A raging battle over statehood history being scrubbed clean Premium

A decade after the formation of Telangana, there is a new battle around the history of the State.

A decade after the formation of Telangana, there is a new battle around the history of the State. At the heart of it is the role of civil society and students during the movement (udyamamu) that led to the birth of Telangana. A few days ago, the history page on the government’s portal (telangana.gov.in) was pulled down by the current Congress regime. The page cannot be found now and has led to comments on social media about the erasure of Telangana’s history.

But what part of history has been erased? The emblem of the State is set to be changed. Registration initials of TS is being changed to TG, the State song is being changed as is the figure representing Telangana Talli. 

“What happened in the past will not change by the way it is written about it in the present. The history of Telangana will be what it is. There are no flaws in the emblem that was adopted by the earlier government. If need be, it should be debated in the State Assembly and put to vote,” says historian Sriramoju Haragopal.

“Individual antagonism should not affect people. Making so many changes is not a good practice. Ande Sri’s anthem, which we used to play on CDs and cassettes at the height of the movement, is too long for classrooms. A shorter version would have been fine but the poet did not agree to it,” says Mr. Haragopal who lost 1.5 years of academic life due to the 1969 movement for separate Telangana. 

The 1969 movement was triggered by hunger strike by Ravindranath, a job aspirant, at the Kothegudem Thermal Power Station, which started functioning in 1966. It spiralled out of control and continued till 1973, claiming 369 lives. The academic life of thousands of other students was disrupted, wrecking their careers. 

The page that has disappeared after the Congress came to power in the State had 694 words for ‘Final Telangana Movement’. It lists the sequence of events from 1997 resolution of the Bharatiya Janata Party for creation of Telangana till June 2, 2014, when the State was formed. 

But it leaves out any reference to the groundswell of opinion and without any reference to the efforts of the civil society, the protests, the deaths, and the role of students of Osmania University in the formation of the new State. Erased from history was the role of government employees, APSRTC employees, advocates, and others.