Andhra!
Telangana region has been deprived of its legitimate share in river waters, and hence depends on borewells for irrigation. Owing to the large number of agriculture pumpsets, the per-capita power consumption is a little high in Telangana. For any sane person, this is a sign of a depressive state of affairs. But sanity is what the VMS folks seriously lack and that is why they show high power consumption in Telangana as proof of development The knowledge of VMS authors is once again exposed when they blindly quote Roads (In Kms) per one lakh people figures in Andhra Pradesh to prove that Telangana is more affluent than Andhra. It is common sense that the statistic Roads (In Kms) per one lakh people is dependent on several factors like geographical location, terrain, population density, urbanization and location of industries. The following table shows the top 3 states in India in terms of Roads (In Kms) per one lakh people. We hope VMS authors dont argue that these states are the most affluent states in our country! State Nagaland Arunachal Pradesh Tripura Roads (In Kms) per one lakh people 1724 1559 920
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(Source: Ministry of Road Transport and Highways)
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Healthcare infrastructure in Telangana is not neglected

Even before merger, Telangana had excellent healthcare infrastructure in its capital city Hyderabad. It is surprising to note that all the public hospitals of repute in todays Hyderabad, were established several years before Telangana was merged with Andhra. Heres a list:
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Osmania Hospital, Gandhi Hospital, Koti ENT Hospital, Unani Hospital (Charminar), Koranti Fever Hospital, Institute of Mental Health (Erragadda), Jajgi Khanaa Hospital, MNJ Cancer Hospital & Radium Institute, AP General and Chest Hospital, Niloufer Childrens Hospital, Nizams Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS), Princess Durru Shewar hospital for Children and Women, Princess Esra Hospital). It is a matter of great shame that in 57 years of Andhra Pradeshs existence, the state government could not build at least one large public hospital in Telangana, other than the ones inherited from erstwhile Hyderabad state. A Tale of Two Hospitals in Andhra Pradesh:
The case of two large government hospitals - Bibinagar NIMS and Kadapa RIMS is a classic case study of discrimination meted out to Telangana in Andhra Pradesh. Both these hospitals were sanctioned around the same time. But, while the Kadapa RIMS has started its operations in 2006, the construction of Bibinagar NIMS has been stopped mid-way in 2009. The building resembles a bhooth bangla and is home to scores of bats today. Several protests by Telangana activists and political parties, which included a fast-unto-death by 80 year old Telangana leader Kommidi Narsimha Reddy, have not moved the AP state government. In the last four years, the state government attempted to sell this semi-finished hospital to corporate hospitals at least twice. Severe resistance from Telangana activists has stalled the outright sale of Bibinagar NIMS While all this was happening in Telangana, Kadapa RIMS hospital in Seemandhra, slush with funds, has started a Medical College in 2006, followed by a Nursing College and a Para-Medical College. Yet, VMS propagandists want us to believe that no discrimination has happened to Telangana!
NIMS Bibinagar
RIMS Kadapa
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As per Gentlemens Agreement, the Telangana Regional Council was supposed to be in effect for 5 years only.
Nowhere is it written in Gentlemans Agreement that the Telangana Regional Council would be in effect for 5 years only.
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Gentleman's Agreement is NOT statutory. It is just a power sharing agreement among Congress leaders. This agreement has no legal, constitutional or legislative status.
If we were to rank all the lies that VMS has tried to peddle in their book, this lie would unequivocally be ranked number one.
Gentleman's Agreement is the very foundation of the merger between Telangana and Andhra. Every detail about the Agreement, and its sanctity is in public domain. Yet, VMS tries to portray a false picture about Gentleman's Agreement. Let us first learn some basics of how this agreement came about in the first place. In a representation to the States Re-organization Commission, Andhra leaders promised safeguards to take care of the apprehensions of Telangana people for the merger. But SRC expressed its reservations on the 'safeguards' being promised by Andhra leaders. It said "Anything short of supervision by the Central Government over the measures intended to meet the special needs of Telangana will be found ineffective, and we are not disposed to suggest any such arrangement in regard to Telangana." Owing to hectic lobbying by Andhra leaders, the Central Government has decided to merge Telangana and Andhra. To address the apprehensions of the Telangana leaders, a Gentleman Agreement was signed by Andhra and Telangana leaders on 20th February 1956. On August 10th, 1956 a note about the safeguards proposed in Gentleman's Agreement was placed before the Lok Sabha. Based on the agreement, the Andhra Pradesh Regional Committee Order, 1958 was made by the President of India. The Ministry of Home Affairs published the same via a notification on 1st February 1958. The AP government issued a Gazette Notification about the AP Regional Committee Order on March 13, 1958. In 1959 February the Regional Committee Order was incorporated in Constitution by Amending Article 371.
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The Public Employment (Requirement as to Residence) Act, 1957, was enacted inter alia to provide for employment opportunities for residents of Telangana area. All the above proves that Gentleman's Agreement was a legally binding agreement with constitutional and legislative status. It is absurd to ask why Gentleman's Agreement was signed by Congress leaders. Even a layman would understand it is because Congress party was ruling both Hyderabad and Andhra states at that time. By calling the Gentleman's agreement as a "power-sharing agreement" between Congress leaders, the VMS folks have only exhibited their complete ignorance of the contents of that agreement. Here is a brief outline of the Gentleman's Agreement. 1) Proportionate distribution of expenditure between Andhra & Telangana 2) Implementation of Prohibition in Telangana post merger 3) Improvement of Educational Facilities in Telangana post merger 4) Retrenchment of employees during merger 5) Future public recruitment on the basis of population 6) Safeguarding the position of Urdu in Telangana 7) Having domicile rules for public employment in Telangana 8) Monitoring sale of Agriculture lands in Telangana 9) Establish a Regional Council for Telangana 10) Representation of TRC 11) TRC powers & working 12) Proportional distribution of Ministries, One Minister post for for Muslims 13) Sharing of Chief Minister and Dy Chief Minister & Portfolios. 14) Separate Pradesh Congress Committee for Telangana It is clear that while 11 clauses of the agreement are pertaining to safeguards essential for the welfare and development of Telangana people, only 3 clauses are related to 'power-sharing'. More lies of VMS exposed!
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Gentlemens Agreement about Deputy Chief Minister was NOT violated

The VMS proceeds to show this claim as a lie even while admitting in the first sentence First Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy violated this clause of the agreement.!
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Australian historian Lucien D. Benichous well-researched book From Autocracy to Integration: Political Developments in Hyderabad State clearly mentioned the violation and how Sanjiva Reddy dismissed the Deputy CM post as that of an unwanted sixth finger! VMS goes on to justify the violation Deputy Chief Minister post then and now does not have any special constitutional privileges. The status of Deputy CM was not any different from that of a cabinet minister. If indeed, it was such an ornamental position, why was it there in the agreement in the first place? Is the VMS implying Andhras were bending over backwards to include anything and everything in the agreement, just to push through the merger!? Such logic on the part of VMS is plain intellectual dishonesty.
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2.5 lakhs jobs of Telangana people were NOT usurped by Andhras
Visalandhra Goebbels Lie VMS conveniently quotes the political leaders like JV Narsinga Rao, who compromised with their Andhra bosses. What else could a Deputy Chief Minister say? That his Government saw the violations and did nothing? Successive committees and commissions like that of Girglani acknowledged Telangana lost lakhs of jobs. What started as backdoor entry through bogus mulki certificates gradually got state support and became an open way of bureaucracy in recruiting non-locals as indicated by these commissions. Response to Lie No. 31 delved on this.
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Forming Telangana for administrative convenience is NOT a logical argument
The VMS says Firstly, these states have not been carved out of linguistic states. As if the constitution made a special provision not to carve out new states out of linguistic states. The SRC clearly mentioned language cannot be the sole basis of reorganizing states. SRC also rejected the one language = one state principle. It is in that spirit they asked for carving out Telangana state from Hyderabad even while there was an existing Andhra State for Telugu language. The VMS again say Secondly, the newly formed Chattisgarhs geographic identity is based on its Chattisgarhi language. This actually reinforces the principle of linguistic states in two ways. This is actually a crooked argument. Chattisgarhi language was not the basis of carving out Chattisgarh in year 2000. It was not until 2007 that Chattisgarhi was made an official language of the new state! Even today, at best Chattisgarhi is an additional official language, the main language being Hindi. In fact, Only 2/3 of the states population can speak Chattisgarhi. It is more of a dialect written in devanagari script, much like Telangana dialect of Telugu! The basis of the argument for Administrative convenience is not just about making the capital city nearer but to point out benefits of smaller states with lesser populations. States like Andhra Pradesh have population equivalent to some countries. The VMS knows this all too well, but yet come with twisted arguments just to serve their vested interests.
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The leaders who are in the forefront of the agitation have NOT been consistent in their position
We should not forget that even the politicians, who are supporting a united state today, were active in Jai Andhra Movement. What really matters is people's aspirations, and not the stand of a certain politician.
Perhaps we should start this discussion with VMS general secretary Parakala Prabhakar himself. He has never uttered a word against Telangana movement for almost a decade (1998-2009). He was playing active role in pro-Telangana parties like BJP and Praja Rajyam. Here is an extract from a news article in The Hindu newspaper dated 16th Oct 2008: "On separate Telangana, he (Parakala Prabhakar) said no party other than Praja Rajyam had clarity on the issue. "We want the State to be divided like brothers in a family. We respect the 'atma gouravam' and 'atma abhimanam' of the Telangana people and we said we will never come in the way if separation is necessary," he said." For VMS, it seems the lies begin at home!
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350 people were NOT killed in 1969 agitation

