Capital City
An impression is sought to be created that the development of twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad took place after they became the capital of Andhra Pradesh. It is a travesty of truth. The fact is that the plight of erstwhile Andhra state in locating its capital could be mitigated only because of the formation of Andhra Pradesh and giving to it, on a silver platter, an already well developed capital of erstwhile Hyderabad state. The States Reorganization Commission also was very clear on this issue. Listing out the arguments put forth by the votaries of Vishalandhra the Commission observed
“This will also solve the difficult and vexing problem of finding a permanent capital for Andhra, for the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad are very well suited to be the capital of Vishalandhra”. (SRC Report: para 371)
The development that has taken place in and around the capital city, after the formation of Andhra Pradesh, is natural and is comparable to the development that has taken place in other major cities of the country. It is to be realized that at the time of formation of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad was the fifth largest city in the country and even now it continues to be in the same position. On the other hand, the growth of Visakhapatnam has been faster than the growth of Hyderabad and Secunderabad cities. People who maintain that the development of Hyderabad and Secunderabad took place because it is a part of Andhra Pradesh seem to believe that the development of Visakhapatnam took place inspite of it being a part of Andhra Pradesh. Whatever be the development that has taken place, the real question is as to who are its beneficiaries?
- The imposition of Six Point Formula has deprived the people of Telengana, among other things, of their legitimate rights on the facilities developed in the capital city by their forefathers over a period of four hundred years.
- The facilities available in the capital city are now more accessible to the people migrating from Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions and more inaccessible to the people of Telangana. In this process non-locals have become locals and the locals have become non- locals.
- The development taking place in and around the capital city cannot be an indicator of development of Telangana region as mostly the settlers and migrants from the other regions of the state reap its fruits.
- Construction of flyovers, widening of roads, development of Hi-Tech cities etc., will not address the serious problems confronting the people in the other nine districts of Telangana. Cholera deaths in Adilabad, spread of malaria in the tribal belt, suicides by farmers in Warangal, Karimnagar and Khammam, suicides by weavers in Karimnagar, eternal famine conditions in Mahabubnagar, flurosis in Nalgonda, fall of ayacut under Nizamsagar, pollution in Ranga Reddy and Medak and so on need to be attended to on a priority basis. But they never get the attention they deserve.
- The film industry that has flourished in the capital city because of innumerable concessions given to it in terms of allocation of land, water, electricity etc., depriving the common man of Telangana of these facilities, is solely controlled by the Andhra migrants.
- The film industry monopolized by the Andhras does not allow Telangana talent to flourish and the industry also indulges in a sustained game of making fun of linguistics and cultural variations of this region.
- The near monopoly control enjoyed by the Andhra settlers on real estate transactions and land speculation in and around Hyderabad and Secunderabad has already spread to a radius of nearly 100 kilo meters around the capital city resulting in the displacement of thousands of poor farmers and farm workers of the local areas.
- The identity of Telangana - its history, culture, language, polity etc.- is fast getting eroded because of the Andhra onslaughts. Examples: erecting at important places the statues of only Andhra leaders like N.T. Rama Rao, Kasu Brahmananda Reddy, Damodaram Sanjeevaiah, Puchalapalli Sundaraiah including those who never had anything to do with Hyderabad or Telangana, or even Andhra Pradesh for that matter, like Tanguturi Prakasam, Potti Sri Ramulu, Alluri Sitarama Raju, Tripuraneni Ramaswamy Chowdary, Raghupati Venkataratnam Naidu etc; re-christening places and institutions as Sanjeeva Reddy Nagar, Vengal Rao Nagar, Potti Sri Ramulu Nagar, Sanjeevaiah Park, Brahmananda Reddy Park, Sundaraiah Park, NTR stadium NTR. Ghat, Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy Sagar, Potti Sri Ramulu Telugu University, N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, Kaleshwar Rao Bhavan; naming structures after Balayogi, Vijaya Bhaskara Reddy and so on. The ruling classes totally ignore the Telangana stalwarts like K. V. Ranga Reddy, Dasarathi Krishnamacharya, Vattikota Alwar Swamy, Komuram Bhim,Ravi Narayana Reddy,Shoebulla Khan, Baddam Yella Reddy, Arutla Kamala Devi, Kaloji Narayan Rao and a host of others. Even Burgula Ramakrishna Rao, who was primarily responsible for the merger of Telangana with Andhra state, was also forgotten for a long time. The ongoing debate on Telangana seems to have influenced the state government to erect his statue recently in the city - 35 years after his death. But the place chosen for that is not commensurate with the stature of Burgula and his contribution to the state.
Courtesy:
Telangana Movement
The Demand for a Separate State
- By Prof. K. Jayashankar