CURRENT STATE of Andhra Pradesh

[Mahendra Reddy]

Dear Fellow Andhraite's



Let's all come together and express our views in this discussion forum and air our views on the CURRENT STATE of Andhra Pradesh.

There is a lot You all want to share / express your opinion on What's going on in AP today. Please make this discussion a Valuable Resource for the Future of the State of AP..



Regards,

Mahendra Reddy from Pulivendla, Cuddapah(Dt), AP

[Saradhi]

http://www.greatandhra.com/articles/who_is_settler.html

Article: Who is a settler?



Disclaimer: I am a migrant from coastal Andhra trying to eke out a living in the state capital, which happens to be in the Telengana region. If that makes me a migrant or a settler, so be it.



Many of us were left astounded by the statement of Congressman Chinna Reddy, who appealed to TRS and Congress not to field any “settlers” as candidates in Telengana region. In this particular context, the term settler is an acronym for people from the coastal region of AP, who have migrated and settled down in Telengana districts.



Chinna Reddy is not alone in voicing such a divisive agenda. In their fight for separate statehood (which I strongly support, albeit for different reasons, as I have outlined in one of my earlier columns), many of his colleagues in Congress and TRS are adopting a similar tack. This phenomenon is not restricted to AP alone – Bal Thackeray and his thugs are out with their slogans – “Mumbai for Mumbaikers only”; Assam Gana Parishad gave a call for the eviction of people of Bihari origin from Assam (many of them are sixth generation Biharis living in Assam for the past 200 years!).



In every country or region that attracted immigrants, predominantly owing to the lure of economic opportunities, there has always been some sort of backlash from the so-called “sons of soil”. Without exception, an immigrant has always more drive to succeed and as a result, you see immigrant communities thriving. The Asians in the US, people from the sub-continent in the UK and Africa are examples of the entrepreneurial drive of the immigrants. Through their sheer drive and hard work, these immigrant communities transformed their adopted homelands. Even a country like Uganda, which drove out Indians in the 1970s, is going all out to attract them back. Without the investment and skills of the Indian community, the Ugandan economy was completely crippled in the past few decades. Even in the US, at the turn of the century there was tremendous resentment against the Irish, Italian and Russian communities that were migrating in droves, fleeing Europe in turmoil.



We live in a world without borders, where many of our kith and kin are seeking greener pastures in far off lands. We all expect them to do well and justifiably take genuine pride in the tremendous success of the Indian diaspora spread across the world. And whenever we hear of discrimination against Indians be it in Fiji, in the UK or in the US, we all seethe with anger. Why? Because we expect equal treatment to our own folks in those far away countries. And at the same time, we don’t want to extend the same privileges to our own countrymen in India?



The history of the world is replete with tales of migration. The early humans were nomads with pastoral life styles. As they evolved into agricultural communities, they sought to settle down in fertile river valleys, displacing the native communities in that region. The only difference is who came first.



The local communities tend to view the migrants with suspicion initially, and with envy at their success later on. This is a perfectly understandable human reaction. But to exploit this resentment for partisan purposes is not only cheap but also extremely dangerous in the long run.



But what appalled me was the duplicity of the congressman – he is willing to accept Sonia Gandhi, a foreigner as the Prime Minister, but is not willing to accept a fellow Telugu albeit from a different region of the state! This is the height of hypocrisy.



The very nature of the global economy provides unlimited opportunities to people from diverse regions of the world to excel in any other part of the world. In fact countries across the world struggle and compete to attract foreign investment. In AP itself, every small town has its share of traders and businessmen of Punajabi, Gujarati and Marwari origin, who added tremendous wealth to the state through their entrepreneurial spirit. The current debate raging in the US against out sourcing is another manifestation of this malaise.



I reiterate the point I made earlier: small states are good, but devolution of powers to local communities is even more important; every citizen of the country should have equal rights to live, study and work in every other part of the country. The mindless and empty rhetoric of the politicians should not lead to divisive and fascist tendencies. While the politicians might win an election by inciting the emotions of the people, the people themselves will be the losers in the long-run, if their region is not perceived to be open to investment and migration.



<B> WANT YOUR VIEWS ON THIS ARTICLE </B>

Dear Fellow Andhraite's

Let's all come together and express our views in this discussion forum and air our views on the CURRENT STATE of Andhra Pradesh.
There is a lot You all want to share / express your opinion on What's going on in AP today. Please make this discussion a Valuable Resource for the Future of the State of AP..

Regards,
Mahendra Reddy from Pulivendla, Cuddapah(Dt), AP