There is nothing new in the number of deaths in any popular peoples agitation being disputed by the rulers. In fact nowhere in the world has there been an agreement on this issue. So, it is no wonder that the opponents of Telangana state tend to dispute this figure too.
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The state and central governments crushed the 1969 Telangana statehood movement using brute force. The fact that more than 70,000 people were arrested, people were lathicharged 3,266 times, in which about 20,000 people were injured and 1,840 people suffered bullet injuries and fractures, while tear gas shells were burst 1,870 times, shows the intensity of the police force used on the agitation.. What we find amusing is how the VMS guys to pass off one more lie as proof to their argument. VMS folks say that the number of martyrs in 1969 Telangana statehood movement was challenged by the then Chief Minister Jalagam Vengal Rao in state assembly on Jan 24th 1974. It is a fact that the Jalagam Vengal Rao did challenge CPM MLA N Ramakrishnayya in the floor of the house. But that was about the number of people killed in Jai Andhra Movement and not Jai Telangana movement. Here is a new clip from Andhra Prabha newspaper dated Jan 25th 1974, which nails the shameless lie of VMS.
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Telangana suicides are NOT genuine
The writers start with saying It is true that there was a spate of suicides after Mr. Chidambaram made the statement on 23rd December 2009 stating that the situation has altered after his 9th December statement. Then, as is their wont, starts mud slinging by referring to one article. Even the cited article ended up mentioning and acknowledging suicides committed by Telangana youth, such that of Siripuram Yadaiah. Visalandhra Goebbels Lie
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There have been hundreds of suicides across villages and towns in Telangana, in Hyderabad and even in Delhi, in front of parliament. There have been numerous suicide letters which went into great detail on how Telangana is betrayed again and again and how its political leadership is failing to take the agitation to its logical conclusion. Yet, none of these gets mentioned, but a devious and sadistic way of knit-picking is preferred by VMS to further its agenda of insulting Telangana agitation and downplaying the sacrifices made by agitators.
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Telangana agitation is NOT 60-year-old
According to the logic of the writers, Telangana agitators should have come onto the road every day for last 60 years for the agitation to be called 60 year old. That is not surprising to hear considering the background the writers came from and how little they know about agitations or sticking to a cause. The core issue of the agitation today is statehood for Telangana as it was 1950s. The issues over fair share in employment, irrigation, education etc which are being cited today by Telangana agitation, have been the same issues being debated since 1950s. If there was no agitation for 60 years, why and how did the agreements/accords starting Gentlemens agreement continue in various shapes like Girglani Commission Presidential orders, GO 36, GO 610 etc for over 60 years? Did they just fall from the sky? It is funny when the writers again cite the election results and disprove the support for the Telangana statehood demand even while none of the elections were fought on the issue of Telangana, unlike the single 1971 Lok Sabha elections which was fought on Telangana plank. The TPS won 10 of 14 seats. They contested. Such was the groundswell of support and it continues to be so as seen in the by-polls in last 3 years. The parties like Congress and TDP lost in all constituencies in Telangana due to their ambiguous stance on Telangana statehood. Yet, the VMS acts blind and deaf. VMS also says When the 1972 Andhra agitation for a separate state paralysed the Coastal and Rayalaseema regions, the demand for a Telangana state was, strangely, non-existent. This is another blatant lie During the Jai Andhra agitation of 1972, Telangana region also demanded demerger. A rare consensus was reached about separation between leaders of both the regions. It was the central governments reluctance that stopped the demerger of Andhra and Telangana. A noted Andhra intellectual, rationalist and editor of Andhra Bhoomi newspaper Sri Gora Saastri wrote an editorial in Andhra Bhoomi on Jan 23rd, 1973, it reads :
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1973 April Andhra Patrika shows how Telangana movement was active even in 1973
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the merger of Andhra - Telangana, instead of yielding good results, has resulted in mis-understanding. Today, both the regions are demanding separation with one voice. And why is the central government objecting? Another failed attempt to distort history by VMS historians!
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There is no regional angle in the ouster of Telangana Chief Ministers.
Visalandhra Goebbels Lie Dr M. Chenna Reddy and PV Narasimha Rao lost power due to regional equations within their party that put them to numerical disadvantage that Telangana carries. They have been moved out of power by forces within their party and yet VMS willfully does not address this and goes on to equate these incidents to NTR and Chandrababu Naidu dissolving assemblies to go to mid-term polls. The gist of this argument is that Telangana is suffering the tyrannical majority of Andhras and it is impossible for any leader from any party from the region to assert himself/herself and get and stay in the pivotal role of Chief Ministership. If VMS believes attributing caste, religion, place of birth to a Chief Minister is abhorrent., then why did Andhra leaders accept the Gentlemens Agreement in the first place which explicitly talks about sharing the CM and Deputy CM posts between Andhra and Telangana regions?
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Andhra leaders did NOT hold all the important cabinet portfolios.
Visalandhra Goebbels Lie The VMS attempt to show that the distribution of minister portfolios in AP was equitable, reeks of naivety. Anyone aware of AP polity would know that the Chief Minister is the supreme power and his cabinet ministers are at best collaborators at worst stooges. As discussed earlier, the Chief Ministership is a monopoly of Andhras and this argument is an extension of that saying that naturally the Andhra CM would give important portfolios to his supporters, who obviously would come from his geographical region. Symbolically, Telangana MLAs, especially those who can serve the CM and his powerful Andhra support group, get the ministerships.
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The absolute power that a Chief Minister enjoys in Andhra Pradesh is amply demonstrated by the ongoing CBI case on disproportionate assets of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. All the 6 ministers, who are allegedly involved in this case, are now saying that they had no say, whatsoever, in the decision making of the policies which benefitted the YS Rajasekhar Reddys family. They say YSR dictated the terms and they just signed wherever he ordered them to sign.
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When VMS says the Home Ministry was held by the legislators from Telangana for maximum number of times (13) and for the longest duration (31 years)., they conveniently sidestepped the fact that most of these supposedly Telangana Home Ministers did not hold the crucial Law & Order portfolio which is the critical core of the ministry. Its not that the critical portfolio would be too much work. In fact, that portfolio was handled by Andhra CM himself while these Home Ministers were given additional charges like cinematography! Without this portfolio, as Acharya Jayashankar used to say, the Telangana Home Ministers were given topi but not the lathi. The Telangana irrigation minister is a nominal head when it comes to decision making on Irrigation projects and Telanganas history vindicates that.
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Demanding Telangana for Self-rule is absurd
Legislature and Executive are 2 main pillars of truly democratic and just government. A retired IAS officer Girglanis one-man commission summarily exposed how both these pillars discriminated against Telangana ever since it was merged with Andhra into Andhra Pradesh. When Telangana activists say self-rule, they are addressing this issue directly and saying we would get rid of the skewed political leadership and bureaucracy and manage affairs of Telangana with its own regional government. Visalandhra Goebbels Lie
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VMS guys didnt even broach the subject and sing peons on how democracy is a magic wand that can never go wrong. Mature democracies around the world evolve to address these challenges from time to time. VMS has a narrow mindset, incapable of appreciating the foresight of the fathers of our constitution who have enabled redrawing the borders of states through Article 3.
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Disputing the Population of Telangana.
Seriously, does VMS believe Telangana agitators dont know what is the population of Telangana is? Looks like all they wanted is to make that 101 count in this book. It is unimaginable what these self-styled intellectuals at VMS would have said when they were around as Dasaradhi said Naa Telangana Koti rathanala veena! The gist of the Dasaradhis saying was Telangana is a unique entity and the gist when Telangana protagonists say 4 crore Telangana people demand Telangana state is that they are all asking in once voice. The bad news for VMS is that notwithstanding whether its 3.5 or 4 crores, their propaganda wont pass. In fact, its entertaining.
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There is widespread support for united Andhra Pradesh
There are two recent examples, that show how much support united Andhra Pradesh slogan has in the state. Let us first start with Telangana: Visalandhra Goebbels Lie
In June 2012, by-elections were held to Parakala assembly constituency in Telangana region. Visalandhra Mahasabha supported a candidate from MCPI party, which contested on a united Andhra Pradesh slogan. The MCPI candidate Somidi Srinivas managed to get 805 votes, while the Telangana Rashtra Samithi Candidate Molugoori Bikshapathy won by securing 51,936 votes. Hope you understand how much support united AP slogan has in Telangana. Now lets see the Andhra region. During the June 2012 bypolls in Andhra Congress party used the united AP slogan. Several Congressmen including chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy, PCC chief Botsa Satyanarayana, Chiranjeevi, TG Venkatesh, JC Diwakar Reddy and maverick Congress MP Lagadapati Rajgopal have campaigned that a vote for YSR Party means a vote for state division. They alleged that YSR party has a tacit understanding with Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS). They said that only Congress can keep the state united (sic). Rajgopal went to the extent of giving a guarantee that the Congress high command would issue a clear statement that they would keep the state united if people vote for Congress in these elections. And, what has all this campaigning resulted in? Humiliating loss in 15 assembly seats for Congress party (deposits forfeited in 7 seats) and disastrous loss in Nellore Parliament seat by almost 3 lakh votes. The writing on the wall is clear. There is nothing called as a United AP movement and the people of Andhra are indifferent to state division.
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The provocative nature of VMS is once again revealed when it says A similar observation can be made about the secessionists in Kashmir. The demand for secession in Kashmir appears to be widespread. However, it doesnt necessarily mean that a majority of Kashmiris want to secede from India. The fact that people who want Kashmir to be an integral part of India are not vocal, doesnt necessarily mean that they are in a minority. . Whatever may be our individual stands on Kashmir, but let us understand that Kashmiris secessionist demand is unconstitutional whereas Telangana statehood agitation is completely constitutional as per Article 3. Both these are incomparable cases, yet VMS does this to provoke Telangana activists by comparing against them. VMS gives away the orchestrated nature of support for united Andhra Pradesh when it says the Visalandhra agitation arose overnight with intense passion. How an agitation would start in middle of the night with such violent overtones is public knowledge now. Political leaders and businessmen with vested interests in Hyderabad and surrounding areas, in order to save the status quo that is in their favor, engineered the socalled united Andhra Pradesh agitation. When VMS says A large number of Visalandhra Mahasabha activists hail from Telangana and this goes to disprove the claim that the entire Telangana population is in favor of separation, it cant sound more foolish. We pity their stupidity, because at last count, VMS had a total of about a dozen activists! Results of several By-elections, held after December 9th 2009 statement, are testimony to the fact that the Telangana statehood is overwhelmingly the single most important issue for the people of the region.
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The classes that robbed Telangana people of their self-respect are the ones that have raised the slogan of self-respect.
This argument is nonsense. It is akin to saying only women should raise womens issues, and only dalits should raise dalits issues. Acharya Jayashankar who is the ideologue of the Telangana movement and in many ways considered its main contributor, does not hail from the classes that VMS points to. Visalandhra Goebbels Lie
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Telangana statehood movement has been simmering since last 6 decades. It is not an incited movement like the Samaikyandhra movement, which, by VMSs own admission, took birth overnight.
There should be a criteria for creating a new state

