Hospitals usually do not form the backdrop of jubilation. On one of the wintery nights in December, while temperatures were dipping in Hyderabad, a number of hardcore supporters of Telangana rushed to the state-run Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS). Outside the five-decade-old hospital gate, young men and women danced wildly and hooted while a few distributed sweets. It looked like nobody was camera shy, as more and more people competed with each other to give amusing and celebratory expressions to the large number of media personnel stationed outside.
On December 9, 2009, the first positive step towards the formation of a separate Telangana state came in the form of a statement read out by then union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on behalf of the government of India: “The process of forming the state of Telangana will be initiated.” This one statement was enough for K. Chandrashekar Rao to end his 11-day fast at NIMS hospital and for people of Telangana to accept with love the valuable “gift” from Sonia Gandhi on her birthday.
The developments that unfolded got etched deeply in the minds of many. Some rejoiced, while supporters of a united Andhra Pradesh reeled under shock.
“I was at home watching news that night. After I saw Chidambaram's statement, I could not contain my excitement and cried out. I took out my bike and met my group of friends who were already on the streets. We went to NIMS hospital and celebrated the victory of Telangana till the early hours of the next day. “The feeling was great,” said N. Raj Kumar, a resident of Mehdipatnam, who was a B.Com student that time.
Cut to eight years later, is this day slowly losing its significance?
“It was like the day of independence for people active in the movement. I do not think the younger generation will even remember this day as the focus is on celebrating other occasions associated with the bifurcation,” he said.
Looks like what Raj said is true. The ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) wants to downplay the importance attached to December 9 as it will glorify the Congress party. It is June 2, the official Telangana Formation Day that is celebrated on a large-scale with complete support from the party.
There are hardly any events or programmes that happen on this day to mark remembrance.
“Historically, it is an important day for Telangana,” feels M. Kodandaram, Chairman of Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC) who was in the forefront of many agitations prior to the bifurcation. “The statement was made under compulsion by Chidambaram after KCR undertook fasting, which was followed by agitations in Osmania Univeristy and Kakatiya University. There was also pressure on the central government to prevent any bloodshed during the student protests. In a way, it is significant and a pre-cursor to important events like the formation of JAC and the launch of a number of mass agitation programmes.”
He said that there is also some misinformation related to the December 9 statement.
S. Ramakrishna, who runs his own tea stall near Osmania University, which was the epicentre of large-scale protests for Telangana, has a different take on why this day does not need attention.
“We were happy on December 9. In the next few days, darkness and uncertainty came back to haunt Telangana people. The public representatives from Andhra and Rayalaseema resigned from their posts and lobbied hard for Congress party to change its stand. The tone of Congress sounded different and it looked like they wanted to delay the process. This was the reason why agitations continued for the next few years even as political consultations were underway. For me, the day when Telangana was officially bifurcated is the most important.”
Meanwhile, the state Congress party is looking to celebrate the occasion in a big way this year.
“We will celebrate December 9 as a thanksgiving day in return for Sonia Gandhi’s gesture on her birthday,” said Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee chief Uttam Kumar Reddy. “Programmes will be organised across the state. We also want to highlight on this day that the ideal Telangana which we aimed for has not been achieved under the rule of TRS party.”
Views on the significance of December 9 can differ, but one cannot deny that one statement that night changed the future of the Telugu speaking states.
