Published Jul 20, 2026 | 5:00 PM ⚊ Updated Jul 20, 2026 | 5:00 PM
Telangana CM Revanth Reddy and BRS working President KT Rama Rao.
Synopsis: Crude insults replacing debates on policy, while student woes are being highlighted, risk harming the education, employability and resilience of Telangana’s youth.
Political leaders are routinely termed howlas (mad/crazy persons), and they are branded in the most derogatory ways. They are scolded in filthy language and abused in the local slang… that has become the order of the day in Telugu-speaking states.
This toxic normalisation of abusive rhetoric has seeped deeply into Telangana’s student politics, where fiery protests and youth gatherings reverberate with personal insults alongside policy demands. At events like the recent BRS Yuva Sangrama Sadassu, leaders and student activists branded Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy as “howla”—a slang term evoking failure and deceit—while unleashing chants of betrayal and calls for immediate fee reimbursements and jobs.
This inflammatory language, while amplifying genuine grievances, is ultimately harming Telangana’s foundational goals of quality education, youth empowerment, economic self-reliance, and inclusive progress envisioned during the statehood movement. By turning Gen Z and the unemployed into instruments of partisan spectacle, it risks squandering the state’s demographic potential.
The rhetoric draws strength from real crises.
Fee reimbursement arrears, persisting across regimes and burdening the Congress government, threaten access to higher education for Backward Classes, SC/ST, and economically weaker students. Delays result in forced payments, withheld certificates, college instability, and academic disruptions. Unemployed graduates, grappling with job scarcity, find an echo in the street slogans.
Political leaders and affiliated student wings—ABVP, SFI, and others—connect these issues to Telangana’s proud legacy of student activism, from the 1969 agitations to the decisive 2009-2014 campaign centred at Osmania University. Yet, the shift to filthy local slang, personal vilification, and hyperbolic accusations prioritises short-term outrage over enduring solutions, eroding the very aspirations that defined the state’s creation.
For Gen Z students, such rhetoric inflicts immediate and lasting educational harm. Campuses frequently descend into bandhs, protests, and confrontations, leading to lost instructional time, heightened stress, and administrative chaos. The depressive tone—branding leaders as “dhokebaaz” or worse in crude slang—cultivates cynicism and emotional exhaustion rather than critical engagement.
Instead of focusing on reforms for the 2026-27 academic year or building skills for a competitive world, youth energy is diverted into viral clips and street battles. The goals of transforming Telangana into a knowledge hub and innovation driver are undermined as classrooms yield to political arenas. The normalisation of abusive language further desensitises young minds, fostering a confrontational culture that hampers collaborative learning and personal growth.
The unemployed youth fare no better, as short-term rhetorical highs mask deepening long-term vulnerabilities. Leaders’ speeches at youth conclaves offer momentary solidarity and validation, mobilising numbers for opposition narratives. However, by channelling frustration into derogatory abuse and oppositional frenzy, the rhetoric distracts from practical empowerment—vocational training, entrepreneurship, or targeted employment schemes.
Gen Z and jobless sections, already navigating post-pandemic uncertainties, internalise a narrative of perpetual betrayal that erodes hope and initiative. This harms the state’s economic aspirations, where a skilled, motivated workforce is essential for growth targets and inclusive development. Short-term political gains for parties come at the expense of a generation’s readiness to contribute productively.
Socially, the trend of filthy slang and derogatory branding exacerbates divisions, threatening the harmony central to Telangana’s identity. Caste assertions, ideological polarisations, and occasional spillover into communal tensions fragment student solidarity and public discourse. What begins as fee protests escalates into broader confrontations, undermining trust in institutions.
Political leaders across parties bear responsibility, as they nurture student fronts for cadre-building and electoral leverage while the abusive order of the day in Telugu states normalises incivility. This short-termism jeopardises goals of social cohesion and mature democracy, leaving Gen Z ill-equipped for constructive citizenship.
The contrast with history is stark.
Past student movements sacrificed for tangible transformation, not transient spectacle. Today’s rhetoric, while spotlighting implementation gaps in welfare schemes, risks repeating cycles that delay fiscal corrections and policy consensus. For a young state proud of its regional assertion, allowing derogatory language to define youth engagement imperils the progressive future hard-won through statehood.
Reversing the damage requires collective resolve. Political leaders must eschew abusive slang and demand accountable governance that ensures transparent reimbursements, job creation, and dialogue platforms. Student groups should prioritise solution-driven advocacy that honours their legacy. Institutions and youth themselves must demand rhetoric aligned with long-term goals rather than momentary noise. Gen Z holds immense potential; channelling it constructively can reclaim Telangana’s trajectory.
The normalisation of terming leaders “howlas” and scolding them in filthy local slang reflects deep discontent but exacts a steep price. By harming education, employability, resilience, and unity among Gen Z and the unemployed, this rhetoric undermines Telangana’s most cherished aspirations. The state’s future depends on rising above it—toward mature, purposeful engagement that builds rather than tears down. Only then can the dreams that birthed Telangana truly flourish.
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Telangana: A state rich in corruption
Telangana’s CURE Bill 2026: The many flaws in the law that makes illegal buildings pay
(Edited by R Rajesh Kumar.)
