How long will it take for Hyderabad to become Ahmedabad? How long before they are renamed ?

How long will it take Hyderabad to become Ahmedabad? This is the question that is being asked in the wake of the spectacular showing by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the municipal polls in Hyderabad, when they pipped AIMIM to emerge as the largest opposition. Nobody has a clear answer but apprehensions are high.

For the record, Ahmedabad is a very friendly city and residents enjoy living there, the dry and hot weather being the only dampener. But the truth be told, Muslims are virtual second-class citizens in the city. They are confined to the eastern part of the city in the older areas. The river Sabarmati acts as the dividing line and on the western part – in the new city – the Muslims are more or less – not allowed to stay.

A large majority stay in Juhapura, the Muslimsonly enclave. Residents claim that civic services are deficient in the Muslim enclave. There is permanent prohibition in Ahmedabad following Gandhian principles, although in the last few years exceptions have been made, officially. Otherwise too, prohibition existed only in name. Along with prohibition, non- vegetarian food is eschewed by most Amdavadis (that’s how the locals describe their city).

Restaurants mostly serve vegetarian food although in recent years, more non veg joints are allowed to cater to demand of outsiders who have set up businesses here. Mutton or fish shops are difficult to find in modern Ahmedabad and difficult to consume. Neighbours frown and maids ready to clean utensils, in which non-veg dishes have been cooked or consumed, are difficult to find.

If Ahmedabad is the city of Khichri, Hyderabad is well known for its biryanis – the kacche gosht ki biryani. The two cities are poles apart. Hyderabad’s Muslims comprise 40 per cent of the total number – the highest in any metro or mini metro in the country. Since Hyderabad was ruled by the Nizam, a Muslim, the city has many bearing allegiance to Islam. In recent decades, however, many outsiders have made their homes in the city bringing new influences.

Modern tech industry has set foot in Hyderabad and the city is seen to be following the Silicon Valley of India viz Bengaluru. Hyderabad is counted amongst the modern cities of India. The Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat that covers old Hyderabad is believed to have 68 per Muslims. It is represented by the Majlis-IttehadulMuslimeen (MIM) and its chief Asaduddin Owaisi for a long time.

Owaisi has a larger-than life image and it is because of his party that Hyderabad continues to have an Islamic image which the BJP is now seeking to destroy. Hyderbadis love their non-veg food with kebabs and biryanis – and large section of Hindus along with Muslims partake this food with relish.

But Hyderabad city has now expanded over the decades. Secunderabad, Chevalla and Malkajgiri assembly segments are also part of the city’s Lok Sabha seat. On none of the seats does MIM have any strength; they are fought by mainstream political parties.

In the middle of Hyderabad city stands the Charminar, a monument consisting of four minarates constructed in 1531. Possibly in the 1960s, a temple dedicated to Goddess Bhagyalakshmi came up at a corner of Charminar. A photograph that appeared in The Hindu newspaper sometime in 1959 shows no temple. However, by 1969 when the first Telangana movement was kick started, a temple had come up. The demand made by the right wingers is that the original name of the city was Bhagyanagar and the city should revert to that name.

Under the Nizams, Hyderabad was a peaceful democratically run city except for the last few years of his rule in the 1940s before India became free. Elements who wanted Hyderabad to accede to Pakistan became a powerful force and the Nizam, reputedly the richest man in the world then, was powerless to help them.

These elements were ultimately put down by the forces of the Indian union. Through a military force (mistakenly called Police action) Hyderabad was invaded and the Nizam had to accede to India. This was on 17 September 1948, more than a year after India became free.

For a few years the contours of Hyderabad state that extended to Aurangabad remained as it was. But Hyderabad state was merged with Andhra state in 1953 to make it Andhra Pradesh, a purely Telugu speaking province. The Marathi and Kannada speaking parts of Hyderabad state were merged with Bombay state and Mysore.

The Muslims under the Nizams who spoke Urdu (or its derivative Dakhni) were disempowered. Many left for Pakistan, Canada or the US and the poorer ones remained. Nehru’s deft moves thus resulted in peace for Hyderabad by changing the contours of the state. The right- wing forces also disappeared.

With the saffron forces now on the upswing there is a demand to rename Hyderabad as a Bhagyanagar said to be the original name of the city. But then BJP- which is in power in Ahmedabad since 1994 has not changed the name of Ahmedabad to Karnavati as the long term demand has been!

After Hyderabad was merged with Andhra Pradesh, Telugu became the lingua franca but in Hyderabad they continued to manage with Urdu. During the Nizam’s time many Hindus from UP and Gujarat had also migrated to Hyderabad. They also knew no Telugu: so Urdu/ Hindi became another widely spoken language in Hyderabad.

People from Andhra areas however looked down on people from the erstwhile Hyderabad State (or Telangana region), primarily because while English was spoken widely in the Andhra region, people from Telangana spoke Urdu but knew no English. Things became so bad that a movement for a separate Telangana State began in 1969 and became very intense.

Things remained under control for several decades as the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) under cine star N T Rama Rao and later his son-in-law Chandrababu Naidu, occupied centre stage. Under them the Teluguficationof Andhra Pradesh intensified and in a real sense Hyderabad became a Telugu city.Once Telangana was created and K Chandrasekhar Rao became the chief minister, he became like a neo-Nizam, rebuilt the chief minister’s residence like a palace and has now demolished the secretariat to make way for a grand building overlooking the waters of the Hussainsagar Lake.

He seldom goes to office and lives in his farm house. Not many have access to him and this includes many ministers and senior officers of the government. The government is now running on remote, one that is operated by his young son K T Taraka Rama Rao.

The next assembly polls in Telangana will be fought in 2023. But fresh after its good performance in the municipal polls in Hyderabad – where it won 48 seats up from the previous 4, the BJP is buoyant. TRS won 55 seats but its tally has come down from 99 seats the last time. BJP sees this as an indicator of things to come.

(The writer is a senior journalist and author based in Hyderabad. He was also the Resident Editor of The Times of India in Ahmedabad)