Telangana Integration Day: KCR Cautions People On Communal Forces

Expressing concern over the "growing threat of communal forces", Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao appealed to the people to be aware and alert of these forces in the State.

The Chief Minister was speaking after first hoisting the national flag at Public Gardens and then receiving the general salute from the police personnel on Saturday on the occasion of the Telangana National Integration Day.

KCR said that there was a threat to Telangana from religious forces and that they were hatching conspiracies to distort the history, destroy the harmony and pollute the culture of Telangana for political benefits.

"After a long struggle, Telangana State was achieved. Since then, the new State has been progressing in all fronts, and has become a role model for other States in development. However, the destructive forces are back to create unrest, and are distorting even the occasion of September 17 which stands as a symbol of national integrity, to fulfill their selfish political objectives. These opportunists who have nothing to do with the Telangana's history and development, are trying to distort and pollute the bright history of Telangana for petty politics," KCR said.

The CM said that the Integration Day celebrations were an extension to India's 75 years of Independence. The Telangana people's struggle from the monarchical rule was invaluable, and many leaders had sacrificed their lives to liberate the region from the clutches of monarchy, he claimed.

"But there was no happy ending even after that. Hyderabad continued to be a separate State till 1956, and against the wishes of the Telangana people, united Andhra Pradesh was then formed with Hyderabad as part of it. In the combined Andhra Pradesh, the Telangana region was neglected in development, and people from the region were humiliated everywhere. In 2001, I again launched the agitation for a separate State for the Telangana region, and finally achieved it in 2014," he said.

Stating that the Telangana people had to face many hardships for 58 years due to the negligence of the then Telangana leaders, and were just now enjoying the fruits of their struggle all through that period, the Chief Minister said that unfortunately divisive forces were now again becoming active in Telangana and trying to create rifts among the people for political purposes.

"Such a situation should not happen again in Telangana, and the people should counter such divisive forces," KCR said.

Earlier, the CM paid floral tributes to the people who laid down their lives for statehood for Telangana, at the Telangana Martyrs' Memorial in Gun Park.