With the Congress and the UPA deciding on creation of a
Telangana State, a nervous Union Home Ministry fears it could lead to
unrest and prolonged agitations in parts of Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra,
Assam and West Bengal, where people have been demanding formation of new
States.
Already Bodo and Gorkha leaders have given
bandh calls in support of their demands — Bodoland from Assam and
Gorkhaland from West Bengal, while leaders advocating creation of Harit
Pradesh or Paschim Pradesh out of Uttar Pradesh, Bundelkhand from Uttar
Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, and Vidarbha from Maharashtra are also
gearing up to launch fresh agitations.
Conceding
that creating Telangana will lead to heartburning in several regions,
senior Home Ministry officials believe there could be a spurt in
protests and violence in several States.
“At a time
when the Centre has deployed paramilitary troops in Naxal-affected
States, we cannot afford to spare more forces in other areas. There
could be more law and order problems in Andhra Pradesh as pro and
anti-Telangana supporters are likely to up the ante,” said a senior
official.
“Instead of taking a decision on creation
of Telangana with political considerations in mind, the Congress should
have asked the government to form a Second States Reorganisation
Commission which is long due. They could have come out with some
realistic answers to this complex problem of reorganisation of States
instead of inviting trouble which now seems apparent,” a former Home
Secretary told The Hindu on condition of anonymity.
Pointing
to complexities in creating Telangana, he said the two States —
Telangana and Andhra Pradesh — would find it difficult to settle complex
issues related to water distribution, cadre, finance and pensions.
Moreover, it could give a new lease of life to the Naxal movement in
Andhra Pradesh that had been on a decline during the past few years, he
warned.
Significantly, the Home Ministry has already
received a resolution passed by the Uttar Pradesh Assembly in 2001 for
division of the State into four parts — Purvanchal, Bundelkhand, Avadh
Pradesh and Paschim Pradesh. The other state demands raised in the
recent past include Saurashtra in Gujarat, Coorg in Karnataka,
Koshalanchal in western Odisha, and Mithilanchal in north Bihar.
Time
and again, the Ministry has told Parliament that “creation of any new
State has wide ramifications and direct bearing on the federal polity of
our country. The Government of India moves in the matter only when
there is a broad consensus in the parent State. The government takes a
decision on the matter of formation of new States after taking into
consideration all relevant factors.”
According to the
former Home Secretary: “What is peculiar here is that, on one hand, the
Union government is yet to consider the resolution passed by the Uttar
Pradesh Assembly on dividing the State into four parts for better
governance, and, on the other, there is no real consensus in Andhra
Pradesh over the Telangana issue and that the State Assembly has not
even passed any resolution in this regard … This is nothing else but
pure politicking,” the former Home Secretary added.
Sources
in the Rashtriya Lok Dal, which has been spearheading the campaign for
carving Harit Pradesh out of western Uttar Pradesh, said its leader and
Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh, while welcoming the move to form
Telangana at the UPA Coordination Committee meet, asked the government
to seriously consider the party’s demand also. Not acknowledging genuine
sentiments of the people could lead to trouble, he reportedly warned.
Film actor Raja Bundela, who has been fighting for creation of
Bundelkhand out of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, said the demand for
the new State was one of the oldest which should also be accepted by
the government. “Bundelkhand is one of the most backward and poor
regions in the country. Except the Samajwadi Party, all major parties
including the BJP and the BSP are for a separate Bundelkhand … The
Congress has time and again gone back on its promise to create a
separate Bundelkhand. Now we are ready for a final agitation which will
be peaceful,” he said.
Recalling that even Congress
vice-president Rahul Gandhi had promised separate Bundelkhand early last
year, Mr. Bundela said soon a meeting of the National Federation for
New States would be called where representatives from Bundelkhand,
Vidarbha, Bodoland and Gorkhaland would chalk out future strategy.
Telangana leaders are also part of the forum. “Half-hearted approach
will create more problems … it will lead to more unrest and violence
which is not good for the nation,” he added.
Similarly,
senior Congress leader Vilas Muttemwar has sent a letter to party
president Sonia Gandhi demanding creation of Vidarbha State.
“Now
when the Telangana State has been agreed to be carved out of Andhra
Pradesh, people of Vidarbha will have genuine resentment if their
similar demand for creation of separate Vidarbha is not simultaneously
agreed to,” he said, and warned that people might resort to violence if
their demand was not met.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief
Minister Omar Abdullah has also warned that giving in to the demand for
creating a separate State in the backdrop of an agitation was a
“dangerous thing.” “An impression is going out that an agitation can
lead to creation of a new State, be it in Bundelkhand, Maharashtra,
Gorkhaland or in our State. What will you tell people of Jammu — agitate
for seven or eight years and you will get a separate State? This is a
dangerous thing,” he told journalists in Srinagar.