The books states the following: Before we start creating new states, there must be a set of definite criteria that defines the basis for redrawing the political map of India. The States Reorganization Commission was constituted by the Government of India to look into this issue and make recommendations, which it did in 1956.
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Then it says: If new states are to be formed 50 years after SRC made its recommendations, we need to take a comprehensive re-look at the whole issue and develop a cogent alternative framework for reorganizing the state boundaries across India. However, the political map of India cannot be redrawn in an adhoc manner responding to an agitation here or a demand there. We should also debate the wisdom of doing away with the framework of organizing our states on a linguistic basis. The authors assume that no states were formed after the State Reorganization Commission that was constituted in 1955. They also assume that linguistic basis was the only basis for reorganization of states. It also assumes that no state was formed as a response to an agitation or demand. All these assumptions are patently false. Just take a look at the states and year of formation. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. Andhra State (1953) Andhra Pradesh (1956) Karnataka (1956) Kerala (1956) Tamil Nadu (1956) Maharashtra (1960) Gujarat (1960) Nagaland (1963) Punjab (1966) Haryana (1966) Himachal Pradesh (1966) Manipur (1972) Meghalaya (1972) Tripura (1972)
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15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21.
Sikkim (1975) Arunachal Pradesh (1987) Goa (1987) Mizoram (1987) Chhattisgarh (2000) Jharkhand (2000) Uttarakhand (2000)
It is clear that many states were formed at various times, in fact almost every decade except 1990s produced one or more states. Andhra State was formed before SRC. States like Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Goa, etc, do not have a mention in the SRC and yet they were formed. In some occasions, India has bowed to agitations to go against the recommendations of SRC, like in separation of Maharashtra and Gujarat, and inclusion of Bombay in Maharashtra. Many of these states did not have linguistic basis, take for example, Chattisgarh or Jharkhand. If Chattisgarhi Hindi or Jharkhandi Hindi are considered langauges, then so should Telangana Telugu can be considered a langauge. In fact, many of these states were not formed on linguistic basis, but were based on regional and cultural identities which forced Indian Union to divides itself into smaller states because of agitations that took place in those regions. Some of these states were formed as a response to local agitation in those states. For example, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Nagaland, Andhra State, etc. The government website of Chattisgarh has this to comment on its creation: In a democratic polity, the peoples demand has a high degree of legitimacy and weight. Therefore the peoples demand voiced through democratic channels was heard and contributed immensely to the creation of Chhattisgarh. Therefore, it is clear that the assumptions made by authors to say that no new states can be formed without another SRC, or that states cannot be formed bowing bowing to regional aspirations, or that states cannot be formed if not on linguistic basis are all false and hence need to be overwhelmingly rejected. In fact, India is a strong and vibrant democracy because it allows reorganization of states through a constitutional procedure enshrined in Indian Constitution as Article 3. The creation of states at various times to satisfy legitimate aspirations of people of India who wanted to define themselves through a regional identity while maintaining their proud identity of being Indian is a testament to the fact that India is a living democracy, and not a dead or static one. Formation of these states has not made the people living in these states any less Indian.
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Telangana movement has Maoist underpinnings

