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Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, a strong political stakeholder in Hyderabad, has expressed apprehensions that the central government was contemplating giving the city the status of an Union Territory while creating Telangana state and warned that the party will fight tooth and nail against any such move.
Demanding a separate capital for Andhra, the party demanded that the AP Reorganisation Bill should clearly state where the new capital will be located.
In his reply to the Union home ministry’s letter seeking the party’s views on the issues related to the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, MIM President and member of Lok Sabha from Hyderabad Asaduddin Owaisi demanded that Hyderabad should be the “unconditional capital” of Telangana.
MIM also reiterated its stand that that the new state should comprise ten districts of Telangana and two districts -- Anantapur and Kurnool -- of Rayalaseema.
Owaisi said that his party will fight on three fronts for justice -- courts, roads and polling booths.
Coming down heavily on the Telangana Congress leaders for agreeing to the idea of a common capital for ten years and handing over the law and order and municipal administration of Hyderabad, Owaisi said that these leaders had no stake and no right to talk.
“They are ready to accept anything to become the chief minister of Telangana”, he said.
“It is unfortunate. I fail to understand what kind of vision these Telangana Congress leaders have,” he said.
“We have seven MLAs in Hyderabad. I am the son of the soil. These people who don't have any political stake here have no right to barter or talk about Hyderabad,” Owaisi told a press conference while releasing a copy of his letter.
He also reminded the central leadership of Congress party to stick to the legacy of party stalwarts Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, who did not take over the law and order of new states created under their regime.
The MIM took a strong stand against the proposal for common capital or union territory status for Hyderabad.
“There is no question of allowing central control over law and order, municipal administration, revenue and land administration, higher education and medical care. Such a proposition would adversely impact Hyderabad,” he said.
Owaisi warned that Telangana will not survive even for a day without having complete control over Hyderabad.
“Our apprehension about the Centre contemplating making Hyderabad an UT is based on the Union cabinet note, terms of reference of the Group of Ministers and the Union Home Ministry’s note to the GOM, which has no clarity on the status of Hyderabad, on forming a separate public service commission and on separate high courts for the two states,” Owaisi said.
He warned that Muslims, Dalits, Christians and the people of Seemandhra will be the worst sufferers of the bifurcation process.
Owaisi also expressed fear that in any case of miscarriage of justice against Muslims -- like the case of those wrongfully accused of Mecca Masjid blasts -- they will not know where to go for redressal.
“There are many IPS officers who are biased against Muslims. In case of Hyderabad becoming a common capital and the Centre taking the law and order in its hands, the police commissioner of Hyderabad will become a super chief minister, in the presence of two chief ministers of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh in the city,” he said.
He rejected the argument that the Centre should take over the law and order of the city to safeguard the interest and security of Seemandhra people.
“In that case, the Centre should also take over the law and order of Telangana districts like Nalgonda, Ranga Reddy, Nizamabad, Karimnagar and Khammam as a large number of Seemandhra people live there too,” Owaisi said.
Conversely, he said, the law and order of Kakinada and Visakhapatanam should be under the control of the Centre as landlocked Telangana will be dependent on these ports for imports and exports. Same will be the case for Tirupati, as the Hindu citizens of Telangana may feel insecure there, he said.
“If Hyderabad is made the common capital or the revenue and municipal administration is taken over by the Centre, it will destroy the city economically. The Telangana state government will not make any investment, neither will the Andhra Pradesh government, saying they were soon going to leave the city,” Owaisi said.
He rejected the argument that after the bifurcation, the people of Seemandhra people will feel unsafe in Hyderabad.
“We will stand by them and protect them,” he said.
He said that currently, police personnel had to be brought from other districts of Andhra Pradesh to maintain law and order in Hyderabad, as there were nearly 7,000 vacancies in Hyderabad and Cyberabad police comissionerates.
Owaisi said that if the government of Telangana fails to protect the lives of the Seemandhra people, the Centre can always invoke Article 356 of the Constitution and throw out the government.
He reiterated his apprehension about the Sangh Parivar growing in both states and endangering the security of Muslims.
Releasing the copy of the Sundarlal Committee’s report -- about what happened during and after the Police Action in September 1948 to bring Hyderabad State under the control of the Union of India -- Owaisi said that at the time, nobody demanded special privileges to ensure the security of Muslims.
“At that time, you left us to the mercy of the situation. You cannot do it again,” he told the Centre.
“This political decision of the ruling alliance and the Union government to bifurcate the state would only strengthen communal forces in the new state. History will judge whether it was the right decision or coloured by short-sightedness,” Owaisi wrote in the letter.
The MIM also demanded that four percent reservation for the socially and educationally backward sections of Muslims in Andhra Pradesh should continue in both the newly-created states.
The budget for the welfare of the minority community should be increased and Urdu language should be made the first official language in Telangana, along with Telugu, demanded Owaisi.