Seemandhra leaders’ unjust demands on UT

Recently the Union Ministers from Seemandhra met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and submitted the proposal to make Hyderabad a Union Territory with separate legislature to allay the fears of Seemandhra people settled in the Hyderabad.

They have also requested that the proposed Union Territory would cover the limits of Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) with law and order safeguards.

The demands of Seemandhra leaders are unjustified, unwarranted. They will not stand to consider for practical implementation. The leaders are trying to weaken the claim of separate Telangana with Hyderabad as its capital. There is no valid point in their argument for making Hyderabad as Union Territory. The demand of Union Territory is not practicable since it is located amidst districts of Telangana state and cannot be separated under any circumstances.

Historically Hyderabad has sheltered people not only from erstwhile Hyderabad State but also the entire country. The people, irrespective of caste, creed and religion from all States have invested and participated in its development from time to time before the Independence and even after the formation of the Andhra Pradesh. Hyderabad was the fifth largest city after New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai during the British Rule and continued to be so with inclusion of Bangalore now. The same demands may crop up in the other metros if such criterion is taken into consideration.

In this context it is to be noted here that the new cities like Pune, Gurgaon, Gandhinagar, Bhubaneswar, Patna, Vishakhapatnam and other more than 15 cities in the country are growing rapidly. In case the Centre takes decision in favour of Seemandhra leaders, the similar demands may crop up in other State capitals like Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Lucknow, Gandhinagar, Bhubaneshwar, Bhopal and other Metropolitan cities like Pune, Ludhiana, Gurgaon, Noida in future. What will be the position of the above cities if similar demands emanated from people migrated from all over the country? What decision the Centre will take under such circumstances?

Moreover, the norms and stipulations laid in the Constitution for Union Territory will not fit for Hyderabad.

Once Telangana came in to existence, the law and order of its capital of Hyderabad should only be within the purview of State Home Department. Hyderabad would function as temporary capital till the construction of a new capital for the residuary State of Andhra Pradesh for a period of 2-3 years. The contention of bringing the law and order under the Governor’s purview will definitely erode the structure of federalism enshrined in the Constitution. The UPA government has appointed GoM and invited the options/opinions from all the parties, groups, organisations and individuals in this regard for considering the claims for the bill.

Now it is the responsibility of all political parties to discuss Telangana bill when it comes before the Assembly, unanimously accept it and send it to Parliament. The media has to play a crucial role in bringing the facts with commitment before the people for the bifurcation with compassion for the future development of both States and for economic development at grassroots level with decentralised administrative power as envisaged by Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. BR Ambedkar. (The writer is a retired Superintendent, Department of Technical Education, Andhra Pradesh State Government and resident of Baghlingampally, Hyderabad.