Telangana statehood movement started in 1950s, long before the Maoist movement had taken birth in India. Today, the statehood movement has the support of political parties and peoples' organizations from both left and right wing ideologies.
Maoist party supports many peoples' protests in the country, including those routine protests against petrol price hike. To accuse that Telangana movement has Maoist underpinnings, is akin to saying that even those petrol price hike protests are backed by Maoists. It is a common knowledge that Naxalism picked up in Telangana region during the mid-1970s because of the brutal suppression and failure of 1969 Telangana Agitation The youth of this region, who were disgruntled by the failure of a democratic government to honor their statehood aspirations took up to arms. Coincidentally, Maoist operations have started to decline in mid-1990s, exactly when Telangana Movement got a revival. By early 2000s, when Telangana Movement got itself a political party in the form of TRS, Naxal activity has completely ebbed. In 2011, the violence claimed 'only seven civilian deaths, with no police causalities', the lowest in thirty years. In 2008, K Arvind Rao, the additional director general of police (Intelligence) said, "There was not a single encounter in the traditional extremist affected areas of Nallamalla forest, North Telangana and other parts of the state." The anti-Telangana forces have been raising the Maoist bogey for quite some time now. But, the situation on the ground level proves that while the Maoist related incidents in Telangana region have come down drastically in the last decade, the same have increased in Andhra region. This fact punctures a hole in the false propaganda of VMS. If the governments continue to suppress democratic peoples' struggles like Telangana, there is a very good chance the Maoism will once take roots in this region by the disgruntled and disenchanted youth of the region.
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December 7th Meeting was not called to discuss state bifurcation. TDP & PRP have not taken a clear stand in favor of state division.
VMS makes another attempt to obfuscate facts that are on record. The all-party meeting held by the then Chief Minister Rosaiah, was the basis for the central government's decision to go ahead with Telangana statehood. India's then Home Minister P. Chidambaram had this to say about that meeting
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"You are aware of the proceedings of the Business Advisory Committee of the Andhra Pradesh State
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Assembly on December 7, 2009 followed by the proceedings of the all party meeting convened by the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh later in the evening of the same day. I wish to reiterate that the first statement on behalf of the Central Government was made on the basis of the minutes of the all party meeting held on December 7, 2009" Two main opposition parties in the state, Telugu Desam and Praja Rajyam, have clearly extended support to Telangana statehood. Both parties promised that they would support a Telangana resolution in the state assembly. Find extracts from the minutes of the meeting of 7th December 2009 above. We are really amused by the attempt of VMS folks to twist even such "black and white" facts.
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Congress party did not promise Telangana state
As soon as UPA-1 came into power, it included Telangana in its Common Minimum Program and said "The UPA government will consider the demand for the formation of a Telangana State at an appropriate time after due consultations and consensus." Visalandhra Goebbels Lie
AP State Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy stated in the AP assembly on Feb 2009 that "The Government of Andhra Pradesh has no objection to the formation of Telangana State in principle and feels that the time has come to move forward decisively on this issue."
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During 2009 general elections, UPA Chair Person Sonia Gandhi said this during a public meeting held in Karimnagar "We have stated even in our election manifesto that Congress party has no objection to the formation of Telangana state." Even courts in Andhra Pradesh have admitted cases that were filed against Sonia Gandhi for reneging on the promise she made to Telangana people. The words of India's highest leaders, like the President Abdul Kalam, Prime Minister Manmohan singh and UPA Chair Person Sonia Gandhi are all on record. Yet, VMS resorts to cheap word-play to escape from facts.
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Dec 9th Statement is a conspiracy

The statement made by the then Home Minister P Chidamabaram, that the "process of formation of Telangana would be initiated" is a watershed in Telangana movement. It was the culmination of 6 decades long Telangana struggle. The announcement was made at about 11:30 PM on December 9th, 2009 as the health of KCR was deteriorating fast.
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The government made a statement about this decision in both houses of the Parliament and explained the reasons for announcing this decision outside the house. The statement of Dec 9th is not a conspiracy. It is in fact the incidents that happened on the night of Dec 9th, which led to widespread arson in Andhra region, that fit the description of a sinister conspiracy.
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Emotions and sentiments cannot form the basis of statehood.
Visalandhra Goebbels Lie The authors are treating 'emotions and sentiments' as something ephemeral, a momentary and knee-jerk reaction of the masses, but they can be long term and enduring as in 'emotions and sentiments' of the people of Indian sub-continent who demanded a free nation for themselves away from the the rule of the British. The sentiments and emotions are captured as the demand of the people. Many states in India, including Andhra State in 1953, was formed to satisfy the aspirations of its people, expressed as a demand, which was fueled by emotions and sentiments. For example, the official history of Chattisgarh says: 'In a democratic polity, the people's demand has a high degree of legitimacy and weight. Therefore the people's demand voiced through democratic channels was heard and contributed immensely to the creation of Chhattisgarh.'
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The people's demands is not always expressed through 'electoral outcome's as alleged by the authors. No electoral outcome decided the people's demand for separate Andhra State in 1953, nor for Chattisgarh in 2000, nor for Haryana and Himachal Pradesh in 1966. In several states no separate political party was formed to demand a new state, and yet, the aspirations of the people, displayed through various forms of protests were duly considered to be the legitimate expression of popular demand, while creating these states.
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Lakhs of people in Telangana and Andhra support unified state.

