Congress is misleading Muslims using religious groups: TRS

Hyderabad, April 13 : The Telangana Rashtra Samithi on Sunday accused the Congress party of misleading the Muslim community using some religious organisations.

Reacting to the support announced by some religious institutions including Jamiat Ulema Hind, Tahreek Muslim Shabban and United Muslim Forum to the Congress party in ensuing elections, TRS MLC Mohammad Mahmood Ali strongly condemned their move and described their decision as unilateral. He said none of these Muslim groups approached the TRS leadership with their Charter of Demands and their support to the Congress was stage-managed. However, he said TMS President Md Mushtaq Mallik contacted him asking him to bring TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao or K Tarakarama Rao to the TMS meeting. “Since all our senior leaders are busy with the campaign, they were not in a position to make it to the event at a such a short notice. Therefore, I myself offered to participate in the event. But he declined my request. It is strange that they don’t want to respect or trust the Muslim leaders of TRS and talk about Muslim welfare,” he said.

Stating that TRS is a secular party, Mahmood Ali made it clear that the TRS would never ally with the BJP or NDA. He said that the TRS has refused to ally with the BJP although it was ready to contest only on 15 Assembly and two Lok Sabha seats in Telangana. He said the TRS would support the non-Congress, non-BJP front after the elections and will never join the communal forces.

The TRS leader alleged that the Congress was notorious for cheating the Muslim community. It did nothing for the development of Muslims of Telangana. Instead, it has targeted the community through various means. The economy of Telangana Muslims was shattered after Police Action of 1948 and several laws like Ceiling Act were brought to snatched away the lands owned by Muslims. The Congress party was responsible for the communal riots in Hyderabad and several innocent youth were implicated in false cases by the Congress Government. He said the percentage of Muslims in government jobs got reduced due to Congress regimes and Wakf properties worth several hundreds crores were swindled by the Congress leaders. He alleged that former minister Mohammad Ali Shabbir, who mediated talks with Muslim groups, sold away Wakf properties of Dargah Ishaq Madani in Visakhapatnam, Lanco Hills in Hyderabad and places.

Mahmood Ali asked the Muslim organisations and clerics to adopt an honest approach in extending their support to the political party in ensuing elections. He said the Muslim bodies should have compared the manifestoes of both the Congress and TRS and should have held consultations also with the leaders of TRS before announcing their decision. He alleged that the Congress party was using the heads of some organisations to lure the Muslim voters in the State.

Defending the promises made in TRS manifesto, Mahmood Ali said that KCR would not ensure 12 per cent reservation for Muslims and fulfill all other promises. The TRS gave more tickets to Muslims in Telangana compared to the Congress party. Therefore, instead of extending blind support, the Muslim bodies should keep the community’s interest in mind while supporting the political parties in ensuing elections, he said. “Muslims trusted the Congress for over 40 years and TDP for about 18 years. This time, they should trust the TRS and give it an opportunity to fulfill its promises,” he said.  INN