29th November 2009 : One last exam was left. We were all excited to get it done with and enjoy the holidays. But the day before the exam I got an sms, “exam postponed and will be conducted after 3 days”. Reason : KCR began his fast till death for statehood of Telangana and a bandh was called in view of the protests by students and TRS party supporters.
3rd December 2009 : Done with last exam of the 3rd year 1st semester. Our semester break was supposed to be for 10 days from Dec. 3rd December to 14th December. YAY!
Meanwhile, KCR’s situation was getting critical day by day. He refused to take any food or water. Worried about his health, students and party members began to resort to violent means; they started attacking shops, RTC buses, staging rallies etc. Lathi Charge by police irked the students more.
Osmania University had become a hub for protests and agitations by the students. In view of growing violence, Govt. declared closure of all higher educational (including intermediate, graduate and undergraduate) institutions for two weeks till December 18th.
YAY again! We were happy that we are getting four extra holidays.
But we soon started realizing that this vacation is turning out to be the most boring vacation of our lives. We could not go out anywhere for movies, shopping or even plain hanging out. Things were turning pretty ugly, it was not safe to go out. Moreover there were indefinite calls for bandh and public transport facility was the top most target on the hit-list!
We started yearning to go back to college. At least we could meet our friends and have fun in the campus.
December 9 : Decision of “initiating an action on formation of Telangana” released by the Central Govt. turned the agitations into celebrations. KCR called off his fast and life in Telangana region restored to normal.
Meanwhile tension arises in Andhra and Rayalaseema regions coupled with resignation of MLA’s from all parties criticizing the Central Government’s decision as “abrupt and irresponsible.”
December 21 : College reopens! We were super-excited to be back with friends.
December 23 : Centre takes back its decision. Telengana feels cheated, begins to boil again.
December 24 : Call for Bandh!
This time it was more intense and worse, emotions ran higher than ever. The universities, sensing in advance the resurgence of violence, declare a “winter vacation” till the 1st of Jan.
Students are highly pissed off. And begin to contemplate the consequences this extended vacation is going to have on them.
Ramya Krishna a student, believes that “Most affected are the students appearing for National Entrance Tests like IIT, AIEEE and VITEE this year.” Loss of instruction for over 3 weeks will have a direct impact on their performance in these exams. Performance of students from A.P. in various national entrance interests has always been top-class.
The results given by various institutes indicate that students from Andhra Pradeshwill bag one third of the total IIT seats in the country and the institutes that admit students based on IIT ranks. We not only send the most no. of students but are also top rankers. Gopi Sivakanth bagged 3rd rank in IIT and topped the VITEEE exam was from Andhra Pradesh.
Out of the first 9,000 rank holders, 2,219 are from AP followed by 1,032 from Rajasthan, 1,023 from UP, 313 from Tamil Nadu and 82 from Puducherry. While five boys from AP were among the top 10 rank holders.
The success story of State students in the IIT-JEE continued in the AIEEE results also with the fourth and sixth ranks at the national level being bagged by them. In all, 22 national level ranks were bagged among the top 100 ranks.
Sadly due to the ongoing development in the state we may not expect the same results this year.
Also affected are the final year engineering students who will appear for their GRE, TOEFL, IELTS exam this year. Delayed schedule may prove a hindrance in getting admission into their choice of university…
Industries lost around 500 crores within 3 weeks. They might shift to other cities like Chennai and Bangalore in case the state is bifurcated. This is the students biggest fear as there will be no jobs for freshers.
Kanika a student says, “I support a united state, because its not in the interests of students if the MNCs abandon Hyderabad”
“We are lagging behind in the syllabus,” says Amitha Prosperina, a common view acknowledged by all students throughout the region.
Its January 2nd and colleges are still closed, thanks to the “Extended Winter Vacation Upto 5th.”
I am terribly worried about what will happen to us once the college starts.
Tight Schedule, classes on Sundays, no free hours, mad rush for completion of syllabus and cancellation of our National Fest and Annual day. We have come to a point that we no longer care about the political developments. Apoorva says, “All I want is our college to reopen.”
Political views :
The demand for Telangana is a genuine one. This region has sure been neglected over the years in every aspect. People are indeed feeling neglected in the jobs and education sectors. Here are the differing views.
Nikita, a youngster from Telangana says, “There are many peaceful ways to fight for Telangana, but unfortunately the movement has become violent. People who are crazily participating in fast unto death programmes are no more than fools. Also those who support Samaikya Andhra are not fighting for the cause of unity or the so called brotherhood. They are more worried about their possessions/properties in Telangana region and the equal share over Hyderabad.”
Sowjanya, another student, feels, “Real Estate will be the worst-hit as bifurcation of state will drive away potential buyers from Andhra and Rayalseema region. Business development is also going to be affected.”
Sowjanya is from Rayalaseema region and supports united A.P. for various reasons but wouldn’t mind bifurcation if Hyderabad is made into a United Territory as she believes that people from all regions have contributed to the development of Hyderabad and thus deserve an equal right over it.
So you thought people from Telangana are supporting Telangana and people form Rayalaseema and Andhra are supporting United Andhra? No, its not that simple.
Many Telanganites don’t support the ongoing Telangana movement because of the real estate factor mentioned above and also there are Telenganites who simply believe in the principle of Unity like Anusha.
Supporting Unity Sneha Ramesh adds, ”If A.P is divided, next in line would be U.P, West Bengal, Maharasthra… the list goes on and on. Finally, India would get the name “THE UNITED STATES OF INDIA” with so many number of states. But are we really united?
A Hyderabad based NRI student opines, ”Politicians are using the British divide and rule policy, I really don’t wanna stay in Telagana, I want my Hyderabad same as before…”
So, What do people of Andhra Pradesh really want? Is there any feasible solution that can make everyone happy? As we can see from the above views, what everyone (Andhra Pradesh, Rayalseema, Telangana) wants is Hyderabad. So I guess if the state has to be divided, it would be in the better interests of everyone if Hyderabad is made into a Union Territory.
So what do you think? Drop in a comment below or mail us at info@youthkiawaaz.com, you can also tweet us at @YouthKiAwaaz.
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