Need to wage another struggle for Telangana Thalli: Kavitha with NRIs

Telangana Jagruthi president K. Kavitha speaking to NRI wings in a virtual meet on Sunday.
| Photo Credit: By Arrangement

HYDERABAD

BRS MLA K. Kavitha, president of the party’s cultural wing Telangana Jagruthi, has accused the Congress government of undermining Telangana’s identity and alleged that the removal of the cultural symbol ‘Bathukamma’ from the Telangana Thalli statue disrespects the State’s culture and sentiments.

Speaking to the overseas unit functionaries of Telangana Jagruthi and the NRI wings of BRS during a virtual meeting on Sunday, she said there was a need to oppose and fight such attempts. Highlighting the key role that NRIs played in the statehood movement by mobilising and uniting Telangana society, Ms. Kavitha dismissed the State government’s justification for altering the Telangana Thalli statue as “meaningless”.

The claim that sorghum (jowar) and maize were unique to Telangana was “ridiculous”, she said and argued that those crops are widely grown in many countries. She emphasised that the original statue was created in consultation with statehood protagonists, writers, and artists. Questioning the government’s secrecy, she asked why the new statue’s design was concealed until its unveiling if it truly had public approval.

The Congress government’s decision has compelled Telangana society to launch another struggle to restore the original Telangana Thalli statue with ‘Bathukamma’, she said and criticised the issuance of a gazette notification formalising the new statue’s design. She said that had hurt the sentiments of Telangana people. She also sought to know whether similar gazette notifications were ever issued for statues of Bharat Mata, Mahatma Gandhi, or B.R. Ambedkar.