HYDERABAD
Sin,—The letter of Mr. Francis is a complete misrepresentation of the facts. Hyderabad is one of the most progressive of the Indian States, and the capital is one of the most modern cities in India. Under the late Diwan, Sir Akbar Hydari, miles of slums were replaced, at great cost, by modern dwellings, and many buildings erected, including a splendid hospital with the most up-to-date equipment. The whole town. is clean and well-lighted, and the Gamania University was the first to conduct its teaching in an Indian language. The Nizam is a con- scientious ruler whose devotion to work and simplicity of life might well be followed by others. In the villages communal feeling, except when imported from outside, is unknown. Mosques and temples stand side by side, and Hindus visit the shrines of Moslem pirs and take part in the Mohurram festival. The archaeological department spends large sums on the conservation of its great Buddhist and Hindu monuments, the Ellora and Ajanta caves. If Hyderabad is part of India by virtue of its Hindu majority, then the converse is true of Kashmir, which has 88 per cent. Muhammadans.
Mr. Francis says that the British saved the Nizam from the Marathas, but he omits to mention that 'fie 1857 the Nizam preserved the British from extinction. Had Hyderabad thrown in its lot with the Emperor of Delhi, the British Raj would have come- to an end ninety years earlier
Previous page