We have already provided proofs to how strong the United Andhra sentiment is in Telangana. Whether people of Andhra oppose or support the formation of Telangana State is non-consequential and irrelevant. The only legitimate reason for creation of a state is the aspiration of the people of that region.
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The Constituent Assembly Debates (CAD) of Indian Constitution gives an insight into this. KT Shah on creation of states says: "Views of the legislatures may be invited, and may be taken into consideration; but the determining factor should be the vote of the people of the area, which wants to separate."
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If govt takes a decision to keep the state united, the current differences would be forgotten in weeks.
The book writes:
"Despite the above two violent agitations, once political parties reconciled to keep the state united, peace reigned in the region and people quickly put the bitter past behind and got along well, to a point the call for Telugu unity and pride put a non-Congress party Chief Minister N. T. Ramarao in power in 1983." The authors should realize that there was no peace in Telangana region. Because of the ruthless suppression of the 1969 agitation, Telangana got embroiled in Naxal Movement. And for two decades this region suffered from violence, murder and killings. Only in mid-1990s, the region was able to articulate its demands through the new Telangana Movement. Therefore, any attempt to thwart it or subvert will only throw the region into another chaotic and violent expression. Though it has been more than 50 years since Telangana was merged with Andhra State to form Andhra Pradesh, the demand for separate Telangana is the most popular sentiment in this region, which only shows that the sentiments for separate state are still very strong. There was never any reconciliation, and that a separate Telangana cannot be stopped any longer.
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In a mature democracy, regional strength of MLAs does not matter
In fact, any sane political analyst of contemporary Indian history would clearly observe that it is extremely easy for a dominant group to suppress a minority or weaker group continuously unless a redress mechanism is created to stop that suppression. Many such redress mechanisms are provided by Indian democracy, and some of them are, reservations for lower caste groups, reservations for women, delineation of districts and mandals along demographic profiles, creation of new states, Article 371 to safeguard smaller regions. In fact, in case of Telangana, many such mechanisms, except creation of a new state, have all been experimented without any success. Some of these redress mechanisms to protect the interest of minority Telangana in the State of Andhra Pradesh include, Gentlemens Agreement, Article 371, Six Point Formula, GO 610, Girgliani Commission, etc. The book answers: Also, in the state Assembly, Telangana region has a 40% representation, which is not insignificant compared to Coastal Andhras 41%. Ironically, Rayalaseema despite having only 18% of the seats... We want to condemn this deliberate mischief. Telangana was merged with Andhra state. And the ratio of Telangana and Andhra in state assembly is 40:60 In the Jai Andhra Pradesh meeting held at Rajamundry on 25th Jan 2013, Undavalli Aruna Kumar, an Andhra MP said: We are 185 representatives in State Assembly and you are only 119. We will oppose any resolution on Telangana. This clearly shows that Seemandhra has been working in unison, becoming the majority to continuously oppose any bill that seeks to address the plight of Telangana people. The authors write: It goes to show that it is not mere numbers, but the collective wisdom and overall sense of justice is what prevails in a pluralistic parliamentary democracy. While collective wisdom and overall sense of justice are desirable and very good to have attributes they are not always available. What does a group do then? Do women in India would like to have collective wisdom and overall sense of justice to help them protect themselves against onslaught of dominating, raping and discriminating men, or do they seek stronger laws, stronger institutions?
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The general convention for the creation of new states has always been to pass a resolution in the State Assembly. If the smaller regions have a genuine need for division, the majority will agree.
We would like to quote these lines verbatim from the Constituent Assembly debates. Our founding fathers were true visionaries. They foresaw a situation where a region, that wants to separate, could become a victim of tyranny of majority. That is why Article 3 of constitution clearly mentions that the central government can carve a new state. The resolution of state assembly is not mandatory. This is what the fathers of our Republic and authors of its Constitution said about Article 2 and 3 (1948, Constituent Assembly): The Honourable Shri K. Santanam explains Article 3 thus: Mr. Vice-President, Take the case of the madras Province for instance. The Andhras want separation. They bring up a resolution in the madras legislature. It is defeated by a majority. There ends the matter. The way of the Andhras is blocked altogether. They cannot take any further step to constitute an Andhra province. On the other hand, as re-drafted by the Honourable Dr. Ambedkar, if the Andhras fail to get a majority in the legislature, they can go straight to the President and represent to him what the majority did in their case and ask for further action removing the block in the way of a province for them. If they are able to convince the President, he may recommend it and either the Government of India may themselves sponsor legislation for the purpose or any private Member or a group in the Central legislature can take up the question. Pandit Hriday Nath Kunzru : the consent of the States should not be necessary for a re-organisation of their territories. Consultation with them should be quite enough. Pandit Thakur Dass Bhargava : every part of India should be given this facility, that, should it decide to secede from one part and to accede to another, then there should be no impediment in its way. If the people of an area want separation, then the right of self-determination should be given to them. Prof. K. T. Shah: if anypart of a big province wants to break away then the only course before it is to bring the matter before the Members. But by doing so the very purpose would be defeated because the majority would always reject such a proposal. I would like the Congress Government to respect the wishes of the areas, which desire to separate from any province and that no hurdles are placed in their way; on the other hand, all legal aid should be given for the formation of a new province. No provincial legislature would agree to the separation of apart, and the representatives of the affected area will be so influenced that they would not be able to give free expression to their views. Parliament, and not the President, should have the right to determine the matter after taking into account the opinion of the people of the area concerned and of the vote of the provincial legislature. It is therefore necessary that every Member of the parliament should have the right to give notice of such a bill. Views of the provincial legislature may be taken but the changes should be effected in accordance with the wishes of the people of the area, who want
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separation. If this is not done then the principle of self-determination would be nowhere. We used to hear that after the attainment of Swaraj the right of self-determination would be given to all. Views of the legislatures may be invited, and may be taken into consideration; but the determining factor should be the vote of the people of the area, which wants to separate. Prof. Shibban Lal Saksena: the President after he receives notice of such a motion from any Member will try to take the opinion of the area concerned and then, of course after consulting his Ministry, give his recommendation for moving the Bill probably if the President feels that the people of an area the majority of them are of the opinion that they would be happier if they go to some other State or Province, he would advise the Prime Minister, and probably the Prime Minister also will agree with him that the motion should be allowed and that Parliament should be allowed to discuss the question. I think that gives full liberty and opportunity to every area which desires a change of boundaries. Shri R. K. Sidhwa: View means observations, consent means unanimity and decision on a matter. I feel that in the case of the states, it is very necessary that their views should be obtained rather than consent
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Telangana region has not been discriminated
The VMS authors write: "Demanding a state is a democratic right. But our contention is that the bases for demanding a separate Telangana state are completely flawed. In fact, this book is an endeavor undertaken to dispel the separatists' false propaganda." Visalandhra Goebbels Lie
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No state in India got formed on 'flawless' demands as purported by the authors. Almost all states in India got formed out of emotive responses to perceived or real cases of discrimination, disenchantment, and persecution. When Andhra State formed in 1953, it was based on the arson, looting and violent outburst of Andhra people. When Maharashtra and Gujarat was broken up, it was once again the violent agitations of Marathas demanding a separate state. When Jharkhand got created, there was no basis for creation of state other than the collective will of the people who got united on economic, political, cultural, historical and linguistic reasons. Almost every state that got formed till today had some reasonable demands accompanied by many perceptions. Just because there are many perceptions, it does not invalidate the demand of collective of people to form an independent state. If we were to take the author's claims for creating a flawless basis for creating states, no state will be ever formed in this country, and it would invalidate formation of the states in the past as well. They broadly write that Telangana region has not been discriminated, and yet, so many committees and commissions that have been created so far clearly establish the fact that Telangana faces discrimination. The authors believe that 'self-rule is an absurd argument in a pluralistic democratic country like India.
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We elect our leaders through a democratic process where every individual gets an opportunity to express their views via the voting process.' If that was so simplistic an argument, why did we create any state ever in this country? Why was Andhra State formed in 1953 out of Madras State? Why was Jharkhand, Uttarakhand and Chattisgarh formed in 2000?
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Telangana agitation is violent
New York Times describes the Pink Revolution of Tunisia and the Egypt Revolution of 2011, as 'non-violent' movements. This is to accord them praise while contrasting it with the revolution that took place in Libya, which is described as a violent movement because the freedom fighters took up arms. Now, let's take a look at the incidents that happened in the 'non-violent' movement of Tunisia: Visalandhra Goebbels Lie
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The protesters set fire to tires and attacked the office of Constitutional Democratic Rally, burned a police station close to headquarters of the Tunisian Ministry of the Interior, burned police cars, injured five policemen throwing stones at them, set fire and looted several businesses, burned conference rooms of a political party, a set fire to two government buildings. Indian Independence Movement is hailed to be one of the most peaceful and non-violent movements in the history of mankind, inspiring the likes of Civil Rights Movement in USA and South African freedom struggle. Now, let's take a look at the events that unfolded during the first week of Quit Indian Movement of 1942, under the auspices of Mahatma Gandhi, the recognized apostle of nonviolence: Huge crowds attacked police stations, post offices, courts, railway stations, and other symbols of government authority; crowds of villagers physically removed railway tracks, and cut telephone and telegraph wires, students went on strike in schools and colleges all over the country; students raised slogans of 'Thana Jalao' (Burn the police station), 'Station phoonk do' (Burn the railway stations), 'Angrez bhag gaya' (Englishmen have fled); 80% of the police stations were captured or temporarily evacuated in ten districts of North and Central Bihar; Europeans were physically attacked; few RAF officers were killed by a crowd at the railway station and their bodies paraded through the town; 250 railway stations were damaged or destroyed, and over 500 post offices and 150 police stations were attacked. Compared to any of these 'non-violent' movements, Telangana activists deserve to win Nobel Peace Prize for conducting thousands of restrained protests where millions of people participated, and yet have not harmed anyone, brought down few statues, and burnt few cars. Also, there is a certain degree of hypocrisy when Andhras describe Telangana people as 'uncivilized' and 'Taliban' for breaking the statues on Tank Bund. Because when it came to their agitations, Andhras have never hesitated to demolish the statues. For example, angry Andhra agitators 'defiled and destroyed'
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the statue of Union Minister and later President of India, Neelam Sanjiva Reddy in 1966. This happened during a protest for a demand to setup a steel plant in Visakhapatnam. The protestors damaged the statue and threw it in Eluru canal.
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Srikrishna Committee was not corrupt
The secret report of Srikrishna Committee is a standing testimony to its corrupt nature. Moreover, media reported that the members of the committee attended a party hosted by anti-Telangana lobby, which proves that something was fishy in the conduct of the committee. Before submitting their report, the Srikrishna Committee members conducted a press conference and handed over costly watches as gifts to media persons. Such acts only prove that the members of the committee had some vested interest. Visalandhra Goebbels Lie
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Srikrishna Committee's 8th Chapter is not a conspiracy.
Srikrishna's Committee's 8th Chapter is a disgrace to any modern nation. It is a recipe given by the Srikrishna Committee to Seemandhra leadership to subvert democratic process in the state so that the hegemony of Seemandhras can continue. It dictates the state to take over the media houses into the control of Seemandhras and recommends Machiavellian strategy to New Delhi to beguile and cheat Telangana leadership. The reason why it was made a secret chapter, and why Telangana leaders had to launch into a legal struggle to get it out in the open, are all tell-tale signs of a conspiracy. Not only that, many of the members of Srikrishna Committee were seen wining and dining with Seemandhra leaders.
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The full secret note of the Srikrishna Committee is provided as Annexure - 3. Learned friends may please read that and come to a conclusion.
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Promising to make a Dalit as Chief Minister of Telangana shows the undemocratic and feudalistic mindset of movement leadership
This is one of the promises made by TRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao. It is not difficult to understand that the movement leadership has committed itself to social justice by making this promise.
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It is appalling to note that VMS has chosen to see 'undemocratic and feudalistic mindset' and 'inducements' behind making such a promise. It only shows the narrow mindset of the people behind VMS. If the movement leadership was 'undemocratic and feudalistic', they would have rather kept the CM post to themselves and not have offered to sacrifice the much coveted Chief Minister post. Telangana Dalits are already playing a prominent role in the statehood movement. They don't need any 'inducements' to participate in the movement. By making this statement, VMS is only insulting the dalits of Telangana.
Promising pensions to Telangana activists

Telangana movement leadership has never promised any such thing.
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Who are traitors of Telangana.

