File photo of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao
As Telangana is preparing to celebrate one year of its formation on June 2, who should get the credit for its birth has become a matter of big controversy. The political battle it would seem has entered the history being written in school text books.
Telangana Congress leaders are angry. A new chapter in the state's tenth class history text book is on The Movement for Formation of Telangana State. It has details on Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao or KCR's fast in 2009 and how it led to the birth of the state but there is not even a mention of the Congress or its president Sonia Gandhi.
Senior Congress leader Mohd Shabbir Ali says KCR even mentioned the role of Mrs Gandhi in Telangana's Legislative Council and promised that her name would be included whenever history is written.
"They themselves, KCR had said that whenever history of Telangana is written, Sonia Gandhi's name will be there in golden letters. But he has forgotten his own words and we would like to remind him about that," Mr Ali said.
The Telangana Rashtra Samithi or TRS government in Telangana is unapologetic. KT Rama Rao, Telangana minister and son of KCR snidely remarks that "History gets written by the victor".
"When I say victory, I don't mean only victory in electoral politics. I mean people evaluate, people assess whose contribution is what and then they decide. That is exactly what they have done. Who are we to deny people their verdict," he said.
KT Rama Rao says if the role of the Congress has to be written, there would a lot more that would be controversial. "We have to talk about betrayal of Congress from 1956. The hegemony of Congress, the tyranny of Congress, the injustice perpetrated by successive Congress government and eventually political exigency of Congress party in 2014, the compulsion that was conferred on them by people of Telangana. We have to write a long story. So if Congress is prepared for that, we have no problem. We could consider inclusion. Because, all suicides that have happened, struggles that have happened and all injustices that have happened is in Congress regime".
Technically, the syllabus was revised by an academic committee of Telangana's State Council for Education, Research and Training. Intellectuals say the ruling class does often have a say in the way history is written and remembered but it is unfortunate that politics is having its fallout on history.