Opinion Hands to build
The subtext behind the violent protests over Telanganas statehood was the fear that people from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema would be made to feel like guest workers in a Hyderabad
The subtext behind the violent protests over Telanganas statehood was the fear that people from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema would be made to feel like guest workers in a Hyderabad no longer theirs (Seconderabad,IE,December 12). Any long-term solution to the problem should involve thinking straight about cities and states. The best option is therefore to build more urban centres. Indian states indeed need more new,modern cities. Shekhar Gupta has rightly stated that Andhras builder-contractors are rightly called Andhrapreneurs,given their industriousness. They can now come forward and build another city not simply for their state but for India as well.
Dilbag Rai Chandigarh
Inclusive growth
Demands for statehood arise due to the exclusive growth of some regions and the neglect of others. Developing a new coastal capital for Andhra should the state be divided will help develop its economy. However,Telangana is an underdeveloped region and will continue to remain so,even if statehood is granted,because of the lack of natural resources. Therefore separating Telangana from Andhra Pradesh is not a solution. Besides,it will pave the way for violent agitations in other parts of the country over respective statehood demands. Making growth more inclusive in Andhra is the real solution.
Sourav R. Barman
Tripura
More to it
While defending his decision to send more troops to Afghanistan,in his Nobel acceptance speech,US President Barack Obama observed that he cannot only be guided by the examples of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King as he is the head of a state tasked with protecting the same (Just words,IE,December 12). However,Gandhis non-violence was not a prescription for inaction in the face of a ruthless and cruel enemy. When Pakistan sent invaded the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir in 1947,Gandhi endorsed the governments decision to send the Indian army in. Obama is fighting Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. Gandhi would have whole-heartedly supported him.
S. Venkataraman
After 1971
This refers to Birth of a nation (IE,December 11). The writer blamed Bangladesh for a lack of gratitude towards India,as it gave the ISI and Northeast insurgents refuge. But the building of the Farakka dam in West Bengal,thereby reducing water flow to Bangladesh,was a sore point. This snowballed into anti-India feelings later. Though Malhotra articulated well the modus operandi of Indira Gandhi,one must remember another major factor in the Bangladesh war Mrs Gandhi not only instructed mobilisation on both borders but also took clearance from the Bengal intelligentsia. She was wise enough to judge the trouble that West Bengal would undergo as refugees started pouring in.
Biswa P. Chatterji
Mumbai
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