The leaders, who are branded as traitors are those who have become the stooges of Seemandhra leaders and have compromised the interests of Telangana. It is true that some early-day Telangana leaders trusted that a merger with Andhras would be in mutual interest. But Andhra leaders have squandered away that trust.
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Six long decades of broken promises, discrimination and repression have opened the eyes of many Telangana leaders. It is no surprise that VMS could not count many present generation Telangana leaders, who support a united Andhra Pradesh. The Communist Party of India, which led the Visalandhra movement and left no stone unturned for the merger of two regions, is in the forefront of Telangana statehood movement today. Incidentally, their party newspaper named Visalandhra, is today writing in favor of Telangana state.
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Telangana employees are not facing discrimination in the state government.
This statement is patently false. Telangana employees have approached the administrative tribunal and courts in several cases of discrimination.
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VMS argument is like saying no sexual discrimination happens in this country because there are not many cases reported, or because there are many ways available in the current legal system for redress. The harsh reality is that many cases of sexual discrimination and harassment go unreported because the administration and the political system of this country are not sensitive to deal with the issues of women. No amount of legal system would change the attitudes of men towards women. In the same way, since the entire administration of Andhra Pradesh is controlled by Seemandhras, it is impossible for Telangana employees to get redress. It is like saying Blacks in USA were never discriminated by the White Americans in 1800s because there not many cases were reported even though the political system allowed a redress mechanism.
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An analysis of electoral outcomes since 2004 shows that the endorsement of the demand for a division of the state is unconvincing.
The anti-Telangana propagandists have constantly tried to link the electoral fortunes of TRS to the endorsement of Telangana demand.
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What they never want us to understand is that when more than one political party supports Telangana statehood, the pro-Telangana vote gets split between all such parties. In 2009 election, Congress entered into an alliance with TRS and supported statehood. The result is it won handsomely in Telangana region. TDP, which opposed state formation, lost heavily. In 2009 election, along with TRS, the Congress, TDP, PRP, BJP, CPI parties fought the election by supporting Telangana statehood. The pro-Telangana vote got split between all these parties. On the other hand, the united AP slogan was summarily rejected by people of Andhra Pradesh several times. The ruling Congress party went to by-elections in June 2012 with a united Andhra Pradesh slogan. It lost 16 of the 18 assembly seats it contested. In Telangana, the candidate, who contested on a united AP plank and supported by Visalandhra Mahasabha, got 805 votes. This seat was won by Telangana Rashtra Samithi, which got 51936 votes. In 2009 elections, a leader of Visalandhra Mahasabha, G. Kumar Chowdary Yadav, who also runs a political party named Samaikyandhra Rashtra Samiti, managed to get 182 votes of the total 1,11,118 polled in Sanathnagar assembly constituency. The above three instances prove how weak the support for a united state is among the people of AP.
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Telangana activists are targeting common people from Andhra

VMS propagandists highlight a couple of stray incidents that happened during the Telangana movement and try to say that Telangana activists are targeting common people from Andhra. In a large scale peoples' movement of any kind, where millions of people participate in thousands of protests and agitations, some untoward incidents tend to happen.
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What VMS would not tell us is that in the last two years, several instances of Andhras attacking Telanganites, were reported. What's more, during Anti-Telangana protests, Andhra protestors have attacked their own people several times. Here are some photos:
United AP Activist hitting an autodriver for daring to take out the auto during Samaikyandhra bandh
Telangana piligrims attacked by Andhras, when they went to visit a temple in Krishna district
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Comparing Andhras with the British colonialists is unfair
Visalandhra Goebbels Lie There is no race, color, religion or nation to an oppressor. He can come in any form, as an alien or as a neighbor. When Americans wiped out American Indians, they were two different races belonging to different nations. When Whites suppressed and oppressed Blacks, they belong to the same nation. When Christian Germans persecuted and killed millions of Jew Germans, they were fellow countrymen, belonging to the same proud nation. When Hutus killed million Tutsi in Rwanda, they were both Black and they were both belonging to the same nation. Is the oppression of Jews by fellow Germans any less compared to oppression of Russians by an alien German? Oppression is oppression no matter who does it, whether it is someone from another city or nation, or whether it is your own neighbor.
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The comparison of British with current Seemandhra ruler is apt in many contexts and therefore quite relevant. The power resides with the Seemandhra majority while Telangana serves as an 'internal colony'. The resource of Telangana, for example, water, is diverted to Coastal Andhra depriving the people of Telangana of their lush fields, forcing them to depend heavily upon ever-depleting groundwater. This comparison is done by Telanganites only as a response to the constant propaganda by anti-Telangana folks that Andhras have developed Telangana. We have to remind some history here. As early as 1953, India's first prime minister, Jawahar Lal Nehru had termed the Andhra's desire to annex Telangana as 'imperialist expansionism" Even before merger, Telangana people have expressed their apprehension that the Andhras would convert Telangana into a 'colony'
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Andhra Pradesh State came into existence based on the ardent desire of people from all the three regions of the state. The people of Telangana have welcomed those from other regions with open arms.
Not really. All evidences indicate quite the contrary. Telangana people have overwhelmingly rejected the idea of a united state. They submitted memoranda to the States Reorganization Commission expressing their apprehensions and demanded that Telangana be constituted into a separate state. States Reorganization Commission listed out the apprehensions and objections of Telangana people in their report and recommended formation of Telangana state. The merger of Telangana with Andhra happened only due to hectic lobbying by Andhra leaders. We should not forget that the merger itself was conditional. The merger happened based on a Gentleman's Agreement providing safeguards to Telangana region. All the apprehensions, doubts and fears of Telangana people turned out real within a short time after the merger. VMS authors say "When separatists demand a Telangana state, it is not that they want to go away, but are asking people from other regions to leave." This is just propaganda by VMS folks to stoke fears in people hailing from other regions.
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Telangana activists have never asked anyone to leave. We seriously doubt if VMS understands what statehood means. Telangana is demanding a separate state and not a separate nation. Even after Telangana state is formed, every person staying in this part of the state continues to stay here. Also, VMS tries to pass off another lie by saying "Never in the history of India did a region which has the capital located in it has asked for separation." Maharashtra was formed out of Bombay state along with the capital city of Bombay. Gujarath had to build a new capital city at Gandhi Nagar. When Meghalaya state was carved out of Assam state, it also got Shillong, the then capital of Assam state. Even Goebbels would be astonished at the lies peddled by VMS!
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101. Telangana activists say "Andhras are exploiters"
Our actual claim has been that the Andhra ruling class has exploited Telangana. When it is clearly proved that our share of river waters, jobs and resources are illegally taken over by people of the other region, it is only natural that we call them as exploiters. During the independence movement, we have accused the British as exploiters. Does that mean we were accusing even ordinary British citizens? Visalandhra Goebbels Lie
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Annexures
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Annexure - 1
A Reading List to Understand Telangana Demand

