Seemandhra aflame

EOIC: Supporters of united Andhra who are dead against the birfurcation of the State for creating a separate Telangana have brought the southern half of the State comprising the Rayalseema and coastal Andhra regions to a virtual standstill. With thousands of power workers going on an indefinite strike en masse, seven districts have been plunged into total darkness, disrupting essential services. Even emergency operations in hospitals cannot be performed. If the Centre had not agreed to the separation demand, the same thing would have happened in the Telangana region. An outburst of mass protest was inevitable in either case – whether the Centre accepted or rejected the demand. The Government wisely decided to accept the long-standing demand for a separate Telangana. Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde has said that the decision would not the changed. The firm stand was necessary on the part of the Government which is perceived to be suffering from a ‘policy paralysis’. 
The Centre is reportedly against the imposition of President’s rule in Andhra but prepared to invoke the ESMA against the striking power employees. ESMA is a repressive law but in the present case it may be the only recourse the Government may have to restore normal civic life. The situation has been complicated by almost all political parties trying to derive political mileage out of the Telangana imbroglio. Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav has opposed division of a State into smaller units on the specious plea that it promotes Naxalism. Neither Orissa nor Madhya Pradesh nor Maharashtra is a small State but Left extremism is a major problem in each of these States. Naxalism grows out of discontent created by underdevelopment and exploitation. It has nothing to do with the size of a State. Former UP Chief Minister Mayawati herself had proposed splitting Uttar Pradesh into four smaller States. 
When the present fury of violence subsides, Seemandhra will gradually return to normalcy. Then it will be time for initiating dialogue with the Seemandhra leaders, for persuading them to see reason and discuss ways of accelerating the tempo of development in their part of the former undivided State, rather than indulge in sense violence to undo a fait accompli. All parties should help in the process of reconciliation, rather than exploit the issue to serve their narrow political ends. At the same time it is necessary for all parties to sit together and hammer out the principles and the criteria for creating new States in future.