By: Soonya
Of late we keep hearing various demands that Hyderabad city must be made a union territory (UT) and a common capital as Chandigarh is between Punjab and Haryana.
We also hear claims that the migrant Seemandhra people ‘developed’ the city and therefore they have a claim over it – one does not know what a claim means. If it means they want it as a joint capital forever they would be doing great injustice their own region and their own people. It is obvious that only a macro, nay a nano section of Seemandhra people will benefit from such a position. Primarily the realtors, real-estate mafia and politico-businessmen who some time masquerade as businessmen and who some times act as politicians and sometimes as both, are the true beneficiaries as has been said many times.
It is plain and obvious that the demerger and Hyderabad city being with Telangana will in no way affect the multitude of people who need to have an engagement with the city for livelihood or opportunities to set up businesses or run their current businesses.
Students
It also does not stop from students from Seemandhra seeking admissions in private institutions such as ISB which conduct an independent entrance test and seek a larger pan national pool of students and professors rather than a local pool alone. Same is true of other national institutions such as IITs, BITS-Pilani.
It is also obvious that state universities such as Osmania have a local non –local rule as much as Andhra University or Nagarjuna University have. Hence there is zero impact of the de-merger on student population.
Industry and jobs
The new state of Telangana will try to compete for business investments from all over India, globe and Andhra region as well. To be able to attract investment in the region Telangana will have to have a conducive industrial policy, offering various benefits, sops including land, power at cheaper rates. Hence the business community will not be impacted.
The ordinary folks of Seema, Andhra and Telangana may never venture out of their villages and towns except for tourism. However, there are many people of Telangana who have not seen Hyderabad so far and I am sure there are many Seemandhra people who would have not been to Vijayawada or Visakhapattanam. The Telangana state would welcome any tourists as it will add to its coffers and builds local businesses and employment.
And there is the case of distress migration. As of today many from poorer parts of Telangana migrate to the city of Hyderabad in search of livelihoods. So do people from Vijyanagaram, Srikulam. Some Telanganites even migrate to distance cities like Mumbai, Sholapur, Vadodara, Surat and some migrate to Dubai or other middle-eastern countries in search of livelihoods. None of these people will have any problem as far as one can imagine. Except probably when vehicles ply in either direction, they may have to pay toll which probably will go to the respective states. If the movement of goods and people are in similar proportions the relative difference gets nullified.
For those seeking jobs in Government will benefit from de-merger if they choose to move quickly and build their own capital and the benefits are more than just jobs, which also has been presented to our friends.
Current jobholders in the government of AP have 10 years to hang around and can happily retire here and stay in the city or any other place of choice in the new state, if they wish to. A small number of people may have to go, but they would be give ‘options’ as per the experience of various new states formed in the recent times.
Nonspecific aches et al.
So what is angst about, after the center apparently is on the path of de-merging the two states?
Except wanting the state to be unified, which has been shown amply by people of Telangana as a failed experiment. There is no point in hanging to a marriage that has gone bad.
The guys who keep asking who is the center to ‘divide’ ‘Telugu’ people must know that it is the same people who ‘unified’ these two peoples in 1956. Either it is naïveté or charlatanry.
The proposal
I have a proposal to our Telangana friends.
Before we let go of a few districts to Karnataka and Maharashtra in 1956 or before the merger, this region was known as the Hyderabad state. Anyways some of our Seemandhra friends look down upon us because of our feudal past and for living under a ‘king’. Anyways the ‘fillim’ people even today call this region as ‘Nizams’ for their collections.
What if we reclaim our old name – the Hyderabad state and call ourselves as Hyhderabadis? Why should only those who are in this city call themselves Hyderabadis? That should obviate the arguments about Hyderabad city. And also obviate the possibility for a distinct identity which they could use to ask for a state. There are many foxes, jackals waiting for such a thing to happen – Daarams, Gaurs etc.
Anyways many of our Andhra and Seema friends cannot even pronounce Hyderabad, many call it Hydera-BAD. Every time I hear such pronunciation I really feel BAD.
So we will call ourselves with our ‘classic’ name of ‘the State of Hyderabad’ or ‘the Hyderabad State’.
That’s like the ‘real Coke’ or Classic Coke’ for those of you who know the case study of Coke and New Coke.
Anyways Hyderabadi and its unique style of Dakhani Urdu is well known all over India and no thanks to Mahmoud, the actor of yesteryears in Hindi films. Anyways the north people distinguish their biryani by calling our biryani as Hyderabadi Biryani! Kache gosht ka biryani is cooked almost similarly all over ‘Telangana’.
Then we can leverage the ‘brand Hyderabad’ for easy recognition and we may rename the city of Hyderabad to its original classic name of Bhaagyanagaram.
Then if the Samaikhyandra friends want to fight for making Hyderabad UT they can try it out.
What say y’all?