What strikes most is the incongruity of the situation. Addressing a conference on Sunday, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao declared that the issue of nativity was 'settled'. Those (and whose ancestors) came to Telangana (read Hyderabad) before 1956, will be considered to be natives. At the same time, his son and IT minister KT Rama Rao, is out on a mission to woo investors zealously to strengthen Brand Hyderabad.
Every day he meets dozens of businessmen and others who may be interested in pursuing their interests in the city. It obviously does not occur to him that Brand Hyderabad can prosper only if outsiders are welcomed and are not discriminated because they came from elsewhere. KCR's statement came after a meeting with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and a day after the high court allowed the Telangana government to go ahead with a controversial household survey, after a declaration that the survey would be optional and not ask questions about nativity.
Those who are well-versed with the complexity of the nativity matter do not find a paradox. The nativity issue is targeted at settlers from Andhra and Rayalaseema areas, who came to Hyderabad after the integrated state of Andhra Pradesh was created in 1956. The invitation for investment is for businessmen from the rest of the country and abroad. The settlers are welcome to leave Hyderabad and go to their own state (also called Andhra Pradesh). Never mind if they have no other place as their own, having been born and raised in Hyderabad. It is as if the lines have been drawn between India and Pakistan.
Of course, settlers from Andhra and Rayalaseema areas are partly responsible for the mess they find themselves in. They lobbied for an integrated Andhra Pradesh in the mid-1950s only because Andhra state, carved out of erstwhile Madras state, had no capital. Hyderabad, where the Nizam had been deposed, was up for grabs and the Andhra people who were dispossessed from Madras quickly seized the opportunity.
Thereafter for decades, thousands migrated to Hyderabad, making the city their very own and captured all resources. But at the same time, they made little effort to conceal their contempt for residents of Telangana and their culture, labelling them lazy. The Telangana movement was largely against this cultural discrimination that locals suffered in their own land. KCR, known for his fiery oratory, became wellknown for his 'Jago Telangana wale, bhago Andhrawale' slogan.
But analysts had expected him to be reasonable after winning the elections and kick-start a positive agenda. Although KCR will depart for Singapore to scout for investments in the weekend, he is also making strenuous efforts to quickly takeover all organisations of the erstwhile, undivided, Andhra Pradesh state that as per the Act that created the new state says shall not be bifurcated for 10 years.
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Every day he meets dozens of businessmen and others who may be interested in pursuing their interests in the city. It obviously does not occur to him that Brand Hyderabad can prosper only if outsiders are welcomed and are not discriminated because they came from elsewhere. KCR's statement came after a meeting with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and a day after the high court allowed the Telangana government to go ahead with a controversial household survey, after a declaration that the survey would be optional and not ask questions about nativity.
Those who are well-versed with the complexity of the nativity matter do not find a paradox. The nativity issue is targeted at settlers from Andhra and Rayalaseema areas, who came to Hyderabad after the integrated state of Andhra Pradesh was created in 1956. The invitation for investment is for businessmen from the rest of the country and abroad. The settlers are welcome to leave Hyderabad and go to their own state (also called Andhra Pradesh). Never mind if they have no other place as their own, having been born and raised in Hyderabad. It is as if the lines have been drawn between India and Pakistan.
Of course, settlers from Andhra and Rayalaseema areas are partly responsible for the mess they find themselves in. They lobbied for an integrated Andhra Pradesh in the mid-1950s only because Andhra state, carved out of erstwhile Madras state, had no capital. Hyderabad, where the Nizam had been deposed, was up for grabs and the Andhra people who were dispossessed from Madras quickly seized the opportunity.
Thereafter for decades, thousands migrated to Hyderabad, making the city their very own and captured all resources. But at the same time, they made little effort to conceal their contempt for residents of Telangana and their culture, labelling them lazy. The Telangana movement was largely against this cultural discrimination that locals suffered in their own land. KCR, known for his fiery oratory, became wellknown for his 'Jago Telangana wale, bhago Andhrawale' slogan.
But analysts had expected him to be reasonable after winning the elections and kick-start a positive agenda. Although KCR will depart for Singapore to scout for investments in the weekend, he is also making strenuous efforts to quickly takeover all organisations of the erstwhile, undivided, Andhra Pradesh state that as per the Act that created the new state says shall not be bifurcated for 10 years.
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