A statement made by Telangana Rashtra Samithi working president and former minister K T Rama Rao on Saturday expressing anguish over lack of freedom of expression for the people in the country raised many eyebrows.
KTR said democracy would be in danger if the people do not find a situation to question the government.
“The people of Telangana have the liberty to speak whatever they can. But in the country, there is no such a situation. Nobody can dare question the rulers at the Centre and express his views openly,” he said.
Stating that there has been a nation-wide debate over the faiths and views of the people, the TRS working president said it was unfortunate that the people who differed with a section were being branded as traitor and supported that section are treated as patriots.
“A religion might have a language, but a language doesn’t have a religion. In Telangana, there is a space for every religion and a culture to respect all religions. But in the rest of the country, there is no security to the people who question the religious dominance,” he said.
One wonders whether KTR was really speaking from his heart. Everybody in Telangana can vouch for the fact there is a virtual dictatorship prevailing as undercurrent in the state.
KTR talks about right to question for the people, but it is an open secret that nobody can dare question TRS and its president K Chandrasekhar Rao and if anybody does that, he is branded as “anti-Telangana.”
Even a majority section of media has become a puppet in the hands of the TRS and if there are any negative reports in any other media, they are targeted by the ruling party.
There is no chance for the opposition parties or organisations to take up rallies and agitations and they would be simply thrown behind bars.
So, the less KTR talks about freedom of expression the better.