It's time Seemandhra concerns addressed

• Agitations broke out due to failure of political system
• Intellectuals says lack of clarity on Hyd major reason

Hyderabad : The ongoing unrest in Seemandhra region against the bifurcation of the state and the fight for their rights in the state capital was the result of the failure of political system, felt intellectuals and social activists. They appealed to the people to fight for their rights in a peaceful way and demanded that the political parties address the concerns raised by non-Telangana people on the status of Hyderabad.

Participating in a debate organised by HMTV, former Union Home Secretary K Padmanabhaiah said the status of Hyderabad had become the bone of contention after the Congress announced its decision to bifurcate the state. People of Seemandhra living in the capital city were apprehensive of their rights in the city if the Telangana state is formed, he said.

He advised the Centre to grant Union Territory (UT) status to Hyderabad so that every body’s rights can be protected. The proposal to convert Hyderabad as the second capital of the country was not acceptable as demanded by some organizations because it would put an additional burden on the state government in maintaining law and order and provide security to increasing VIP visits to the capital. Allaying the doubts raised by senior TDP leader A Revanth Reddy that people would be deprived of their democratic rights once Hyderabad is given UT status, he said people would have every right including right to elect legislators for the Assembly as in New Delhi and Puducherry. Governments in UTs would also provide all facilities to people on a par the state government.

Padmanabhaiah said the Congress was not clear in its statement made in favour of Telangana on the status of Hyderabad. Once the state is divided, giving Hyderabad a common capital status is ruled out in view of the geographical and political conditions. Strongly opposing the proposal to maintain Hyderabad as the joint capital for 10 years, a former IT adviser to state government, T Hanuman Chaudhary, said instead the government should find out a right place to establish a capital city for Seemandhra state by allocating sufficient funds . The fight over sharing of income generated in Hyderabad should be resolved and funds allocated to both regions immediately after the state bifurcated.

Senior Journalist Venugopal said Hyderabad was very much part of Telangana. In fact, state was not going to be divided but the Telangana would only demerge from Andhra. He alleged that some political leaders and contractors flared up the Seemandhra movement for political gains.

Jana Chaitanya Vedika President V Laxman Reddy demanded that Hyderabad be maintained as the joint capital of the two new states. Seemandhra people were sentimentally attached to Hyderabad because they invested in the city and settled in it. They were afraid that they would lose educational and employment opportunities once Hyderabad was made the capital of Telangana.