Written by a well educated maoist leader...Pro telangana stand

The realisation of a separate Telangana will be a long and arduous struggle, with forces representing feudal, capitalist and caste cliques opposed tooth and nail to a separate State.

These vested interests have so much clout with the Centre that they can compel it to ignore the aspiration of the people to self-rule. They have turned Telangana into an internal colony of theirs and want to maintain their grip even as they hold sway over Andhra and Rayalaseema areas.

The indications are very clear. The political JAC has appealed to the student community to leave the agitation to them, which is the first step a capitalist class takes to water down a movement.

Money bags are arriving to tone down the agitation.

Then, we have a governor who sends out signal that any law and order problem will be crushed with an iron hand.

And there is also the issue of Greater Hyderabad.

The demand for a special status for Hyderabad portends more danger than anything else since. To retain their grip on Hyderabad, these forces would resort to bloodshed. As a last weapon in the armoury, they will trigger clashes between people of the two region. I want peace squads formed in every basti and every village to guard against and resist the lumpen elements.

I am not hopeful of the Centre taking any decision on Telangana in the near future. This is because the same capitalist and feudal forces which had worked for integration of Hyderabad State into Andhra in the 1950s, are at work even now. There is also a similar exploitative class in Telagnana which had hobnobbed with their counterparts in Andhra and Rayalaseema to provide logistic support to ensure perpetuation of exploitation.

The fears of a Telangana State becoming another Chhattisgarh or Jharkhand are baseless. In fact, it would be the other way round. If the Centre delays formation of a separate State, Telangana would witness a fierce people’s movement against continuing exploitation.

If the movement is at its peak in Chhattisgarh, it is because the State is located in the heart of India where the weaker sections have been exploited for ages. A similar situation has not arisen in Goa, Haryana or Himachal Pradesh.

The peoples of the two regions should realise that the Telangana movement is not a fight between them. It is between the haves and have-nots. I do not say Telangana would become prosperous after the formation of a separate state. That would depend on the quality of leadership and the direction imparted by it.

Let there be an agitation for Telangana as well as for a separate coastal Andhra State and let the leaders fight on behalf of the people, and not on behalf of semi-feudal and capitalist forces.