By N Venugopal Several Government Commissions, Committees, reports, papers, books and documents have documented the discrimination meted out to Telangana region in a unified state. Here's is a list of resources which will make anyone understand the rationale behind Telangana statehood demand. The Report of the States Reorganisation Commission, 1955 in general and paragraphs from 359 to 393 of the report and paragraph 28.4 of the Summary of Conclusions and Recommendations in particular are worth studying, since they recommended the creation of a State with Telugu-speaking districts of Hyderabad State (in other words, Telangana). The Gentlemen's Agreement signed on February 20, 1956 by B Gopal Reddy, A Satyanarayana Raju, N Sanjiva Reddy and G Latchanna on behalf of Andhra State and B Raamakrishna Rao, J V Narsinga Rao, K V Ranga Reddy and M Chenna Reddy on behalf of Hyderabad State, for identifying the specific promises made to Telangana, as a condition for merger. The 'Note on Safeguards Proposed for the Telangana Area' prepared by the Ministry of Home Affairs and tabled in Lok Sabha on August 10, 1956 for providing legal approval to the Gentlemen's Agreement. The States Re-organisation Act, 1956, The Andhra Pradesh Regional Committee Order, 1958, the seventh amendment and replacement of Article 371 of Constitution of India, and the Andhra Pradesh Public Employment (Requirement as to Residence) Rules, 1959 which validated the promises made and protection given to Telangana people in the Gentlemen's Agreement. About 100 reports of the Regional Committee as well as its sub-committees from 1958 to 1969, which identified various violations and lapses in implementation of the promises of the Gentlemen's Agreement and demanded immediate redressal. The All-Party Agreement of January 19, 1969, signed by 45 legislators including Chief Minister, his ministerial colleagues, and representatives of opposition, which talked about the "lapses in the implementation of" the Gentlemen's Agreement and the need to take corrective measures. The 'Report on the Quantum of Telangana Surpluses for the period from 1.11.1956 to 31.3.1968' by K Lalit (1969), which said Telangana had Rs 38.20 crore surplus or shortfall in rightful share of allocations. The Report of the Committee on Telangana Surpluses (1969) under the chairmanship of Justice Vasishta Bhargava, appointed by Government of India, though differing with the quantum arrived at by K Lalit and
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calculating the surpluses as Rs 28.34 crore, accepted that Telangana region did not receive special attention it deserved and as promised. The G.O. No. 36 of 1969, promulgated to grant the rightful share of Telangana in employment, EightPoint Formula of 1969 and Five-Point Formula of 1971 mooted by the then Prime Minister to assuage the feelings of the agitators in Telangana, to comprehend the mood of Telangana people during 1969 to 1971. The judgment of the Supreme Court on October 16, 1972, striking down an earlier verdict of the AP High Court and upholding the Mulki Rules, to protect the rightful and proportionate share of employment to Telangana people. The Six-Point Formula prepared by the then Prime Minister in 1973 that promised protection of the interests of Telangana and Andhra regions and in the same stroke removed the Regional Committee and the Mulki Rules. The 32nd amendment to the Constitution of India in the form of Art. 371 (D) as a follow-up to the SixPoint Formula facilitating President of India to promulgate a special order. The Presidential Order of 1975 as a follow up which divided the State into six zones and protected the interests of Telangana people in lower level employment. The Report of Officers' Committee under the chairmanship of K Jayabharath Reddy that attempted to find out the number of employees appointed in violation of the promises. The G. O. No. 610 of 1985, an attempt to implement the Presidential Order after a ten-year delay, which was again consigned to cold storage, even though it stipulated a three-month time frame for itself. The incomplete reports of House Committee and J M Girglani Committee on G.O. No. 610, which categorically stated that there were gross violations of the government order as well as earlier promises. Studies of independent scholars K V Narayana Rao (1972): Telangana - A Study in the Regional Committees in India; G R S Rao (1975): Regionalism in India: A Case Study of the Telangana Issue; G Ram Reddy and B A V Sharma (1979): Regionalism in India: A Study of Telangana; Myron Weiner (1988): Sons of the Soil - Migration and Ethnic Conflict in India; S Simhadri and P L Vishweshwer Rao (eds) (1997): Telangana - Dimensions of Underdevelopment; Dagmar Bernstorff and Gray Hugh (1998): The Kingmakers: Politicians and Politics in Andhra Pradesh; B P R Vithal (2002): The Telangana Surpluses - A Case Study; Y V Krishna Rao and S Subrahmanyam (eds) (2002): Development of Andhra Pradesh: 1956-2001; CH Hanumantha Rao (2005): Essays on Development Strategy, Regional Disparities and Centre-State Financial Relations in India; R S Rao, V Hanumantha Rao and N Venugopal (eds) (2007): Fifty Years of Andhra Pradesh 1956-2006; and M Bharath Bhushan and N Venugopal (2009): Telangana - The State of Affairs. This is only a selected bibliography and does not include hundreds of books and pamphlets appeared in Telugu.
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Annexure - 2
Full text of Gentleman's Agreement
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Annexure - 3
Secret Note of Srikrishna Committee

[This is the Secret Note that the Srikrishna Committee had written as part of the report it submitted to central government on Telangana statehood. This note exposes how a bunch of supposedly respected people conspired to deceive a 5 decade long peoples movement. This note is the most unethical, unconstitutional, inhuman and illegal chapter in the history of democratic India. The note attacks the very foundations of our democratic institutions. Please read it and understand how the Indian Government conspires to suppress the legitimate aspirations of its own people] a) Political Management: ( i) There is a need for ensuring unity among the leaders of the ruling party in the State. There is also a need for providing strong and firm political leadership and placement of representatives of Telangana in key positions ( may be CM / Dy.CM) ( Since done). This aspect was discussed with FM & HM in September 2010. Action also needs to be initiated for softening the TRS to extent possible, especially in the context of the fact that TRS has threatened to launch a civil disobedience movement after December 31 and also initiate a Maha Yuddam ( a Massive war) if Centre does not announce a Separate Telangana. Gaddars TPF ( Telangana Praja Front) who had parted company with TRS have again joined hands with TRS. Inputs indicate that this agitation can be tackled if Telangana Congress leaders do not give an impression indicating any covert/ over support to it. Hence the Telangana Congress MPs / MLAs need to be taken into confidence and asked not to lend any form of support to the agitation. The Congress High Command must sensitize its own MPS and MLAs and educate them about the wisdom for arriving at an acceptable and workable solution. With the ruling party and also the main opposition party ( the TDP run by Chandra Babu) must be brought on the same page, the support mechanisms have a higher probability of becoming successful. The TDP must be advised not to participate in any further meetings that would be called by the Centre. This could be an effective stumbling block for any meaningful dialogue on resolving the Telangana demand. The Andhra Congress MPs belonging to Kamma caste must be encouraged to work in tandem with TDP leadership which is now caught in a bad shape. ( ii) Further, on receipt of the Committees Report by the Government, a general message should be conveyed amongst the people of the State that Centre will be open for detailed discussions on the recommendations / options of the Report with the concerned leaders / stakeholders either directly or through a Group of Ministers or through important interlocutors and that this process will start at the earliest. But every method must be adopted to avoid giving finality to any discussions to drag on the matter until the agitation is totally brought under control.
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( b) Media Management: (i) Andhra Pradesh has got about 13 Electronic Channels and 5 major local Newspapers which are in the forefront of molding the public opinion. Except for two Channels ( Raj News & HMTV), the rest of them are supporters of a united Andhra Pradesh. The equity holders of the channels except the above two and the entire Print Media are with the Seemandhra people. The main editors/ resident and subeditors, the Film world etc. are dominated by Seemandhra people. A coordinated action on their part has the potential of shaping the perception of the common man. However, the beat journalists in the respective regions are locals and are likely to capture only those events/ news which reflect the regional sentiments. This can be tackled by the owners of the media houses by systematically replacing the local journalists by those from Seemandhra wherever it is possible. ( ii) Hyderabad city which is expected to be the center of most of the agitations is generally covered by those journalists who are votaries of a separate Telangana. Hence a lot of media hype on the Osmania University Students agitation, self- immolations etc. may be created. Therefore, media management assumes critical importance to ensure that only the reality is projected and no unnecessary hype is created. In the immediate past, it is observed that the media coverage on the issue has shown a declining trend resulting in a lower intensity of the agitation. Each of the media houses are affiliated to different political parties. In the Print Media all major newspapers are owned by Seemandhra people and the Regional contents published by them play a vital role. Most of the editors except Andhra Jyothi are pro- united A. P. However, similar to the electronic channels, the print media have also got political affiliations. The editorial opinions, the banner headlines, the Regional content, the District editions need to be managed to be realistic and should give only due coverage to the separate Telangana agitations. The print media is hugely dependent on the Government for advertisement revenue and if carefully handled can be an effective tool to achieve this goal. However, the RTI Act may prove to be an impediment for the Government to deny due share of ads to publications supporting the Telangana demand. ( iii) In concrete terms, it needs to be particularly ensured that media does not: ( a) Create a Psychosis of fear amongst the public ( b) Indulge in general and baseless speculations that can create unnecessary hype of any kind ( c) Arouse communal passions ( d) Show old and irrelevant clippings of violence / violent agitations etc. For this purpose necessary prohibitory orders under appropriate provisions of law can be issued in advance.
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( c) Full Preparedness (i) As under each of the options there is a high possibility of agitational backlash, notwithstanding the actions taken in advance as suggested in ( a) and ( b) above, an appropriate plan of deployment grid of police force ( both Central and State) with full technical support needs to be immediately drawn up. Advance preparedness in this regard would go a long way in containing the law and order situation and minimize destruction of lives and property. It would also be necessary to have a mechanism for monitoring the situation and collection of real time intelligence with a view to ensure taking up of effective advance action to preempt any break of violence in the potentially troubled spots. The likely troubled spots ( e. g.Osmania, Kakatia, Krishna Devraya Universities etc.) and the trouble creators in the three regions must be identified in advance and suitable action plan prepared. In my discussions with Chief Secretary and DGP, the kind of equipment and weaponry to be used were also discussed and it was agreed that weaponry used should be such as not to cause fatal injuries, while at the same time effective enough to bring the agitationists quickly under control. In a nutshell it may be concluded that the first couple of months will be critical after the submission of the Report, as speculative stories will thrive and emotions of people incited.
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Annexure - 4
Popular Support for Telangana Movement

