Picture: Gauri NoriThe Case:
It all began with the news that Osmania General Hospital is set to be demolished by the Government of Telangana and be replaced by two 'modern' towers in its place. To go a little into the history Osmania General Hospital was established as a public hospital in 1921(completed in 1921) in place of the Afzalgunj Hospital which was demolished by the musi floods. This was envisioned as a public hospital to serve the citizens of Hyderabad and it lived up to its expectations for all these decades. In its hay day, it was lauded as one of the best hospitals in Asia and attracted patients from across the world. The hospital is itself is magnificent structure built in indo-saracenic style. The high cieling, huge courtyard, the natural ventilation remind us of the style of architecture which was not purely utilitarian but was looked at as a living space.
Coming back to the current events, the official reports indicate that the demolition is on the basis of report by a team of experts from JNTU, who have allegedly indicated that the building is in deplorable condition and even with restoration efforts it can only live for another five years. This news has evoked responses from different sections of the society.
The Doctors: A set of senior doctors argue passionately for building a new structure in place of the 'old-delapidated' building. "We cannot put the lives of patients in danger. This building is set to collapse. Also it was always meant as a public hospital and not as a heritage structure. Of what use is a heritage structure anyway, if not for clicking pictures. It all comes to deciding whether the city wants a place to click pictures or much needed medical facilities. The current hospital was made decades back and the population has multiplied since then, the same facilities cannot serve the current population. We need all the specialities at one place to serve the poor. The only solution is a new 'modern' building". While these are the prominent voices which one gets to hear. There are also alternative view points amongst the doctors " This building has been there and it will be there. Yes there are issues with it but it doesn't mean it has to go.", unwind a few doctors under anonymity.
Heritage Conservationists: Conservation Architects have been vehemently arguing that the structure is very strong and all it needs is a little bit of restoration. " It is predominantly made of stone and the damage is only in some parts of the building, the wet areas which have been weathered by water, the outer plastering etc. These are very insignificant in case of a heritage building, structurally the building is very strong and can last several decades. It will only be foolish to demolish such a structure." They also indicate that they have submitted alternative plans for restoration and reuse of the building without destroying the heritage which has allegedly been sidelined by the government.
The Heritage conservationists have been calling foul the intentions of the government. They question the ulterior motives behind their moves. "It is the corporate agenda to occupy the heritage and public spaces. It is a prime property worth crores of rupees and there are corporate lobbies instigating such a move. This is not the first time Hyderabad is loosing its heritage in the name of development. It is only because Osmania General Hospital itself is iconic that it has elicited such a reaction. This government has come to power with promises of protecting the history of Telangana and is now categorically destroying every inch of it"
"Even financially it doesn't make sense. The amount of money it would take to destroy such a building would be much higher than what it costs to restore it.", they say adding the financial angle.
The nameless faceless people: These are often a uniform mass which can be appropriated by either of the sides. "If your father is old, will you kill him..", asks Gafoor "I'm nobody. I just came here for some treatment. This place gets people from all over the world", he added. "This was given to us by the Nizam, if it is destroyed it will bring bad omen to the city", says a sanitation worker at Osmania. "Osmania, when it was built was in the outskirts of the then city and its facilities were distributed across different parts of the city, this was done with the intention to divide the patient traffic. Now this site has become prime location, bringing in all the departments at one centralized operation will create a logistic nightmare interms of the patient traffic and also congestion on the roads. The roads in this part of the city are already overcrowded and adding more to it is unthinkable", says another citizen.
These are some of the opinions which one gets to hear in connection with the issue. Now if one looks at the issue itself, it points to the larger issues faced by our society as a whole.
The idea of development: The proponents of destruction of the building do it in want of a 'modern' building, the state proposes its destruction under the umbrella of 'development'. The idea of development which is subscribed by the state is trying to emulate the countries like Singapore and Malaysia.It is the wider roads, higher flyovers, larger corporations model of development with quantitaive indicators like GDP, Percapita income etc. The neo-liberal model of development. Scholars like Amartya Sen have been struggling to draw our attention to the problems with this approach. Even in this case it is the cement and concrete (the twin towers) which are in focus but there is no mention of the medical facilities. This is just indicative of the larger problem. One often overlooks the facts that Singapore, is not a democracy, it is run like a corporation. Do we want such a development is something we as citizens are to think about. So each time, we keep quiet when a slum is destroyed to build a shopping complex, we are colluding with the neo-liberal agenda. This idea doesn't differentiate between its victims, whether it is a public park, heritage building or migrant colony. Migrants, Tribals, Women, Slum Dwellers, Heritage Buildings, Farmers....are all outliers of development. The last time we failed to talk when the forest lands were encroached or the public utilities privatized, we voted for the destruction of Osmania, and many more like it. All in the name of development.
The media eye: It is very curios how all the events in today's day unfold in the presence of media.Whether it is the doctors or the protesters or the goverment we are all performing for the media. It will not be an exaggeration to say that battles are no more real, it is all under the surveillance of media. While several other structures have been destroyed, several more injustices have been done one of it gets the attention because media is playing its role in channeling opinion towards it. Noam Chomsky emphasises the importance of media in manufacturing consent, probably performing dissent, in this case. The idea is not to say that the responses are not genuine but that media sets the agenda for it.
The conforming citizen: "Hyderabad has lost much of its heritage but nobody raises a voice. It says something about the culture of this place...", lamented a protester. The point to ponder is, what makes citizens so conforming? I agree with Chomsky, when he says it is the education system. Extending the idea further, in this case, Hyderabad (or Erstwhile Andhra Pradesh) has almost no educational institutions which focus on social sciences or liberal arts or any of those subjects which compel people to think. It has instituted a skill based education system where questioning is discouraged. This again ties back to the same neo-liberal reforms in education, which discourage any form of dissent. The same is true in case of the whole of the country, we have an education system which produces conforming citizens. It is no surprise when a doctor says "of what use is heritage apart from taking pictures...". Einstein was not a fool to say, social sciences have to be taught to women/men of science, science without social sensitivity is dangerous.
Yes the immediate task is to stop demolition of Osmania General Hospital but whether we are fighting this or the tribal attrocities or farmer suicides, we are fighting the common enemy of capitalism.
For now #SaveOsmaniaGeneralHospital
