Telangana 1969 Agitation: Students Lead

For a Separate Telangana State idea of involving students in agitation was Rama Sudhakar Raju; a second year BA student Annabathula Ravindranath volunteered to start an indefinite strike demanding the formation of Telangana in 1969.

18 August 1968: 

On the basis of the government order issued on April 30, 1968, temporary teachers were suspended from service by the Chairman of Nalgonda Zilla Parishad. All these teachers then appealed in the High Court and Justice Chinnappa Reddy ruled in their favour. The government appealed against this judgment in the High Court. The bench comprising Justice Pingali Jaganmohan Reddy and Avula Samba Shiva Rao held that “Till the Parliament abolishes mulki rules, they should be treated as valid” and issued a stay on the judgment of Justice Chinnappa Reddy.

30 December 1968: 

A meeting was held by the mulki employees of Kothagudem Thermal Power Station (KTPS) at Girls High School Kothagudem. It was attended by Pidathala Ranga Reddy, chairman of Legislative Council and J. Chokka Rao, chairman of TRC. Mulki employees and other unemployed youth belonging to the association of Telangana Right’s Protection organised a huge procession during the meeting.

3 January 1969: 

In the case filed by the non-mulkis in the High Court of Andhra Pradesh, Justice Kuppu Swamy ruled that the order issued by the government on April 30, 1968 is not applicable to APSEB as it was autonomous organisation. The mulki employees of KTPS and mulki aspirants agitated against this judgement. Around the same time, Kolisetti Ramadasu in his address at a college in Khammam stated that an indefinite hunger strike could compel the government to initiate action against non-mulkis. The idea of involving students in the agitation for a separate state was of Rama Sudhakar Raju and it was communicated to the students by Ramadas.

Inspired by the speech delivered by Ramadas, a second year BA student Annabathula Ravindranath volunteered to start an indefinite strike demanding the formation of Telangana state.

8 January 1969: 

Encouraged by Ramadas and Sudhakar Raju, Ravindranath commenced his fast in Khammam. A day before fast begun, a committee on Telangana Safeguards resolved in Warangal that the regional board should be given power to spend revenues of Telangana for the development of the region without the interference of the chief minister. The following resolutions were passed in the meeting.

1. The non-mulkis occupying posts meant for Telangana people should be removed and the  

    mulkis must be appointed in their place.

2. An investigation should be conducted on fake mulki certificate.

3. The government should give clarity on implementation of the Gentlemen’s Agreement.

4. Pochampadu project has to be designed as a major project and should be completed 

    immediately without reference to the plan.

5. A high level committee should be appointed to clarify on surplus funds.

6. Drinking water should be provided to Warangal through channels from Godavari

7. All MLAs from Telangana should begin an agitation for the safeguards and development of 

    the region.

8. The magazines and newspapers which do not propagate the Telangana problems should be

    boycotted.

One of the drawbacks of the 1969 agitation was that the agitation was split into two groups. One group demanded formation of Telangana State and the other opposed and wanted implementation of safe guards. The people demanding formation of Telangana state were termed ‘separatists’ and the people demanding the implementation of safeguards promised in the Gentlemen’s Agreement were called as ‘safeguardists’. These opposing demands made it easy for the government to suppress the agitation.

On the first day of his fast, Ravindranath was supported by Khammam Municipal Chairman Kavi Raja Murthy and Wardannapeta MLA Purushothama Rao. The hunger strike gathered total support from people of Warangal and Hanmakonda towns who also went on strike.

10 January 1969: 

Potu Krishnamurthy, a leader of the job aspirants of KTPS, started an indefinite hunger strike in Palvancha demanding the removal of non-mulkis from KTPS.

12 January 1969 :

The students of Osmania university held a meeting in support of Ravindranath fast and decided to organize a strike on 15 January 1969. MLA Satyanarayana undertook a three day hunger strike in support of Ravindranath with a demand for implementation of safeguards.

During the same time Achyutha Reddy, former chairman of TRC and chairman of the Estimates Committee opposed the agitation and declared that it was not the right time to agitate about the Telangana safeguards.

13 January 1969: 

Telangana Parirakshana Committee established by the intellectuals in Hyderabad declared its full support to the agitation

The committee was headed by chairman – Katam Laxmi Narayana.

Important members –

1. Mahadev Singh (Socialist party)

2. Sallahuddin Owisi (MIM)

3. EV Padmanabam (Journalist)

4. Santapuri Raguveera Rao (Journalist)

15 January 1969: 

The strike conducted by students association of Osmania University was successful. During this time, the association called for indefinite strike from January 16. Vidhayarthi Parishad president AS Poshetti played an important role in organising the strikes.

Jogulamba Gadwal:

The 1969 movement for a separate Statehood for Telangana kept the flame burning for the next six decades of struggle in achieving Telangana. One of the shooting stars who ‘burned-out’ while fighting for Telangana was Pasham Sarva Reddy, the hero of Gadwal, who laid down his life at a very young age.

It was the fateful day of March 28, 1969, when a handful of young students from Osmania University barged into Jamia Osmania railway station to burn it down to protest against the severe State repression against Telangana activists. Among the activists was a young student named Pasham Sarva Reddy, a final year student of Osmania University Engineering College.

After setting fire to the railway station rooms, the activists tried to escape, but he was locked up in one of the burning room by some miscreants allegedly at the behest of the then government. Everyone escaped except for Sarva Reddy, whose charred body was found clinging to a window, as if he was desperately trying to escape.

A massive procession was taken out from Gadwal railway station to his native village Chenugonipally in the outskirts of Gadwal town when his martyred body was brought to Gadwal. For three days, the then police department of the erstwhile AP had not handed-over his body to his relatives.

What happened next was a full-fledged movement amidst police brutality in Gadwal.

Section 144 was imposed in Gadwal and many of his close friends and relatives were arrested and beaten up badly so that the spark couldn’t become a wildfire. But it did happen.

For an entire year around, 2,000 people fought against the State, braving bullets, lathis and cases. Balagopal Reddy, Ishaq Pahelwan, Venkataswamy, Jaan Miyan, Pasham Srinivas Reddy and many others led the movement, involving students, businessmen, even the hamali unions.

Venu Gopal, Venkataswamy younger brother, died after sustaining a bullet injury in Gadwal when a bullet indirectly hit him after hitting a kadhai.

“On a single call given by us, thousands would come out on to the streets. We used to send letters using couriers who used to travel on cycles as far as Gattu mandal to send communication,” said Pasham Srinivas Reddy, one of the few survivors of the 1969 movement and cousin of Sarva Reddy.

“Gadwal’s market yard was the second in the entire AP. Thousands used to bring their groundnut produce to sell here from faraway places. So whenever we needed to mobilise people, it was easy for us. We never spent a single penny for any agitation. The movement itself was enough to inspire people,” he added.

Srinivas Reddy was also targetted when news came out that he, along with 20 others, had planned to burn down a post office in Gadwal. A case was also booked against the activists, which was later dismissed after Telangana advocates - A Narayana and Pedda Krishnamurthy put forth excellent arguments in court in support of the students and businessmen of Gadwal.

The residents of Chenugonipally are hoping that their village will be named after Sarva Reddy, once the village is merged into Gadwal municipality in the days to come. Not a single statue has been erected in the village in his memory till date.