Showing posts with label seemandhra. Show all posts
Showing posts with label seemandhra. Show all posts
Answers to Arguments concerning Hyderabad!
1. Why Seemandhras invested into Hyderabad?
Investors tend to invest in those places which give rich dividends. In India, some of the most favored destinations are the large metropolitan cities. By 1956, Hyderabad was already the 5th largest city in India, was covered by TIME Magazine, and it boasted world class infrastructure with major universities, industries, water bodies and institutions – all this was already in place before formation of Andhra Pradesh – so it had nothing to do with contribution of Seemandhras.
Not all states are blessed with cosmopolitan and metropolitan cities – there are very few cities in India while there are many states. Therefore, the businessmen and entrepreneurs hailing from states like Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, tend to invest in the major cities outside their states, like in New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad.
What helped Hyderabad to become a favored destination for investment in the last six decades consists of two essential reasons. One, after Independence, Indian government looked for safe destinations that were away from the border and away from the coast to develop its major establishments. Hyderabad is one of those choices along with Bangalore, lying in the South and away from the coast. Unlike in British ruled cities, where the city lands were owned by private individuals, most of the land in Hyderabad city was owned by Nizam, which later became property of the Government. Therefore, Hyderabad presented a much better case with easily available lands for expansion and installation of major institutions. The Indian Government installed many premier industries in Hyderabad, like ECIL, BHEL, HAL, DRDO, DRDL, etc. – and this has nothing to do with contribution from Seemandhras or Telanganas.
Hyderabad city with its premier institutions and educational facilities like Osmania University created the necessary ecosystem and viable atmosphere for further industry and expansion – including the recent IT industry. And like most investors in India who flock to metropolitan cities that guarantee return on their investments, Seemandhras flocked to Hyderabad to make their investments.
But Seemandhras enjoyed undue advantage over other investors in Hyderabad. Using the power of the Seemandhra majority, they converted Telangana into an internal colony. They grabbed large swathes of land for small amounts to reap windfall returns thereby creating a class of ultra-rich Seemandhra politicians and industrialists. Using these rich dividends, Seemandhras invested furthermore in building malls, shopping complexes, colleges and hospitals to become richer and richer.
2. Did Seemandhras invest into Hyderabad only because they believed it was their capital city?
Seemandhras claim that they invested into Hyderabad only because they thought it was their capital city, trying to establish an emotional attachment with the city. There is no truth in this. Investors do not invest in places which do not favor return on investments. They invest only in investor-friendly cities, even if it means the city belongs to another state. Today, many Malayalee and Telugu people invest in Bangalore even though it is not their capital city. Many Gujarathis continue to invest in Mumbai even after separation. Seemandhras invested in Hyderabad only because Hyderabad was investment friendly destination; and also because they could illegally grab lands in Hyderabad using the power of majority in the government of Andhra Pradesh.
3. Can Seemandhras claim Hyderabad just because they invested into Hyderabad?
No investor can claim a city for themselves just because they have invested into that city. American companies like Intel or GE make investments into Bangalore, but that does not mean the developed lands in Bangalore now belong to America. North Indians, Tamils, Malayalees, Telugus have invested in Bangalore – they build software companies, hotels, malls, and large apartments in Bangalore. That does not mean they own Bangalore.
India does not sell its cities to its investors or settlers. Cities belongs to the people of the region, either that is a district or a state. The best way to capture is the caption – ‘Hyderabad belongs to Telangana. Telangana belongs to India. Hyderabad belongs to all Indians’.
4. Can Seemandhras claim Hyderabad because they have paid taxes to build Hyderabad?
Seemandhra people have suggested that Hyderabad belongs to them as much as it belongs to Telangana people. They believe they have an ‘equal right’ over Hyderabad. One of the reasons they cite is that they have paid taxes that contributed to the development of this city and hence they own the city as much as people of Telangana.
When states or districts are divided, the cities, the towns, the ports, the dams, and the infrastructure like roads and railways go to respective regions decided by geographical delineation. Just because the taxes from entire district, or state, or country were used to build those cities or ports doesn’t make other regions claim them.
To understand this, we can pose a counter argument- can people of Telangana claim rights over cities like, Vizag, Vijayawada, Tirupati, that were developed with tax money that came from people of Telangana? Should Telangana claim a right over the sea ports and government buildings in Seemandhra just because their taxes were used to build them? Such ridiculous propositions will leady to absurd conclusions.
