Dec. 13: Politicians in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema have dubbed the Telangana statehood proposal a conspiracy by Tamils and Kannadigas to divide and weaken their state, raising fears of violence and inter-state tensions.
Agitators have blocked borders at many places, stalling bus, truck and train movement to and from the two neighbouring states. They accuse the Tamil Union home minister P. Chidambaram and the Kannadiga law minister Veerappa Moily of engineering the central nod on Telangana with wrong advice to Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi.
Even Bengal hasn’t been spared: police said trains from Chennai to Howrah were stopped by mobs today with slogans of “Down with Pranab Mukherjee” even as Chennai-bound trains were greeted with “Down with Chidambaram”.
Most of the anger, however, is directed at the “Thambis” — a Tamil word meaning “brother” (like dada in Bengali) that has come to stand for Tamils in general. The theme of regional jealousies, however, means that for once the “cow belt” — the traditional target of southern conspiracy theorists — is not at the receiving end.
Samaikya (Integrated) Andhra activists in Nellore have been burning effigies of Chidambaram, who had made the pro-Telangana announcement on the Centre’s behalf.
“It was a collective decision by the Centre. But since Chidambaram made the announcement, he is being singled out as the villain and his Tamil identity highlighted to target Tamils,” a Congress MP from Tamil Nadu said.
Statues of Tamil leaders such as M.G. Ramachandran and Kamaraj have allegedly been attacked in border towns, and agitators have tried to close the sluice gates of Kandaleru reservoir, from where the Krishna’s waters are diverted to quench Chennai’s thirst.
Agitators have also stopped the transport of milk, vegetables, eggs, chicken and oil from Anantpur to Karnataka for the past three days. Tamil Nadu traffic, and supplies, have been blocked in Chittoor and Tirupati.
“Both Tamil Nadu and Karnataka were envious of Andhra’s strides in IT and irrigation,” said P. Keshav, Telugu Desam leader from Anantpur, pointing a finger at Moily, the Congress leader in charge of Andhra affairs.
“They realised that only Andhra’s bifurcation would halt its economic growth and thereby their states would get a chance to grow in importance on the national stage.” The Congress MLA from Kurnool, T.G. Venkatesh, echoed him.
Also under fire are home secretary G.K. Pillai, national security adviser M.K. Narayanan and Intelligence Bureau additional director S. Jayaraman, all accused of being in cahoots with Chidambaram.
Backlash fears
The anti-Tamil protests have generated fears of a backlash in Tamil Nadu, where Telugus make up a fifth of Chennai’s population and are present in large numbers in the northern districts.
Andhra chief minister K. Rosaiah has warned protesters in his state that if they vent their anger on Tamils, the large number of Telugus in Tamil Nadu could face reprisals. Such threats have already begun coming from Tamil Nadu, where activists have blockaded some border points against vehicles from Andhra.
The Telugus of Chennai control large interests in the film, real estate and hotel industries — so, anti-Telugu reprisals would hurt not only the victims but also Tamil Nadu’s economy.
A large number of Tamils live in Andhra, too, especially in Hyderabad, Vijayawada and Vizag. Many have jobs with central organisations like the railways, the Defence Research and Development Organisation and the Indian Space Research Organisation.
Karuna pinch
Tamil Nadu chief minister M. Karunanidhi today criticised ally Congress over its handling of the Telangana issue.
“All this shows that a delayed announcement should not be followed by a hasty decision,” he said. He meant the Centre, instead of deciding the matter on its own, had kept dithering till K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s fast forced its hand.
Karunanidhi shot down the proposal by the PMK and a few fringe parties to bifurcate Tamil Nadu along a north-south axis.
“Neither the DMK nor the people of the state support such a decision,” he said.
