Following is the full text of the letter submitted to CPM leaders by YSRCP Chief Sri Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy in Delhi Saturday morning seeking their cooperation in his efforts to keep the state united and preventing the misuse of Ariticle 3 of the Constitution.
To
Sri Prakash Karat,
General Secretary,
Communist Party of India (Marxist)
New Delhi
Sir,
The Congress Party seems to be
in a tearing hurry to divide Andhra Pradesh State for political reasons,
unmindful of the consequences, giving scant respect to the sentiments of a
multitude of the local people that is against the division.
Despite a
tempestuous outrage against the division by people who
are protesting for over three months, the adamant ruling Party is going
ahead with its plans of separating the State at a breakneck speed.
My humble request to you is to oppose
the division of Andhra Pradesh and reject the Bill in the Parliament when it is
tabled, as the Bill reflects the megalomaniac nature of the Congress Party
and is not in the true spirit of the federal structure as it is not the voice
of the people, as more than 75% of the people of Andhra Pradesh
want to remain united.
This is the time to reckon with all
national parties and stand up against the injustice meted out to Andhra
Pradesh. This resistance should be put up by every political party that
believes in democracy and public opinion as this is not the problem of Andhra
Pradesh alone. It is the dichotomy, arrogance and authoritarianism of
the ruling party that is being questioned and challenged.
Let not Andhra Pradesh be a precedent
for the divisive tactics of the Party in power at the Centre. If political
parties that subscribe to democracy and value based politics
remain mute spectators, it could happen to anyone and in any state
tomorrow.
I call upon you to extend your
support for the cause of a United Andhra Pradesh and express solidarity with us
in the Parliament and outside as well which could be an eye-opener to the
Congress, preventing it from indulging in any such misadventures in future.
To give you a
brief scenario of Andhra Pradesh, after the death of YSR, the
state plunged into chaos and administration has virtually come
to a halt for the past 4 1/2 years. People are facing several hardships and are
vexed with the anti-people policies of the state government.
Anti-incumbency has shot skyward
and the writing is on the wall that the Congress Party is losing and
losing badly as was evident from the by-elections in which its candidates lost
deposits or fared very badly.
Congress has whipped up regional
passions and brought things to this situation only to divert the attention of
the people from its failures and to win a few seats and votes at least in one
region.
Being in public life you must be
aware of the lexicon of democracy and how a State should be divided and under
what circumstances and the methodology to be adopted. Though 75% per cent of
the population is opposing the division, it is going ahead with its plans of
bifurcating the state and is trying to redefine democracy in its dictatorial
accent.
Even if you stretch your memory to
any extent, I believe, you will not recall a division of this sort that has
happened in the Indian history since independence. When the Congress is
bypassing all the best practices and precedents, I am sure that
you will extend your helping hand to our fight for justice to keep
the state united.
The infamous Partition of Bengal in
1905 by Lord Curzon (the then Viceroy of India) is coming to the memory of
Telugu people afresh along with the British ideology of Divide and Rule as it
is the same principle that AICC is adopting now. All the democratic forces in
this country have to give a thought in the following lines.
1. Can the Centre
use the powers vested on it arbitrarily and take undue advantage to garner a
few votes and seats?
2. The Central
Government took a unilateral decision to divide the State on December 9, 2009
and decision was dubbed by Congress as a birthday gift by Party President Sonia
Gandhi. Can such a yardstick be applied for dividing the State?
3. Though the
Centre has the power to divide the State, can it take decisions without any
concrete basis, consent of the concerned assembly and rationality? The Centre
does not recognize the fact that Andhra Pradesh state was formed on
recommendations of the State Reorganization Commission (SRC) which regrouped
the states on linguistic basis in 1955.
4. There are
numerous demands for separate states elsewhere in the country. In some cases,
the concerned assemblies have adopted and favoured a resolution for the
division and sent it to the Centre, which in turn have been ignored so far. But
it is moving at a break-neck speed to split Andhra Pradesh just six months
ahead of the general elections. Why?
5. If the
Parliament endorses the division of Andhra Pradesh today, such arbitrary
procedure in the days to come, will it not set a precedent for any Government
at the Centre in future to arbitrarily divide any State with a simple majority
in the Parliament?
6. How did the
Centre take decision on bifurcating the State on October 3, 2013 without the
consent of the State Assembly? Earlier, Srikrishna Committee in its report
suggested that the State stands to lose if it is divided and in the first preference
it has mentioned to keep the State united. In that case what is the basis of
the Cabinet note on division? Is it justified?
In 1956, assemblies of the two states
of Andhra and Hyderabad separately adopted a resolution with a two-third
majority for the formation of Andhra Pradesh State. Hyderabad assembly had
adopted a resolution with a two-third majority for the formation of
Vishalandhra (Andhra Pradesh) on linguistic basis. In the 174-member Hyderabad
State Assembly, 147 participated in the voting and 103 members agreed for
Vishalandhra (Andhra Pradesh).
Respecting the feelings of Telangana
people who wanted Vishalandhra, the then Chief Minister of Hyderabad State,
Burgula Ramakrishna Rao (a son of Telangana) sacrificed his post as Chief
Minister and helped the resolution getting the sanctity of the House.
Similarly, the Andhra Assembly also unanimously adopted a resolution for
Vishalandhra.
It’s worth recalling the speech of
former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on the floor of the Parliament in 1972
(which is categorical on the unity of the State). In her own words, Mrs. Gandhi
has said
“Perhaps, it was this long history
which inspired the Telugu speaking people when they yearned and struggled for
several decades to form a unified Andhra Pradesh. May I cite a bit of my
personal experience? I happened to be touring parts of the south just before
the report of the sates reorganization commission was made public and my ears
are still reverberating with the full-throated cries of Vishalandhra. It was
really the will of Telugu-speaking people which prevailed over the proposal of
some people to retain the old Hyderabad state”.
The Government policy is like that of
the Nazi philosophy before the World War II. Here we place the most popular
quote by Martin Niemöller, the German theologian.
First they came for the communists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.
Then they came for the socialists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Catholic.
Then they came for me,
and there was no one left to speak for me.
If the intelligentsia, democratic
institutions and people who respect the constitution keep quiet and do not
react to the injustice being meted out by the Centre to Andhra Pradesh, the
devil of division will raise its ugly head in any every state in the coming
days, with any party in power at the Centre unleashing their authority to
weaken the state where they think they have no chance.
As these states have already been
reconstituted on recommendations of State Reorganization Commission on
linguistic basis, there is an absolute need to bring in a constitutional
amendment which makes a two-third
majority in the State Assembly and Parliament mandatory to divide or to
form a new State.
While amendment to the article 3 is a
must in the days to come, the urgent need is to oppose the bifurcation bill of
Andhra Pradesh in the Parliament and wherever it is placed.
We are enclosing herewith a brief
note on the need to amend Article 3 which empowers the Centre for creating new
States. We are also attaching our letter to Group of Ministers (GoM) set up for
the division of Andhra Pradesh which will further clear the air for you. The
letter details the ill effects of the proposed division of Andhra Pradesh.
This is the crucial hour, as
democracy is on the threshold of a deceitful mansion. We have to
save it and preserve its sanctity as the will of people should prevail and not
the arithmetic of a few leaders.
I once again urge you all to express
solidarity with us in the fight for a united Andhra Pradesh and defeat the Bill
in Parliament and join hands for the upkeep of democracy.
Thanking you
Yours Sincerely
(YS Jagan Mohan Reddy)
President
A Peep Into CM Jagan’s Heart Of Gold!