5. Does Hyderabad contribute lion’s share of state’s revenues as claimed by Seemandhras?
Right now, Seemandhras are making exaggerated claims on how big is the share of revenues from Hyderabad. Some of them suggested that this share is as high as 50%. Some have gone on to say it is 70% of state’s revenues. They inflate the figures so much that any observer would feel that creation of Telangana with Hyderabad as its capital would be a colossal loss to Seemandhra – thereby making it look like it is an unfair deal for Seemandhras.
The revenues are always calculated per district, not as per urban management as is done by Seemandhras. The reality is that the revenues from GHMC area of Hyderabad are only 23% of the state’s revenue. If we were to consider the Hyderabad urban district, this number becomes even smaller.
Moreover, the amount of revenues received from a city has never been the argument for stopping the creation of a state, or for sharing the revenues from the city even after the separation.
6. Should we wait till Seemandhras build their capital city similar to Hyderabad?
Hyderabad is not created in the last sixty years. It was already the 5th largest city in India in 1956. It is not necessary that all capital cities have to be metropolitan cities. Many states do not have a Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad or Chennai in them. Raipur, Bhopal, Dehradun and Ranchi became capital cities overnight. Right now, Seemandhras have many cities like Vijayawada, Guntur, Vizag, Tirupathi, which are bigger than these cities. Therefore, it is clear that Seemandhras can start functioning in a new capital city of their own immediately from day one after formation of Telangana.
Some Seemandhras feel that a new city like Hyderabad should be created before they let go of Hyderabad. If that is the case, no state will ever be formed in India. Ahmedabad or Gandhinagar has not become Mumbai even after fifty years.
7. What about the security of Seemandhras living in Hyderabad?
First, it should be clearly understood that Indian Constitution guarantees protection to all people living in anywhere in India, and this is enforced through various institutions like police force and judicial system. It is the responsibility of a state to provide security to all the people – whether they are native to the state, migrant population, or foreign visitors.
Second, it has to be understood that no special protection can be provided under Indian Constitution for a particular group of people based on their identity in religion or region. When North east people were targeted in Bangalore in 2012, no special force was created to provide security to them. The Union Government did not take over responsibility of law and order in Mumbai in times of riots between Hindus and Muslims, or when Tamils or Biharis were targeted. It is the responsibility of the state to provide protection to all people – giving up this responsibility to the union government is a clear admission that the state has failed to provide that protection – and no self-respecting state would agree to it.
Since Telangana is not even formed, the case of whether Seemandhras are targeted or not has not even arisen. To use the imaginary fears that they would be targeted in future and thereby deprive the new state of its federal duty and responsibility of providing protection to its people smacks of outright insult. When states like Jharkhand or Nagaland are treated as mature states, why is Telangana being treated as immature even before the state is formed?
Third, there is no insecurity to Seemandhras anywhere in Telangana. Lakhs of Seemandhras have been living in Telangana for many decades now. Even at the time of intense agitations of last four years, no Seemandhra person living in Telangana was targeted. This is an artificial fear being created to deny Hyderabad to Telangana.
Fourth, one can ask why is there a fear of insecurity to Seemandhras living ONLY in Hyderabad but not those living elsewhere in Telangana. How about the Seemandhras living in Medak, Adilabad, Warangal, Mahbubnagar? Such a concern focused only on Hyderabad clearly demonstrates that this is an imaginary fear created only to deny Hyderabad to Telangana.
A city that had it all in the year 1956
The tug-of-war between Telangana and Seemandhra for Hyderabad is becoming nastier and hurting the sentiments and sensibilities of the people, particularly the native population of the capital city who has lived here for generations.
Seemandhra protagonists’ claim that Hyderabad was developed by them needs a reality check. And what development are they exactly talking about?
For those who may not know the history of Hyderabad, here are a few facts. Foremost is the fact that Hyderabad was the capital of two big dynasties of the Deccan—Qutub Shahis and Asaf Jahs—for nearly 400 years before it became the capital ofAP.
