JUSTICE Srikrishna’s INJUSTICE How SKC Report tried to suppress truth and deceive Telangana & Why India should Reject SKC Report JUSTICE Srikrishna’s INJUSTICE 1 JUSTICE Srikrishna’s INJUSTICE 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS When the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, announced the formation of the Committee for Consultations on the Situation in Andhra Pradesh (CCSAP), popularly known as Justice Srikrishna Committee (SKC), the proponents of Telangana Statehood received it with a healthy dose of skepticism. But, the optimist in them overtook the agitator as the Committee boasted of very prominent names as its members. The lakhs of representations to the Committee - demanding the formation of Telangana State - underline this optimism that Justice Srikrishna will do justice to the beleaguered region at last. Telangana Development Forum (TDF), a not-for-profit, apolitical organization of Telangana citizens and Telangana NRIs worldwide, too submitted its report ‘Deprivation to Telangana: Case for Separate Statehood’ and TDF INDIA appeared before SKC & presented its case to the Srikrishna Committee on 7th May, 2010. The report, prepared by experts from diverse fields, was received with appreciation for its objectivity and professionalism. Following up the report, the members of TDF worldwide, held a video conference with the Committee on 16th June, 2010. Like crores of fellow Telanganites, TDF members too awaited the Committee’s report with a bated breath unknowing that they were in for a rude shock! The Srikrishna Committee, wisely, ends its report with this quote of Sri Vallabhbhai Patel: “...it will be a folly to ignore realities; facts take their revenge if they are not faced squarely and well”. But, the Committee itself ignores the facts and realities it discovered to produce a specious, pernicious, self-contradictory and a self-negating report. Telangana, innocently, expected that the Committee would make public the naked unvarnished truth – the injustices meted out to the Region – for the whole world to see. Instead, the Committee, through its JUSTICE Srikrishna’s INJUSTICE 3 disservice to the cause of Truth and contempt towards Telangana, heaped insult over injury. Hence, TDF felt duty bound to bring to light the Committee’s ‘condone the culprit and vilify the victim’ mindset. This book is an attempt to do what originally was the mission of SKC – Discover and Report TRUTH! TDF expresses its deep reverence to the martyrs and appreciation to the Movement’s real soldiers - the students, employees, farmers, and activists from all walks of life - who unflinchingly and relentlessly pushed forward the demand of Statehood for Telangana. They are a constant source of inspiration for us. We thank Sri Sujai Karampuri, Sri K Amar Nath, Sri Dileep Konatham, Sri Madhav Mudumbai, Sri M Narayan Reddy (Ex-MP), Sri CH Hanumantha Rao (Former Member, Planning Commission), Sri R Vidyasagar Rao (Retired Commissioner, Ministry of Water Resources, GOI), Dr. Gautam Pingle (Director, Administrative Staff College of India), Prof. Madabhushi Sridhar (NALSAR), Sri K P Reddy (Retired S.E.), Prof. S Sreedhara Swamy (Telangana Senior Citizens Association), Sri K Raghu (TEEJAC), Sri Subhash C Reddy, Prof. E. Revathi, Sri Ram, Sri G Bhiksham, for their invaluable and untiring efforts in making this book see the light of day. The long list is only indicative and not exhaustive. Many TDF members and Telangana NRIs (TNRI) worldwide chipped in with their insights. This book would not have been possible without the moral and financial support from Telangana Vision Group of TDF Washington, D.C., Chapter. Our Special thanks to Sri Viplav R. Putta President TDF -USA, Prof. Kodandaram, Chairman T-JAC and the Telangana Vidyavantula Vedika for their encouragement and support. Lastly, we want to express our indebtedness to Justice L. Narasimha Reddy of the A.P. High Court for his refreshing streak of judicial independence in calling the SKC’s confidential Report (Chapter 8), so the people can know what sorts of committees are appointed by the governments. This is precisely what TDF tries to achieve through this book. D.P.Reddy President, TDF-India And Coordinator, SKC Working Group JUSTICE Srikrishna’s INJUSTICE 4 Dear Citizens of Telangana, I choose to address every single citizen of Telangana after nearly 12 years of writing and addressing every single leader from Prime Minister of India down to the MLA elected by each of you to listen to the concerns of Telangana. Our concern has been simple: that not every Telangana citizen is not heard of his or her concerns with regard to what they wanted all along, seeking the ability to define their own destiny and develop as a State within the context of Indian Republic. We know now that we have