The 6 decade long Telangana statehood movement is supported by eminent politicians and intellectuals in India. Here are some excerpts from what they said about Telangana: *** Over the years - ever since the Indira Gandhi era, I have felt that formation of this state would go a long way to end the many agonies and sufferances of the people in this region and provide opportunities for their socio-economic developments
(Late) Sri I K Gujral Former Prime Minister, India *** The issue of formation of Telangana State is pending for quite some time and there have been agitations in the past for formation of the state. As the parties constituting the UPA have already recognized the reality of the situation and included the formation of Telangana State in the Common Minimum Program. It is high time that the assurance given to the people is fulfilled without any further loss of time.
I am of the opinion that the demand of people of Telangana for a separate state is genuine, and needs to be considered at the earliest. Sri V P Singh Former Prime Minister, India *** I extend my whole-hearted and unstinted support for the formation of Telangana state. It is morally justified after the formation of three states in the recent past years. The demand for Telangana state is a genuine demand emanating from the aspirations of people. This historic struggle has been ongoing for over five decades and I believe the time is ripe for the formation of Telangana state. It is my strong belief that Telangana has all qualities that a self-sustaining state needs:
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Economic Viability, Public Support, Unique Cultural Traditions, Optimum Geographical Size and Relevant Historical context. People of Telangana have been patiently waiting for their turn for a long time and in a responsible democracy such as ours, we cannot continue to ignore the aspirations of the people. Sri Chandra Shekhar Former Prime Minister, India *** In my speech on 15th August 1996 from Red Fort as Prime Minister, I had announced the formation of a new state of Uttaraanchal. With regards to the formation of the State of Telangana, I had participated in a rally organized by Shri Chandrashekar Rao and I publicly made an announcement that the Telangana State should be formed as per the recommendations of the States Reorganization Commission set up in the early 1950s. Even now, I am of the same opinion. Sri H D Deve Gowda Former Prime Minister, India *** Telangana state arose from the imbalanced growth, injustices and discrimination. The movement for separate state is a struggle to keep alive the region's culture and its own identity. Ever since the forcible merger with the Andhra region in 1956, the people of Telangana got only commissions, committees, formulas, documents, promises and assurances. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and other constituents of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would support the Telangana Bill if it is brought by UPA. Sri Sushma Swaraj MP, BJP (Leader of Opposition) *** Telangana is inevitable. It will not be possible to stall that. The Congress government should resolve the Telangana statehood issue by introducing Bill in the Parliament. CPI would extend support for the formation of separate Telangana state. Sri AB Bardhan CPI National General Secretary ***
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We earnestly feel that creation of Telangana State cannot be delayed any longer. The people of the region have been fighting for it for more than half-a-century. It is a people's movement in real sense. This movement has always been solidly backed by every section of people of the region. Intellectuals, Government employees, students remained, all through, as the back-bone of the movement. And now, it has percolated down to the agrarian sector and working classes. The Rashtriya Janata Dal, therefore, wholeheartedly suggests that the State of Telangana be created without delaying any longer. Sri Lalu Prasad Yadav Rashtriya Janata Dal *** The Nationalist Congress Party Working Committee meeting held on 21st August 2003 in New Delhi, discussed the issue of Telengana State in detail and decided to support it. The NCP Working Committee resolved that the demand of people of Telengana for a separate state is not a new or sudden development. The grievances of the people of the region are real and their demand for a Telangana state is genuine. The NCP, is therefore, of the opinion that the state of Telengana should be created without any further loss of time. Sri Sharad Pawar Union Minister of Agriculture Nationalist Congress Party *** People in Telangana are financially backward... As Dr. Ambedkar had said, we are for smaller states. We would support Telangana state bill in the Parliament if it is introduced Ms Mayavati Bahujan Samaj Party *** Rashtriya Lok Dal is always in favour of smaller States and we demand that UPA Government should honour the commitment that it gave for the formation of Telangana State. Hundreds of youth have committed suicide demanding statehood for the Telangana region. We demand that the Centre take immediate steps for formation of Telangana. Sri Ajit Singh Union Civil Aviation Minister Rashtriya Lok Dal ***
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I am aware of the pain endured by the people in their ongoing battle for a separate state. In 1997, the BJP had decided that a separate state must be carved and the issue of Telangana was also discussed. You all have endured so much suffering, you have faced so many hardships and the government in Delhi is forming different committees and commissions. In the history of India, there has been not been the formation of so many committees and commissions for the creation of a state. Sri Raman Singh (BJP) CM, Chattisgarh *** Aam Aadmi party understands the 5 decade long Telangana statehood struggle. Our party supports creation of smaller states for better administration. Sri Manish Sisodia Aam Aadmi Party *** Telangana is the people's voice and the central and state governments have no choice but to heed it. I am with the people of Telangana. I will keep coming to Telangana till their dream is realized. Sri Shibu Soren Former Chief Minister Jharkhand Jharkhan Mukti Morcha (JMM) *** Small states are better governed and a lot of grievances could be handled better in small states. Telangana is a long-cherished dream of the people of this region and it should be fulfilled at the earliest. Medha Patkar National Alliance of Peoples Movements (NAPM) ***
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A Rebuttal To Visalandhra

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A Rebuttal To Visalandhra

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A Rebuttal to

Visalandhra Goebbels Propaganda

Konatham Dileep Sujai K Amar Nath K Soonya

Telangana Vision - TDF Washington DC Telangana Development Forum - USA - India

Visalandhra Goebbels Propaganda

Printing : Charita Impressions Azamabad, Hyderabad - 44.

Introduction Answers to VMS lies Annexures

A Rebuttal to Visalandhra Goebbels Propaganda

Poisonous propaganda on Telangana aspirations

A Rebuttal to Visalandhra Goebbels Propaganda

A Rebuttal to Visalandhra Goebbels Propaganda

A Rebuttal to Visalandhra Goebbels Propaganda

A Rebuttal to Visalandhra Goebbels Propaganda

Visalandhra Goebbels Lie

Map of Vijayanagara Empire under Krishna Devarayalu

A Rebuttal to Visalandhra Goebbels Propaganda

A Rebuttal to Visalandhra Goebbels Propaganda

Visalandhra Goebbels Lie

A Rebuttal to Visalandhra Goebbels Propaganda

A Rebuttal to Visalandhra Goebbels Propaganda

Visalandhra Goebbels Lie

A Rebuttal to Visalandhra Goebbels Propaganda

Nehru never accused votaries of Visalandhra as having a "taint of imperialist expansionism"

Visalandhra Goebbels Lie

Andhra Prabha Oct 3, 1953

A Rebuttal to Visalandhra Goebbels Propaganda

Visalandhra Goebbels Lie

So is this too a lie Monsieur Parakala and party?

A Rebuttal to Visalandhra Goebbels Propaganda

Visalandhra Goebbels Lie

A Rebuttal to Visalandhra Goebbels Propaganda

A Rebuttal to Visalandhra Goebbels Propaganda

A Rebuttal to Visalandhra Goebbels Propaganda

Visalandhra Goebbels Lie

A Rebuttal to Visalandhra Goebbels Propaganda

A Rebuttal to Visalandhra Goebbels Propaganda

Visalandhra Goebbels Lie

"Idli Sambar go back" agitation was against Tamils of Madras.

Visalandhra Goebbels Lie

A Rebuttal to Visalandhra Goebbels Propaganda

A Rebuttal to Visalandhra Goebbels Propaganda

A Rebuttal to Visalandhra Goebbels Propaganda

Six-point formula was not violated.

Visalandhra Goebbels Lie

Telangana Culture is NOT different

Visalandhra Goebbels Lie

A Rebuttal to Visalandhra Goebbels Propaganda

Coastal Andhra Telugu was not imposed on Telangana

Visalandhra Goebbels Lie

A Rebuttal to Visalandhra Goebbels Propaganda

A Rebuttal to Visalandhra Goebbels Propaganda

Telangana people's ability to speak Urdu

Visalandhra Goebbels Lie

A Rebuttal to Visalandhra Goebbels Propaganda

Telangana is NOT more cosmopolitan than Andhra

Visalandhra Goebbels Lie

A Rebuttal to Visalandhra Goebbels Propaganda

Visalandhra Goebbels Lie

A Rebuttal to Visalandhra Goebbels Propaganda

Attributing regionalism to Tank Bund statues is not correct

Visalandhra Goebbels Lie

A Rebuttal to Visalandhra Goebbels Propaganda

Krishna Deva Raya as depicted in NTR's Telugu Movies