The Telangana Coordination Committee has sought the cooperation of the leaders of Seemandhra for a smooth division of the state.
Speaking at a meeting here on Monday, Telangana politicians, intellectuals and ideologues sought to allay the fears of insecurity of the people of Seemandhra who have settled in the state capital and elsewhere in Telangana after formation of a separate state. “No harm is going to befall them. They will continue to be citizens of Hyderabad and they will have all the rights that others will have,” they said.
The speakers included TCC chairman A Gopala Kishan, G Haragopal, Siasat managing editor Zaheeruddin Ali Khan, TJAC chairman M Kodandaram, Ch Vidyasagara Rao, B Vinod, Ponnala Lakshmaiah, K Narayana, Hameed Mohammad Khan and M Ved kumar.
Haragopal said that Hyderabad was home to people not only from the Andhra region but from several other states. “As many as 44 cultures exist in Hyderabad,” he said and dismissed as unfounded the fears of insecurity of Andhra settlers. “They will continue to be citizens of Hyderabad and Telangana,” he said. He wished that the process of division would be smooth and would set an example to follow during division of any state in future. “It should be a historic example,” he said.
Ch Vidyasagara Rao (BJP) described Hyderabad as ‘mini-India’ and said there was no need for one to fear that something would happen to them after formation of Telangana state. “Probably, Hyderabad is the only city which has a maximum number of migrants from other states. Several people have made Hyderabad their home as long back as 1857 after the Sepoy Mutiny,” he said.