‘TRS can control naxalism in six months of gaining power’

Statehood movement not targeted at people of coastal Andhra: KCR
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Rulers charged with creating obstacles‘Development no alternative for self-respect’
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HYDERABAD: Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) president K. Chandrasekhar Rao has said that the party had a political agenda to control naxalism in six months after Telangana achieves statehood.

Dismissing the argument that naxalism would spread rapidly if a separate State of Telangana was formed, Mr. Rao told a meeting at the Hyderabad Central University campus on Monday that in fact peaceful and harmonious conditions would unfold in the new State.

He emphasised that the separatist movement was not an ethnic struggle targeted at people of coastal districts. People demanding separate Telangana had no right to disturb the lives of people hailing from the coastal districts who had settled down in the region, particularly Hyderabad. The movement would lose the human angle if the migrants were targeted, he said. Moreover, development of the region would be affected by mutual acrimony.

People of Telangana would extend a ‘red carpet welcome’ to migrants in the separate State. The order of the day also called for attracting investments, necessitating coexistence with outsiders. The vibrant, cosmopolitan culture of Hyderabad enabled migrants to adapt to local conditions easily, Mr. Rao added.

The TRS chief also said it would not take one day to whip up tensions and repeat the turbulent period at the peak of the separate Telangana agitation in 1969. But the leaders of the movement did not have a negative approach. Violence could render innocent women and children victims.

Obstacles to statehood


Mr. Rao maintained that the ruling parties had set up obstacles to the creation of Telangana by claiming that they were committed to the development of the region. Development was the civic right of people and a separate State their birthright. Development was no substitute for self-respect and self-administration. Development in real terms meant increase in purchasing power of people. That had not happened in the last five decades. An example was the livelihood of people living in the old city here, the TRS president said.

FROM HINDU