Minorities, particularly Muslims, have been opposing the division of Andhra Pradesh. They apprehend that the separate Telangana would jeopardize their interests and threaten their safety.
The psyche of average Telangana Hindu is believably anti- Muslim and no political outfit, including TRS is exempted from its anti- Muslim attitude. Many a time, Muslim leaders, almost a non-entity in TRS, felt that the party meted out a raw deal to them in different occasions. This biased mind-set had its roots in the bitter memories of atrocious Razakars in Nizam’s State.
Razakars were undoubtedly brutal private army during Nizam’s regime. They persecuted innocent masses in connivance with Deshmuks and other feudal Lords, who were ironically the Hindus. It was also divulged that half of the Razakars were non- Muslims and were salaried people of different communities. However, Telangana has been filled with anti- Muslim outlook.
According to latest revelations, Muslims in several outlying districts in Marathwada and Hyderabad-Karnataka region of erstwhile Hyderabad state were attacked in retaliation in the aftermath of Police action. But, those facts were allegedly buried in sly and the communal enmity towards Muslim masses is being kept alive forever. It is not only the communal party like BJP, but also ‘so-called’ secular party- Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), claimed to be the cultural spearhead of Telangana, is dominated by leaders with the ideology of rightwing Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
While getting transformed from the ruling class to the ruled overnight by the Police Action against Nizam’s Hyderabad state in 1948, Muslims were brought to an acute sense of insecurity with the Hyderabad trifurcation, which divided them into three political and geographical entities.
With the change in official language in government offices, thousands of Muslim employees, who only knew Urdu, remained jobless and obviously were necked out. Thus, socio-economic deprivation of the Muslims, which began in the early 1950s, got accentuated with times.
“So, being haunted by the nightmare of division of the State after police action, Muslims, in the interests of the community, have been stubborn for an undivided state,” prominent religious scholar Moulana Hameeduddin Auqil Hussami and Chairman of Muslim United Forum (MUF) told INN Live.
“Muslims opposing separate Telangana is not a new issue. We opposed Telangana state during violent agitation in 1969 too. And we have been against it,” Asaduddin Owaisi, Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) chief averred.
According to 2011 census the population of Muslims is 78 lakhs, 9.8% of the total population of the state. Their population in nine other districts of Telangana region is about 17 percent and about 40 percent in Hyderabad city. They commonly fear on sharp communal polarization and saffronisation in the event of the State bifurcation. But, Congress is blatantly ignoring the apprehensions of this big group and is very unilateral on dividing the State.
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