Live in harmony, Prez tells Telugu people

Hyderabad: President of India Pranab Mukherjee appealed to the people of both the Telugu speaking States of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to work in close harmony, so as to ensure sustainable development and betterment of the people of the country and help it earn its rightful place in the comity of nations.

This observation of the President made on the occasion of release of `Uniki’ penned by Maharashtra Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao here on Friday assumes significance in view of the confrontation and ongoing slugfest between the two Telugu states. Stating that being President he was not entitled to express political views.

Though he was associated with the issue of Telangana for a long time, he said, “In national and international relations, we can choose friends, but not neighbours. It is for us to decide if we want to live in peace and harmony or in perpetual tension”. He also quoted one of the Ten Commandments given by Jesus Christ relating to ‘love thy neighbour' to drive home his point.

Commenting on Hyderabad, he said that it was not just a city or a State headquarters. Hyderabad is an important region in the entire country having made rapid progress in IT and education fields and whose benefits have reached other parts as well, he stressed.

He also emphasised that Telangana had become a separate State now and one should live with it. It is like any other State in the country, he said.