moving to Hyderabad... safety?

travelnow

Hello,

I was horrified to hear the news on Saturday. My heart goes out to those that were affected by this. I hope the investigation results in serious action. Can anyone comment on
the security there? We are planning to move there, but am feeling very unsettled now. Has security increased? Are there tensions between Muslims and Hindus?

fly2raven

Well...Hyderabad was on lock down today as one of the local political parties called for a bund (sp?) - this is a where basically everything is closed up and groups of thugs (associated with the political party) roam the streets and make certain that everything stays closed.

My husband was in Hyderabad this weekend, and after the bombings security was on high and the police were everywhere...he did mention that the security at the airport was fairly routine and the flights weren't canceled.

I am not certain if this has been reported anywhere else yet but there were two other bombs found around Hyderabad this weekend that didn't go off, as well as more in Loombini park...

In the local news...almost everyone being interviewed are placing the blame on Pakistan and on the large muslim minority in Hyderabad. I am not quite sure if that could be called tension...but if something happens to a muslim (if a hindu attacks a temple or a muslim in retaliation) communal riots are sure to take place...there have been some very bad communal riots in Hyderabad in the past - none to recent - but I think right now it could go blow up pretty quickly...especially as the mosque was bombed not too long ago.

God willing there will not be a turn to violence...but things can spark up very quickly here...

shashank.aggarwal

Communal violence, even though these things do happen, but these things are very rare...and happen once in several years and that too in one particular part of India...

The last prominent ones were in Gujrat and were 5 years ago (I guess)..


The right spelling is Bandh..its basically a Strike, called by BJP to protest against the government. They claim that they had warned government several times and asked for the security to be beefed up, but government didn't pay any attention. To a common man its seems largely to be Politically motivated, or if I may so so, 20% is the good cause and 80% is the political motivation...

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capt_mahajan

Yes, security has, obviously. And no overt tension, and no covert tension either where I live, and I daresay in most of the city.

But your general question is a tough one to answer, without the usual 'where is it absolutely safe' kind of rhetoric.

In the aftermath of the London or Madrid or Mumbai bombings, how would anyone answer a similar question there?

Tensions between Muslims and others are unfortunately on the rise whenever an incident is linked to extremist elements within that religion. India has a much longer history of dealing with these tensions than most. And most people across religions are not stupid.

Another take. I am a Hindu living in Hyderabad. I just had coffee with a Muslim friend, and we made some changes to our apartment security plan in general. My wife has a Muslim yoga teacher to whom she went today. Our maids are Muslim, and so are some other people we did business with today. Without second thought on both sides, I may add.

Bombs aside, communal tensions in India rarely effect the middle class, unless you are in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Sorry, can't give you a simple yes or no answer; these are unsettled times, worldwide.

fly2raven

We had communal violence in Bangalore about 6 months ago...it was contained in one area of the city but it affected it enough that no one showed up for work that day (to the office where my husband works - not city wide).

But I do agree with the capt...it would be a wrong place wrong time situation if caught in any violence..

Also...I really should have added this in my original post but this incident would not change my plans to move there. I would still prefer Hyderabad to where we are currently living...it is a nice city.

Darmabum

when several bombs went off in the city, one at the Sankat Mochan Temple, very close to where I was staying; then another at the railway station; several others were found and disarmed before exploding.

Not being Indian or particularly political, a thought I heard circulating there was that these bombs had been set by terrorists hoping to start and/or fuel Hindu/Muslim tensions. Varanasi has a very large Muslim population. After several days of very weird vibes in the city, life went on. As my heart went out to those who died in Varanasi, my heart goes out to those killed and injured in Hyderabad.

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capt_mahajan

That is the main intention, always.

Though in Hyderabad, 13 of the 40 odd official casualties are Muslim.

The innocent have no religion, only the guilty do.

shashank.aggarwal

Well said Captain !! and its very true, the main motive behind such acts is to provoke communal tension..

But people do realize the intentions and things generally do not take wrong turn unless motivated by vested political interests...

Familyonthemove

Religion and politics ..... what are they good for?

People just having a good night out getting caught in the cross fire between the mindless followers of dogma.

As for the investigation ..... the Hindus will blame the Muslims, the Muslims will blame the Hindus, the minor political parties will blame the major ones and everyone will blame 'foreign forces', then in about 14 years time some minor players and a a few film stars will get locked up.

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shashank.aggarwal

it would be better to say politically motivated Hindus will blame muslims, and politically motivated Muslims blame Hindus...

But foreign hand is blamed by one and everyone..

yeah...and scores of them will be hanged till death...

raincoat

I was actually in HYD when the bombs went off. That was the night i left. It was really horrible as i had just been to the two places the night before. I didnt feel like there was any difference in secuirity at the airport(althought there was in mumbai). The local news was saying that its almost certantly in connection with the bombings at mecca masjid. It may be that the people doing these bombs wre born muslims, but they are clearly not practiceing muslims, because despite what people say violance is prohibited. I never felt any tension by muslims towards others in HYD, but i did sometimes get the vibe from non-muslims. Nothing to bad just some rude comments. It should be noted that hyderabad is 40% muslim, and secunderabad(where i was staying) is even more.

Nattusbs

If you speak with common people, there is no tension among Hindus and Muslims.

On the other hand, political parties, gangs and mischievous people have nothing else better to do than instigate the common person.

Now, regarding AQI people from B'desh - that is possible. How does one stop this? It is up to the govt of India to take a hard stand. Will they? Do they have the guts? Doubt it - since they do not want to rock the Muslim vote bank - that is the main problem - Viva Democracy - Indian style.

Cheers

Nattusbs

capt_mahajan

Thats not blame. Thats reality.

raincoat

In this case i do have to agree. I dont think it is an indian that is doing the bombings and i suspect they may be from pakisan or possibly bangledesh. The reason i say this is because the peopel in HYD and SEC seem to be very peaceful. And even though there are bad people its unlikely that someone(be it a hindu or a muslim) would bomb mecca masjid. Aside from the religous reasons its also a big tourist spot. Tourism is really important because its a big source of money.

Khak

Hyderabad is almost normal although administration and general public is taking a catious approach. Roads and pulic places are less crowded now-a-days. Local adminstration has instructed all cinema halls, shopping malls etc to install proper security system. There is no enmity between religious communities.

Two consecutive blasts in Hyderabad seems to have implanted some fear in the minds of citizens. Such things are new to Hyderabad.

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