reached a point of no return on our path to Separate State, which is what our forefathers desired to begin with. As I write this letter, every single living and breathing person in Telangana is fully awake and is taking the responsibility toward achieving exactly that destiny. We are closer than ever in achieving it. I testified and tried my best to open the eyes to Srikrishna Committee with hope and trusted that our concerns will find equal placement in their report. Instead, their chose to ignore our reason and brought out a hidden agenda that is bought and paid for by the illegitimate establishment with colonialist mentality of Andhras. We totally reject their premise for any option other than forming the State of Telangana. As I told each of the member of the Committee very clearly, our struggle continues for the sake of our beloved land and its cherished past, to redeem the promise of our forefathers that have raised our crops, children and carried the burdens even in most trying circumstances. I want our citizens to know that none of your efforts to be heard will go waste. We as the Non-resident Telanganites settled abroad will continue to have you in our prayers and will do every single bit as it is our duty to help mother land “Telangana”. We see this as our blessing to add value to our lives through this struggle and thank mother Telangana for providing us this historic opportunity. Viplava Reddy Putta President, Telangana Development Forum-USA JUSTICE Srikrishna’s INJUSTICE 5 CONTENTS Chapter 1: ‘Why India Should Reject Srikrishna Committee Report?’ By Sujai Karampuri .................................................... 1 Chapter 2: 'Subjectivity, Irrationality and Prejudice in SKC Report' By K Amar Nath ................................................................ 14 Chapter 3: ‘Factual Errors in Srikrishna Committee Report’ By Konatham Dileep and Madhav Mudumbai ...... 26 Appendix A: ‘Srikrishna Committee Report on Telangana’ By C.H.Hanumantha Rao ....................................... 35 Appendix B: ‘A Critique of the Report of the Srikrishna Committee’ By Dr. Gautam Pingle ................................................. 46 Appendix C: ‘Intellectual Dishonesty in SKC Report’ By Sujai Karampuri ................................................. 78 Appendix D: Parti - I ‘Page 423 of Srikrishna Report:’ Part - II Srikrishna’s Principles of Injustice By Prof. Madabhushi Sridhar ............................. 82 Appendix E: ‘On Water Resources and Irrigation’ By R.Vidyasagar Rao ................................................ 93 Appendix F: News Articles on Srikrishna Report .............................................................................................. 100 Appendix G: News Reports on Srikrishna Committee Members ............................................................................................... 106 JUSTICE Srikrishna’s INJUSTICE 6 CHAPTER- 1 ‘Why India Should Reject Srikrishna Committee Report?’ By Sujai Karampuri Srikrishna Committee Report is now being studied by the Central Government in New Delhi to provide a solution to the Telangana issue. Unfortunately, the report fails to provide a political solution to the current problem, and instead provides too many options thereby creating confusion. It provides six options which are self-contradicting making a mockery of itself. It has too many factual errors, and in some places downright supercilious when it calls entire people of Telangana lazy and subservient. The report not only puts on record its prejudices against creation of new States in India but also callously dismisses a 54 year old struggle and a genuine aspiration of 35 million people as ‘having some merit’ and ‘not entirely unjustified’. The report not only fails to deliver a practical solution to the impending problem in Telangana, but it poses a grave danger to Indian democracy by establishing an undemocratic yardstick for creation of new States in India. Historical Precedents Back in 1950s, the national leaders of the newly formed Indian Republic looked at the States divisions based on regional identity with strong suspicion. These leaders were still recovering from the aftermath of Partition and the recently concluded exercise of annexation of various reluctant kingdoms. Linguistic Provinces Commission under SK Dar and JVP Committee headed by Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Pattabhi Sitaramaiah rejected the idea of forming States based on language. The Dar Commission said ‘Nationalism and sub-nationalism are two emotional experiences, which grow at the cost of each other’ and therefore ‘all sub-national tendencies in the existing linguistic provinces should be suppressed’. The JVP Committee held the security and unity of India paramount to caution that the ‘language