Hyderabad, August 18: The Minister for Panchayat Raj, Mr Botsa Satyanarayana, on Tuesday appealed to the JACs and political leaders of both the Telangana and Seemandhra regions not to use “harsh and provocative language” over Telangana statehood that would cause hardship to 10-crore Telugu-speaking people in the State.
Speaking at media point in the Secretariat, Mr Satyanarayana said that the verbal duels between the leaders of both the regions have bothered him and “made me to make am appeal to them. I am not feeling to be an elderly man to them. My action was nothing but the outcome of pain”, he said. The political leaders should think how the words like “anti-nationals”, “internal war” and “militant movements” cause pain to the 10-crore Telugu- speaking people, he added.
“In a democracy, as elected representatives, we got some respect in the society. We should maintain restraint while speaking on sensitive issues. Our actions should not bother the people of any region”, he added. Exuding confidence on the Justice Srikrishna Committee, the leaders of both the regions belonging to the Congress, TDP and TRS presented their arguments before it, he pointed out.
The minister regretted that the words of some leaders before the Committee have increased the gap between the leaders of both regions. It was not a matter of the Congress alone, he said, adding that the matter belonged to all the political parties in the State. He reminded that one person went to the court against the ministers who termed the demand for Telangana statehood as “anti-national”. It was not a good practice in a democracy, he opined.
Mr Botsa questioned whether the Telugu-speaking people unitedly work for their interests even after bifurcation of the State. “If the State continues to be united after submission of the Srikrishna Commmittee report, the Telugu people need to live together”, he added.
The minister said that he has no doubt about the sincerity and commitment of the TRS president, Mr K Chandrasekhara Rao on Statehood issue. He pointed out that KCR had even sacrificed his Union cabinet minister’s post for the cause of separate Telangana. Similarly, some Seemandhra MLAs were prepared to resign their elective posts for United Andhra, he added. He claimed he had equal respect towards them.
“When I asked my cabinet colleagues from Seemandhra about usage of word “anti-national”, they said that it was earlier used by a Central leader from Telangana region”, he added.
——-Agencies