Karnataka

Bengal

Vallabhbhai Patel

Telangana

BJP MLA B Sriramulu, demanded—and then backtracked—a separate state status for north Karnataka. Although his statement that he respects a unifiedis big relief, the threat is not totally removed—the north Karnataka mutt seers are at the forefront of the demand.In that backdrop, here is a little refreshing of memory.The Kannada land was in bits and pieces before 1956, under as many as 20 different rulers. Except Mysore Kingdom, the rest were governed by languages other than Kannada, like Marathi, Urdu and Tamil. Areas where the Kannada speaking people lived was economically underdeveloped even then.Aluru Venkata Rao, who pioneered the Unification Movement, was from north Karnataka. He was supported by other stalwarts from north Karnataka. He saw the need for unification of Kannada-speaking regions after the British split. After the independence too the struggle continued. To cite one example, the JVP Committee formed by the then government consisting of Jawaharlal Nehru,and Dr Pattabhi Sitaramaiah in its report favoured only Andhra Pradesh and totally ignored Karnataka. This was despite Congress’s declaration to create linguistic provinces as its goal in 1951. The rest is history: how difficult it was to unify Karnataka and how emotionally charged the leaders were to accomplish their aim are all well documented.If north Karnataka is backward in terms of developmental projects, it is because the political will is lacking.Once while shooting for a documentary on rural interior regions of NK, we had to take cameras and other equipment by bike because there was no way for the car to go. When the MLA concerned was asked why there were no proper roads in his constitution, he laughed and said: “This is enough; this will do. Don’t show Singapore dreams to our poor people. They will start demanding it in real!”Of the 17 MPs, about 15 are from NK region. What is their contribution to the progress of their regions? Why are they silent? It can be recalled – not very happily – that when the Unification movement was in full force, several personalities from the Mysore province had opposed it on the basis that Mysore was fertile and rich and NK was poor and barren and if unification were to be implemented the rich and fertile region had to share its hard-earned profits with the NK region. But soon such thoughts were discarded. When the NK people had felt they were oppressed by the Razakaras and the Nizam the Ekikarana Team had sought police action and finally on September 17, 1948, the Nizam of Karnataka was freed, one year later than the rest of Karnataka. Can Sriramulu recall such contradictions and still defend his demand for separate state to NK?A bandh call has been given for August 2 to support a separate state status for north Karnataka. Can Kannadigas afford such atrocity in these difficult times? The fight for river water with the three neighbouring states has caused much heartburn already. If the State is divided, there can be no assurance of progress in the NK region. Sriramulu had earlier quoted the example ofbut can one equate demand for separate NK to Telangana?Certain Kannada online portals are instigating people to act forcefully demanding separate status. That is not right. We must stand united as Kannadigas and resist such attempts to divide us. If they feel the NK region is meted with injustice in budget they can take it up with the Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy but they must not rush to divide the State.They cannot have such short memory and undo all that the Ekikarana Movement achieved.