Do not spread false information: Jonnavithula

Sunnyvale, CA: Andhra Pradesh Non-Resident Indians Forum has grandly celebrated the state formation day celebrations at the Sunnyvale Hindu Temple and Community Center in Bay Area, California. The event was held to act as an inspiration to Telugus around the world. As the event progressed, crowds swelled and the hall was at full capacity. NRIs have invited several prominent leaders of Andhra Pradesh, including Lagadapati Rajgopal, Payyavula Keshav, Teegala Krishna Reddy, Modugula Venugopala Reddy and Jonnavithula Ramalingeswara Rao.

The event was kicked off by Bhakta Balla. He informed the attendees about the fantastic teamwork of the volunteers involved in making the event happen.

Speaking at the event, well-known cine writer Jonnavithula expressed his surprise and sadness that NRI separatists, despite being well educated, are not even making minimal effort to validate the false information being spread by the separatists in India. As an example, he pointed out that the pamphlet handed to him by the separatists, as he was walking into the venue, claimed that 25,000 Telugu movies had a villain who was from Telangana. He said a simple math of 100 movies made every year for the last 80 years doesn't add up to 25,000 movies, yet people are falling for these separatist fabrications.

Nalamotu Chakravarthy, author of My Telugu Roots, gave a brief history behind the formation of Andhra Pradesh state formation. He said historically the term Andhra always represented all Telugu people and not just the people of Kosta region. Similarly, Telangana also represented all Telugu people of Andhra Pradesh. He further informed audience that, similar to Congress party's role in achieving freedom for India, Andhra Mahasabha organization of Coastal Andhra and Telangana regions fought hard for over 50 years to achieve our state.

Payyavula Keshav ridiculed the claims of discrimination being made by the separatists. He cited a statement from Bachawat tribunal award that was quoted in the separatists' pamphlet. He informed audience that Bachawat wrote about how Telangana lost its river water share due to the division of Hyderabad state. He showed how separatists twist Bachawat's statement to say that Telangana suffered due to its merger with Andhra Pradesh. On the same topic, he cited statistical data that showed irrigation development in Telangana and compared with lack of growth in other regions since the state formation.

Speaking at the event Rajgopal assured that there is absolutely no chance for the state of Andhra Pradesh to be divided. He expressed confidence that the Srikrishna Committee will dispel all the myths of regional discrimination being put forward by the separatists. Responding to a question from the audience, he said, even in the highly unlikely scenario of Srikrishna Committee recommending separation, it will be impossible to work around article 371D. He said a constitutional amendment is needed to divide Andhra Pradesh state and that will require 2/3rd of members of parliament will have to vote in favor.

The event was preceded by Bay Area children performing cultural activities. Jonnavithula has enthralled the audience with his patriotic Telugu poetry.

Food sponsored by Dosa Place, Santa Clara and Swagath. Subba Yantra, Chandra Gutturally, Srikanth Doddapaneni, Srikanth Varma, Rao venigalla, Kalyan Palla, Veera Babu, Ashok, Sridhar Manne, Tirupati, Srikanth koneru, Vallurupalli and Many others worked hard to make this event a grand success.