తెలంగానం – ఒక ఇతిహాసం, ఒక కావ్యం- రామచందర్ దీకొండ

The on going Telangana struggle that has been there for the past five decades can be likened to the epics, Ramayanam and Mahabharatam. Telanganam is the struggle of those people who have been cheated under conditions of make-belief emotions and failed agreements. The people of Telangana who suffered at the hands of the successive regimes through centuries have patiently withstood the onslaughts of marauding intruders for a long time. Some times they resisted the unlawful authority of the occupiers; and yet some times they endured the tyranny of the rulers.

Exactly, like the victims of the great epics Ramayana and Mahabharata, the naïve inhabitants of this great land received a raw-deal in all their transactions they had with their adversaries. In Ramayana, which is nothing but the voyage of Lord Rama, the central theme, around which the epic’s story is woven is the apaharana (snatching away) of Sita, who is none other than SRI LAKSHMI, the goddess of fortune, from the hands of her legitimate Lord, Sri Ramachandra.

Sri Lakshmi was forcibly, taken away by deceit, disregarding all the principles of dharma by a demon called Ravana, who was otherwise educated and well-versed in scriptures and Vedas. He simply discarded the virtues of a brahmana and carried away the universal mother Sri Lakshmi and kept her in his custody. It fell to the lot of Sri Rama to organize himself and search for the lost Sri Lakshmi and gain her back after so much struggle and enterprise. Thus the story of Ramayana is essentially a campaign for the recovery (punahprapti) of stolen Sri Lakshmi from the hands of an evil power.

Mahabharata, similarly is a colossal battle waged by Pandavas for the recovery of their stolen RAJYA LAKSHMI (fortune of state) from Kauravas. The whole story moves around this. Pandavas, the rightful owners were cheated, deceived against all the principles of dharma and justice and their beloved country was deceitfully taken over by their ill-natured cousins (kauravas) in a staged game of gambling.
Like Sri Rama, the Pandavas organized themselves and were forced to wage a monumental war to recover (punahprapti) their stolen RAJYA LAKSHMI from the hands of the evil force called Kauravas.

In TELANGANAM also, the innocent people of this land were cheated and their country was deceitfully occupied by the Andhra-leaders by entering into treaties like “gentlemen’s agreement” which were always flouted to the utter detriment of the Telanganites. BHAGYA LAKSHMI of Telangana people has been under siege of the Andhra-rulers for the past 53 years. Occupiers gained entry into the peaceful self-content meadows of Telangana under the guise of ‘linguistic affinity’, just as Ravana tricked Sita in the garb of a saint.

Telangana’s waters, projects, funds, lands, jobs, minerals - everything has been routinely filched and looted with impunity in the name of Telugu-jaati (race) and Telugu Samaikyata (unity). All protests remained a cry in the wilderness. The hegemony of the Andhra arrogance always snubbed their voice, ridiculed their lingua franca and cultural identity. Now, these gullible victims cannot be taken for a ride anymore with the bait of a new slogan ‘Samaikya Andhra’ (united Andhra). It is time that Telangana people ruled themselves. No law allows one to compel the other to live with him without the other’s consent. Nobody has a right to thrust themselves upon Telangana and plunder its resources.

Just as Sri Lakshmi of Ramayanam and Rajya Lakshmi of Mahabharatam, BHAGYA LAKSHMI of Telanganam has been cunningly taken prisoner and exploited. Now, it is time for the people of Telangana to fight decisively against the occupiers and secure the release of Telangana’s Bhagya Lakshmi (fate/Hyderabad) from the clutches of Seema-Andhra leaders.

Thus, I conclude that the ongoing historic revolt of the innocent people of Telangana is an epoch making movement called TELANGANAM – it is an itihasa-kaavyam. //satyameva jayate//

ramchander158@yahoo.com