Those to Whom Evil Is Done…

K Chandrasekhar Rao’s persecution complex and disdain for press freedom

There is a WH Auden poem, ‘September 1, 1939’ on the madness that brought on World War II and it has these lines encapsulating the psychology of victims: ‘I and the public know/ What all schoolchildren learn/ Those to whom evil is done/ Do evil in return.’ You just have to look at K Chandrasekhar Rao, the Chief Minister of the newly formed state of Telangana, to see how insightful Auden is.

For Telangana to come into being, it took years of struggle to overcome the machinations of coastal Andhra politicians and businessmen. After repeatedly being manipulated and betrayed, everyone from the intelligentsia, media, civil society to politicians understandably had a persecution complex. But once victory is savoured you would expect it to go away. Such victim- isation is also not particular to Telangana; all separatist political movements go through it. Astute politicians know how damaging this scarring can be and take conscious measures to counter it in order to create a decent society. The whole of Mahatma Gandhi’s emphasis during the freedom struggle was to keep hatred away from it. Nelson Mandela forgave the crimes committed against South Africa’s Blacks after coming to power.

Not so Chandrasekhar Rao, who is suffering from an advancing mix of megalomania and a persecution complex. A survey ordered by his government marks out those of Andhra origin. It reeks of racial profiling and, more dangerously, something to be used in future to throw them out of the state. Two television channels—TV9 and ABN Andhra Jyoti—have been blacked out in the state, throwing freedom of press to the winds. After the telecast of programmes allegedly disparaging of Telangana politicians, the threat of violence was used against cable operators to shut the channels down.

Rao was recently caught on tape making a speech in which he took open responsibility for the shutdown. He said it was a lesson for all the others and that he would bury 10 kilometres underground (not humanly possible but that is besides the point) any media that insulted Telangana, its culture, its existence or its Assembly. This is the language of Bal Thackeray of the 80s and 90s, but even he later realised that the era for such vitriol is over. All politicians are dictators at heart, craving unimpeded power. Rao is no exception but he is still to get that there is something called rule of law in successful democracies. It is what prevents elected leaders like him from doing what he is doing at present.

Nebulous words like ‘culture of Telangana’ or ‘insult’ could be anything and gives licence to take action against anyone. It is possible that Rao is correct in assuming there is a conspiracy, as the media in the region is largely owned by Andhra politicians. But, even so, the answer is to refute propaganda with propaganda. Insulting the Telangana Assembly is perfectly legitimate and chief ministers who can’t handle it should apply for a transfer or undergo plastic surgery for a thicker skin. Rao is, of course, hurtling towards humiliation by the courts. It is a lesson that might prove useful to him. This is hardly a country that will tolerate autocracy in one pocket of its map.

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Madhavankutty Pillai

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