Why should I be forced to choose between my brothers in our glorious Telugu family?
Why should one region burn today and the other tomorrow?
I hear both voices.
One that was a small hushed tone decades ago, and that is now a powerful boom in its demand for statehood. While that voice has been repeatedly politically manipulated, it is the still the people's voice and it must be accorded due legitimacy. Election after election in Telangana, this voice has translated itself into a mandate.
The other is the voice of anguish and trauma. I bear witness to the tear stained faces of the Seemandhra people, their hearts bleeding with the division of the state. Here too, there is no dearth of political instigation, but this emotion is also real and must be duly recognized.
So, I ask. Why should there be winners and losers within this family? Why should I be forced to choose between the two brothers?
At Lok Satta, we firmly believe in internal democracy. We have leaders of tall stature from Telangana and Seemandhra. Are they not soaked in Telugu culture? Are they not patriots? We sit across the table and talk to each other about reconciling the legitimate demands of both sides.
I challenge the Congress party to do the same.
The true meaning of democracy is to reconcile conflicting interests. Since the Congress have demonstrated that they are incapable of doing it, they have no moral right to govern this country.
Everyone knows that when a state created on the basis of language is sought to be divided, that too a region with one of the biggest cities in the country and an economic hub, there is complexity. The pain and anguish caused can be imagined.
Yet, the Congress party seems to have no imagination of this. Their reckless and undemocratic methods in sanctioning the legitimate demand for Telangana statehood patently undermines the federal structure. These methods have resulted in a conflict between an immovable object and an irresistible force. The way this anger is boiling over today, it can affect national unity and that is the worst the Congress could do to our country.
The Congress will go down in history as having the singular distinction of not only derailing the country's economy, but also it's democracy.
I plead to my family. The family of Telugus across both regions, not to drown out each others voices. The voices that express desire for a separate state and the voices that express anguish over the state being cleaved. It is supremely important to respect each others desires and it is our bounden duty to make them come true.
And we know it can be done.
Why, then, is the Congress party hell bent on subverting any peaceful solution for Telugus in favour of it's own vested electoral interests?
Yesterday, Nehru's tryst with destiny integrated the entire country without spilling a single drop of Indian blood. Today, the Congress Party has made a farce of that legacy by staunchly refusing to build consensus between the Telangana and Seemandhra stakeholders. Instead, they glibly play hate politics and electoral games, watching idly as the state burns. No way are their current methods acceptable.
We are a federal republic for heaven's sake. The Parliament cannot ride roughshod over a state. I've begged so many times for this topic to be discussed.
This is not a zero sum game. Why should I be forced to choose one over the other in the family?
- Jayaprakash Narayan
Why should one region burn today and the other tomorrow?
I hear both voices.
One that was a small hushed tone decades ago, and that is now a powerful boom in its demand for statehood. While that voice has been repeatedly politically manipulated, it is the still the people's voice and it must be accorded due legitimacy. Election after election in Telangana, this voice has translated itself into a mandate.
The other is the voice of anguish and trauma. I bear witness to the tear stained faces of the Seemandhra people, their hearts bleeding with the division of the state. Here too, there is no dearth of political instigation, but this emotion is also real and must be duly recognized.
So, I ask. Why should there be winners and losers within this family? Why should I be forced to choose between the two brothers?
At Lok Satta, we firmly believe in internal democracy. We have leaders of tall stature from Telangana and Seemandhra. Are they not soaked in Telugu culture? Are they not patriots? We sit across the table and talk to each other about reconciling the legitimate demands of both sides.
I challenge the Congress party to do the same.
The true meaning of democracy is to reconcile conflicting interests. Since the Congress have demonstrated that they are incapable of doing it, they have no moral right to govern this country.
Everyone knows that when a state created on the basis of language is sought to be divided, that too a region with one of the biggest cities in the country and an economic hub, there is complexity. The pain and anguish caused can be imagined.
Yet, the Congress party seems to have no imagination of this. Their reckless and undemocratic methods in sanctioning the legitimate demand for Telangana statehood patently undermines the federal structure. These methods have resulted in a conflict between an immovable object and an irresistible force. The way this anger is boiling over today, it can affect national unity and that is the worst the Congress could do to our country.
The Congress will go down in history as having the singular distinction of not only derailing the country's economy, but also it's democracy.
I plead to my family. The family of Telugus across both regions, not to drown out each others voices. The voices that express desire for a separate state and the voices that express anguish over the state being cleaved. It is supremely important to respect each others desires and it is our bounden duty to make them come true.
And we know it can be done.
Why, then, is the Congress party hell bent on subverting any peaceful solution for Telugus in favour of it's own vested electoral interests?
Yesterday, Nehru's tryst with destiny integrated the entire country without spilling a single drop of Indian blood. Today, the Congress Party has made a farce of that legacy by staunchly refusing to build consensus between the Telangana and Seemandhra stakeholders. Instead, they glibly play hate politics and electoral games, watching idly as the state burns. No way are their current methods acceptable.
We are a federal republic for heaven's sake. The Parliament cannot ride roughshod over a state. I've begged so many times for this topic to be discussed.
This is not a zero sum game. Why should I be forced to choose one over the other in the family?
- Jayaprakash Narayan
No comments:
Post a Comment