Amid the glitter of celebration, denial of dissent is the irony of emerging Telangana

Telangana Chief Minister K.Chandrasekhar Rao bedazzled everyone over a month ago, inaugurating the aesthetically designed new State Secretariat complex. The very next day, an Opposition leader — MP and Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee chief A.Revanth Reddy — was stopped from entering the august premises

Telangana Chief Minister K.Chandrasekhar Rao bedazzled everyone over a month ago, inaugurating the aesthetically designed new State Secretariat complex. The very next day, an Opposition leader — MP and Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee chief A.Revanth Reddy — was stopped from entering the august premises. The reason given was that he hadn’t taken permission from the official whom he wanted to meet.

The Secretariat building remains fortified not only against the Opposition, but also mediapersons, who had unlimited access to all departments in the old secretariat complex. A media point is created outside now, and journalists need prior permission to access any department.

Be it the denial of media entry, removal of government orders from public domain, disregard to Right to Information, informal gag orders on officials, or Chief Minister’s legendary dismissal of media queries at press conferences, they all make one point amply clear: this government does not like questions.

The same approach of iron-clad governance informs the suppression of people’s movements in the newly-formed State, which, ironically, was achieved through the same democratic protests during the erstwhile united State.

The space in front of the Secretariat, which was the venue for all protests and agitations against the government earlier, was shifted to ‘Dharna Chowk’ near Indira Park in the united state, ostensibly to avoid traffic issues. After the formation of Telangana as a separate State, Dharna Chowk was shifted to outside the city, a decision which was challenged in the High Court by civil society members, and reverted later following court directions.

Permission from the police is the next indomitable hurdle that organisers of any protest faced.

“During the agitations for separate State, the protestors cooked on roads and occupied railway lines, yet no action was taken. Now even small gatherings need permission from the police, and that does not come till the last moment. Passing information on to people who have to arrive from outside the city has become a problem due to this,” academic-turned-activist Padmaja Shaw says.