Hyderabad, January 06: As Hyderabad is the bone of contention between those seeking and opposing a separate state of Telangana, the Srikrishna Committee has compared the position of this historic city with the metropolis of Brussels in Belgium.
People of Andhra and Rayalaseema who have huge stakes in Hyderabad, considered an integral part of Telangana, are either opposed to bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh or are ready to accept a separate Telangana state if Hyderabad is made a union territory.
The panel pointed out how an agreement was reached on Brussels despite it having two language communities, and wondered why a similar solution cannot be found in Andhra Pradesh, which has a common culture and language.
“In 1968, Belgium had erupted in a series of riots on the question of who had a claim to Brussels city, which is barely inside the northern Flammand region. The only way to settle the issue was to declare that Belgium was a country of two cultures and three regions,” the panel said in its report.
It pointed out that Belgium has a population of about 10 million, of which 6 million in the northern part of the country are Flemish-speaking while 4 million, who are mainly concentrated in the south of Belgium, speak French. There is also a small German speaking minority. Belgium is thus constituted as a federation of three language communities – Flemish, French and German.
“The capital region of Brussels, therefore, is organised altogether as a separate bilingual capital region with an independent administrative set-up and jurisdiction.”
“Andhra Pradesh, however, by and large, has a common culture and was constituted as the first linguistic (Telugu) state. In our context, when there are equally strong competing claims on a thriving urban conglomerate, the Union Territory model is often considered workable,” the report said.
The panel suggested if the state of Andhra Pradesh is divided into two units, then Hyderabad could become a Union Territory with a common capital for the present and the emerging states could eventually develop their own capitals over time.
–Agencies