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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HYDERABAD 000121 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PTER PREL PINR KDEM IN
SUBJECT: TELANGANA - A HUNGER STRIKE RESUSCITATES A SEPARATIST 
MOVEMENT 
 
HYDERABAD 00000121  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY: The Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh (AP) 
experienced civil unrest following the arrest of K. 
Chandrasekhar Rao, the leader of a local political party focused 
on winning statehood for the region.  After 11 days of an 
indefinite hunger strike and the threat of a significant 
escalation of the protests, the Government of India (GOI) 
announced its intention to initiate the process of granting 
separate statehood. END SUMMARY. 
 
Eleven Days of Unrest 
--------------------- 
 
¶2.  The Telangana region of AP experienced eleven days of 
sporadic, but potentially escalating, civil unrest centered on 
university campuses following the November 29 arrest of K. 
Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR), the leader of the Telangana Rashtra 
Samiti (TRS) opposition party.  Prior to his arrest KCR 
announced his intention to start an indefinite hunger strike to 
press for the creation of a separate state in Telangana, the 
northern region of AP with 10 of the state's 23 districts. 
 
¶3.  News of the arrest prompted small-scale protests by students 
at Osmania University (Hyderabad) and Kakatiya University 
(Warangal) which led to clashes with the local police.  These 
events, in conjunction with the TRS's call for a "bandh" 
(strike) on November 30, led educational institutions throughout 
the region to close voluntarily.  Additionally, regional and 
local transportation was limited as protesters disrupted bus and 
rail lines.  Still, state government and local media contacts 
predicted that the intensity of protests was likely to gradually 
decline, but noted that "no accurate assessments" could be made 
at that time. 
 
¶4.  Principal Secretary (Political) of the AP state government 
R.M. Gonela said on November 30 that the state government's 
response to the events was dictated by the desire to "avoid 
untoward instances" and that local electronic media had been 
asked "to show restraint" in their coverage.  Asked whether 
transportation links would be restored, he said that they were 
never shut down, but that local conditions prevailed upon local 
management to limit service as the state "could not provide 
security to all buses" without resorting to convoys during the 
strike. 
 
¶5.  Following the "bandh" on November 30, the region experienced 
relative calm as people again took their morning commute to work 
or school.  The next few days witnessed only occasional reports 
of student protests or attacks on regional infrastructure. 
However, daily front page news stories regarding KCR's worsening 
health condition continued to keep Telangana on top of the 
state's agenda.  Over the next few days other political parties, 
including the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Prajarajyam Party and 
the Communist Party of India, began to voice their support for 
the KCR and the TRS's call for Telangana statehood.  Soon 
thereafter the TRS called for another strike.  The 48-hour 
"bandh" from December 6-7 again brought Hyderabad and much of 
the region to a standstill as businesses, schools, and 
transportation links closed to avoid being targeted by 
protesters.  No major incidents were reported the first day, but 
on the second day protesters organized a series of 
demonstrations which clashed with local police. 
 
¶6.  The seeming success of the protesters on December 6-7 and 
press reports that KCR's health had significantly deteriorated 
led the various groups supporting Telangana statehood to call a 
for a "Chalo Assembly" protest march to the State Assembly 
building on December 10.  Reports surfaced that a "Joint Action 
Committee" of students were amassing large crowd and appealing 
to TRS supporters from the districts to converge on Hyderabad. 
The new AP Chief Minister K. Rosaiah flew to New Delhi to meet 
with Congress Party leaders regarding the local turmoil. 
 
¶7.  In an effort to lower the number of protesters, press 
 
HYDERABAD 00000121  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
reports indicated that the state-managed bus company canceled 75 
percent of the buses traveling to Hyderabad from outlying 
districts.  Local police also set-up roadblocks on the major 
arteries entering the city in order to turn back anyone 
self-identified as a protester.  To ensure law and order, the 
state government called in an additional 23,000 police officers 
to support Hyderabad's normal contingent of 9,000 officers. 
 
¶8.  At midnight on December 10, Indian Home Minister P. 
Chidambaram announced that the process to carve the region out 
of AP and form separate state would be initiated.  Additionally, 
the GOI requested that the state government drop all charges 
against any students and other protesters arrested during the 
unrest.  Additionally, the Home Minister called for the 
cessation of all further demonstrations.  Following this 
announcement, the TRS leader ended his 11-day hunger strike and 
declared victory.  TRS and student activists called off the 
planned protest march and instead held a commemoration ceremony 
at Osmania University for the 34 individuals whose deaths are 
associated with the unrest. 
 
¶9.  COMMENT:  In spite of the strong showing by Congress in 
recent GHMC elections, the events of the past few days 
illustrate how rudderless the AP state party is following the 
death of former Chief Minister YSR Reddy and the subsequent 
succession struggle.  His enormous popularity effectively 
marginalized local opposition parties, who were unable to find 
an issue which resonated with voters during the last election. 
However, recent events show that the sentiment for Telangana 
statehood was just dormant - not dead.  The opposition jumped at 
this "now or never" moment to wrest the initiative from 
Congress.  Still, it is the Congress Party's national leadership 
which will determine whether or not to push forward and finish 
the process leading to statehood.  Given the AP Congress party's 
difficulties, a top priority will be providing the most fertile 
ground for rebuilding party unity in order to maintain and 
eventually return the largest state-bloc of Congress 
parliamentarians in the Lok Sabha. END COMMENT. 
WURR