Built by Mohammed Quli Qutub Shah in 1591, Hyderabad remained the capital of the Qutub Shahi kingdom until Mughal emperor Aurangzeb overran it in 1687. He made the last sultan of Golconda kingdom, Abul Hasan Tanashah, his prisoner and left for Aurangabad. When the first Asaf Jah Mir Qamruddin Ali Khan declared his rule over the Deccan in 1724, he preferred to remain in Aurangabad. But the second Nizam, Mir Nizam Ali Khan shifted his rule to Hyderabad in 1763. That means that in a history of over 400 years, Hyderabad ceased to be a capital city for 76 years (from 1687 to 1763). Then began another round of an unbroken period where Hyderabad enjoyed the position of a premier city in the Deccan. In simple words, Hyderabad has been the capital city of Hyderabad state and AP from 1763. That also means it has been enjoying the current status for 250 years.
Now let us see how modern the Hyderabad city was between 1911 and 1948 which is the period of the last Nizam, Mir Osman Ali Khan.
There was Osmania University with its magnificent Arts College building. The Nizam spent between 7 to 11 per cent of the budget on education. The city had two major water reservoirs built by him over the Musi— the Osmansagar and the Himayatsagar. There were two other major water bodies, the Hussainsagar in the new city and Mir Alam Tank in the Old City serving the people.
There were three major hospitals in the city—Osmania, Victoria Zanana Hospital and Niloufer. While Osmania took care of the needs of the general public, the other two were exclusively for women and children, equipped with all facilities related with allopathic way of treatment. There was another medical care centre—Nizamia Dawakhana near Charminar—that offered the native Unani system of medicine. The city had its own air, rail and road transport systems that connected with the rest of India. There was an airport in Begumpet and three big railway stations—Nampally, Secunderabad and Kacheguda. The bus station was located at Gowliguda, the old hangers of which are still intact.
The judiciary had been made independent of the monarchy and the executive, and the Adalat-e-Aaliya or HC was built across the bank of the Musi.
The city had a town hall from where the legislative assembly of Hyderabad state and then Andhra Pradesh have been functioning. The legislative council is located in the Public Garden complex which was constructed by the Nizam to mark his silver jubilee year of reign.
Hyderabad had a City Improvement Board that was working on making the city better and expanding it according to its growth. Funds to the tune of Rs one cr was allotted for setting up industries and Sanathnagar was assigned as the hub of industrial activity. When the Nizam transferred power to the Indian Union in 1948, his government offices were functioning from Saifabad Palace, where today’s Secretariat is located. So, was Hyderabad not a developed city and the capital of a state in 1956 when it was broken into three regions—Hyderabad Karnataka, Marathwada and Telangana; and when Telangana was clubbed with Seemandhra after the latter was kept out of Madras?
After 1956, there was no significant development in the city until N Chandrababu Naidu showed his vision in the mid-90s. But didn’t he cash in on the historical, cultural and architectural background of the city and its potential to expand?
In fact, what was done to Hyderabad was diabolic. The complexion of the city changed, without any parallel advances being made in terms of infrastructure. People who came from outside became the decision-makers, changing the very identity of the city without caring for the historical foundation on which it was built.
Instead of making tall claims, the warring parties should ensure that no more bad blood is created. There are many who love Hyderabad. Any adverse remark on its past would hurt them and lead to acrimony and bitterness . [Courtesy: Times of India]
Hyderabad Belongs To Natives, Not Investors!
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A much debated, but an interesting discussion in Telangana movement is about Hyderabad. The question oft-repeated by some media pundits and political analysts is who gets Hyderabad post the formation of Telangana.
Hyderabad has held the status of a cosmopolitan capital ever since it was founded. As the founder Mohammed Quli Qutb Shah prayed to Allah, to fill his dream city with people like fish in a river, it was indeed granted.
True to its cosmopolitan, heterogeneous identity, the city has attracted and given shelter to people from across the globe. The Persians from Iran, Pashtuns from Karakoram region, Siddi’s from the African continent, Arabs from the Middle East have made it their home. They settled, flourished and blended so well with the local populace, that most of the tribes have almost forgot their origins, and call themselves Hyderabadis.
