Andhra Pradesh, first linguistic state, forgets its Formation Day

Vijayawada: The first linguistic state to be formed in India has conveniently ignored its formation day, November 1, and the sacrifices made by Potti Sreeramulu and Tanguturi Prakasham Panthulu towards its cause. These issues came up for discussion in the elite academic circles, in the wake of Prapancha Telugu Mahasabhalu being held at Hyderabad. The top circles have been urging the government to honor the martyrs at least now, by declaring the state formation day as November 1, like in the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, by stating that it was Telangana which was formed as a new state and not AP.

It may be recalled that after the reorganisation of the state, the AP government had announced Prakasam Pantulu birth anniversary celebrations as a government event. On August 23, ministers Siddha Raghava Rao, Dr P. Narayana as well as communications adviser to the government of Andhra Pradesh Parakala Prabhakar had attended the 146th birth anniversary celebrations of Tanguturi Prakasam Pantulu at Ongole and Vinodarayunipalem.

Potti Sreeramulu, who had given a separate state for the Telugus in the form of Andhra State with his 58-day fast and his supreme sacrifice in 1952, is now forgotten across the state as no politico or senior official paid tributes to the departed fighter. After the bifurcation of the state, gratitude has gone with the wind as the state administration has forgotten to remember and honour the leaders who were responsible for the birth of the state.

In fact, prior to the state’s second bifurcation in 2014, there had been a practice of honouring Potti Sreeramulu for his services in achieving statehood for Andhra, but the practice disappeared after that. Now, even though there were no instructions from the state government to hold programmes to honour the leader, no private group organised any event in Nellore, or anywhere in the state. Potti Sreeramulu, who was born in Chennai, belongs to Nellore district as his parents were from the district. He studied in Chennai and Mumbai and finally landed in Nellore.

The Andhra State was formed in October 1953 and on November 1, 1956, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka states were formed, followed by Gujarat and Maharashtra in 1960. The formation of linguistic states is an important event in the history of the linguistic groups of southern India. Recollecting the fond memories related to the contribution of leaders like Potti Sreeramulu and Tanguturi Prakasham Panthulu, Professor L.S.N. Prasad of Guntur urged the government to set up study centres in the Capital or in the Acharya Nagarjuna University.