The Pre-2004 Telangana protests refers to the movements and agitations related to the Telangana movement that took place before the year 2004. Andhra state and Telangana was merged to form Andhra Pradesh state on 1 November 1956 after providing safeguards to Telangana in the form of Gentlemen's agreement. Soon after the formation of Andhra Pradesh, people of Telangana expressed dissatisfaction over how the agreements and guarantees were implemented. Protests initially led by students latet under the leadership of newly formed political party Telangana Praja Samithi asking for the formation of telangana. More than three hundred people died in police firing. Under the Mulki rules in force at the time, anyone who had lived in Hyderabad for 15 years was considered a local, and was thus eligible for certain government posts. When the Supreme Court upheld the Mulki rules at the end of 1972, the Jai Andhra movement, with the aim of re-forming a separate state of Andhra, was started in Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions.
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In the years after the formation of Andhra Pradesh state, people of Telangana expressed dissatisfaction over how the agreements and guarantees were implemented. Discontent intensified in January 1969, when the guarantees that had been agreed on were supposed to lapse. All the Andhra employees who migrated to capital city in 1956 will become local in 1969 after 12years of residence per mulki rules. Student agitation for the continuation of the agreement began at Khammam and spread to other parts of the region. One section of students(which appeared dominant) want separate state other want implementation of safeguards.[1] On 19 January 1969, all party accord was reached to ensure the proper implementation of Telangana safeguards. Accord's main points are 1) All non-Telangana employees holding posts reserved for Telangana locals will be transferred immediately. 2) Telangana surpluses will be used for Telangana development. 3) Appleal to Telangana students to call off agitation.[2]
Police firing and deaths of protesters further escalated situation. Meanwhile transfers of Andhra employees, as promised in all party accord, were challenged in court.[3] Agitation quickly turned violent and by 29 January army had to called in.[4] In February, Mulki rules(local jobs for local people), as promised in Gentleman's agreement, were declared by high court as void but this judgement was stayed by divisional bench of high court.[5] Chief minister ruled out Telangana state and appealed for peace.[6] But protests continued and movement turns violent and people continued to get killed in police firing.[7][8] Despite the intensity of movement, Prime minister rules out the division of the state.[9] After several days of talks with leaders of both regions, on 12 April 1969, Prime minister came up with Eight point plan.[10] This plan includes appointment of Five committees ; 1) High powered committee would be setup to determine financial surpluses to Telangana. 2) Telangana development committee 3) Plan implementation committee 4) Committee of jurists to be consulted on safeguards 5) Committees to look into grievances of public servants.
Telangana leaders were not satisfied with the accord.[11] Protests continued under the leadership of newly formed political party Telangana Praja Samithi asking for the formation of telangana and people continued to get killed in police firing.[12][13]
Justice Bhargava committee which looked into Telangana surpluses, found that 283million rupees diverted from Telangana to Andhra region between 1956 and 1968. Economist C H Hanumanth Rao further analyzed the data from the committee report and concluded that actual diversion of fund is 1.174 Billion rupees. This is huge amount considering revenue of Andhra Pradesh was 209 million rupees in 1957-58.[14][15][16]
Government employees and opposition members of the state legislative assembly threatened "direct action" in support of the students.[17] Purushotham Rao was for outright separation, and he supported the student views. He unveiled a map of Telangana in the state assembly.[18] A memorial called Gun Park was built near Public Gardens, Hyderabad to commemorate students who lost their lives in the struggles of 1969.
Although the Congress faced some dissension within its ranks, its leadership stood against additional linguistic states. As a result, defectors from the Congress, led by M. Chenna Reddy, founded the Telangana Praja Samithi political party in 1969. In the May 1971 parliamentary elections, Telangana Praja Samithi won 10 out the 14 Parliament seats in Telangana.[19][20] Despite these electoral successes, some of the new party leaders gave up their agitation in September 1971 after realizing that the Prime Minister was not inclined to towards a separate state of Telangana, and rejoined the safer political haven of the Congress ranks.[21]
During this period, the Government promised to correct what critics saw as a violation of the promises of the Gentleman's agreement in the areas of jobs, budget allocations, and educational facilities.[22] Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was strongly against the division of the state, but on her recommendation, P. V. Narasimha Rao became the first Chief minister of Andhra Pradesh from Telangana on 30 September 1971.[23] [1] [2]
In 1972, candidates of the Telangana Praja Samithi party contested all the available seats for the assembly elections. However, only Thakkalapalli Purushothama Rao got elected, from Wardhannapet constituency in Warangal District.
Under the Mulki rules in force at the time, anyone who had lived in Hyderabad for 15 years was considered a local, and was thus eligible for certain government posts. When the Supreme Court upheld the Mulki rules at the end of 1972, the Jai Andhra movement, with the aim of re-forming a separate state of Andhra, was started in Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions.[24] P. V. Narasimha Rao resigned as Chief minister of Andhra Pradesh on 10 January 1973, and President's rule was declared in the state.
On 21 September 1973, a political settlement was reached with the Government of India with a Six-Point Formula. It was agreed upon by the leaders of the two regions to prevent any recurrence of such agitations in the future.
In 1997, the state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) passed a resolution seeking a separate Telangana.[26] Though the party created the states of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Uttarkhand in 2000, it could not create a separate Telangana state because of lack of consensus with the Telugu Desam Party, which extended outside support to its government at the centre.[27] Congress party MLAs from the Telangana region who supported a separate Telangana state formed the Telangana Congress Legislators Forum.[28][29][30][31][32] A new party called Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), led by Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao (KCR), was formed in 2001 with the single-point agenda of creating a separate Telangana state with Hyderabad as its capital.[33][34][35]
| Preceded by 1952–1968 Telangana protests |
Telangana movement 1969-2003 |
Succeeded by 2004-2010 Telangana protests |