Well that was about the people from across the planet who naturlized in Hyderabad. The second set of peoples is from across the British Indian Empire. This set is quite exhaustive, in fact as many peoples as the number of princely states that reigned in India over the last 400 years. Most prominent among them are the Marathas, Kannadigas, Kayasths, Gujaratis, Parsis (from Gujarat), Anglo-Indians, Pardhis, Tamilians, Bengalis, Malayalees and many more. These people took no time in realizing that Hyderabad is their home.
The difference between those who came from across the globe and those who came from the British Indian Empire is quite simple. The former moved to an alien land and took time to naturalize, whereas the later have just moved across to a neighboring state and were more acquainted with Hyderabad. However, both of them not just made Hyderabad their home, they felt it.
So, why do we have to learn about these people and what’s their relevance in the present Telangana movement.
To understand that we’ll have to discuss about another set of people – the Seemandhraites.
The Seemandhra people had their history tied up to the Madras Presidency, where they had a strong political leadership. However, the Tamilians started taking political charge into their hands. It is then the Seemandhraites realized a need to sustain their identity and fought for a seperate state and the Andhra state was thus formed.
After their botched attempt to claim Madras city from Tamilians, they realized that not a single town in their state had the infrastructure to become a capital. The instant formula was to merge with Hyderabad state under the disguise of Telugu jaathi. They were awestruck at the world class infrastructure Hyderabad city had at that time.
Instead of following the footsteps of earlier migrants who made Hyderabad their home, the Seemandhraites treated it more like a colony and an investment haven.
The 1956 states reorganization split Hyderabad state into three parts on a linguistic basis. The Kannada districts were merged with Karnataka and Maratha districts were merged with Bombay Presidency. Both of them had their own reservations and apprehensions about the demerger and subsequent mergers, but none had any issues with Hyderabad. Neither the Kannadigas nor the Marathas laid claim to Hyderabad.
Why? Didn’t they develop the city? Didn’t they contribute to Hyderabad’s identity? Don’t they have any historical connection with the city right from the Golconda Nawabs realm to Asaf Jahi Era?
If the native Telugu speakers (post 1956) of Hyderabad have rights over the city, so do the Marathas and Kannadigas. They have been more of Hyderabadis than being mere non-Telugu speakers. They have been the pillars of Hyderabad’s identity. They formed the soul upon which the physical plane of city was built.
But why didn’t they claim a share in Hyderabad? Well, they believed in the Indian family system. They knew that when two brothers grow up and start living their own lives, they part ways amicably. They knew that destiny has made them a part of Hyderabad as a migrant, but finally gave them the identity of a naturalized citizen. So when they had to part from Hyderabad, they gave back what the city gave them for almost three and a half centuries. The city gave them identity; they gave back the same identity to city. They understood that Hyderabad is not a tangible asset that can divided or altered. They wanted it to be what it had been so far.
Quite contrary to the Kannada and Maratha brethen, the Seemandhraites, who have hardly been in the city for half a decade, have started claiming it as their own. Those who have never been a part of the city’s history, culture or identity have started demanding a share in the city. Their argument is that they’ve invested here for 50 years, which sounds more like a businessman demanding his part of the share.
The nature of Seemandhra leadership can be understood by their repeated demand to make Hyderabad a Union Territory. This is akin to saying “If I don’t get something, neither should you get it”
Whats surprising is that the Seemandhra leadership raised the same demand when their attempt to grab Madras from Tamilians failed – They demanded that Madras be declared a Union Territory!
And after 5 long decades, history is repeating itself all over again.
Seemandhra leaders don’t seem to understand that cities don’t belong to investors or tourists. They belong to the natives. Cities can’t be sliced or transferred between two parties. Cities belong to the geographic region from which they were born.
Seemandhra leaders should remember that they invested in an already developed city seeking good returns. The sweat and blood of the Kannada, Maratha, of every other tribe that came here for that matter, have been shed to build the city and those people never thought of reaping the benefits.
Seemandhra investors were welcomed with open arms to the city and given a chance to become a part of the identity here. But they chose to be mere migrant businessmen.
This was the same attitude that threw them out of Madras; however, they never learnt their lesson. People, who never had a capital of their own, don’t realize the importance of what a capital is made of. It’s not the mere money of Seemandhra investors brought in over last 50 years, but the love, the belongingness and the affection of every other tribe over the last 400 years that makes Hyderabad what it is.
Seemandhra leadership should realize that they can’t do a “Madras Manade” over Hyderabad.
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