-President Pranab Mukherjee while addressing the Central Reserve Police Force at New Delhi on February 28, 2014 Telangana State that's set to celebrate its first birthday in less than two months has entered into an unexpectedly uncertain phase that does not bode well for the political stability it has been enjoying.
The elimination of five persons who were allegedly involved in terrormilitant activities including targeted violence and murder in a widely believed fake encounter by police on the morning of April 8 has suddenly put chief minister, K Chandrasekhar Rao, in the spot.
First about those who were killed by the police: The gang was led by Viquaruddin Ahmed who got initiated into fanaticism at a local organisation known as Darsgah-e-Jihad wa Shadat (DJS) or the school for teaching of holy war and martyrdom. It was founded by Shaikh Mahboob Ali in 1983 who died in 2012.
How did the police allow Ali to established DJS and run it with such impunity and publicly stated objective? Couldn't the police have used some law to put locks on the DJS when it was discovered that the boys coming out of it were being traced to militant and extremist activities? Or was it being used by the police to sustain the threat perception about DJS in the public mind and use it whenever there was a need.
According to statements reportedly given by Viquaruddin to police he was extremely disturbed at the police firing on the crowd that had gathered a little away from Mecca Masjid when a bomb exploded on a Friday in May 2007. The firing had claimed five lives. As an act of revenge he started targeting men in uniform and killed two of them--one at Shah Ali Banda and the other in Falaknuma. In the meantime, he had also reportedly committed robbery in Ahmedabad and killed one person there. He had also formed an organisation and called it Ghalba-e-Islami.
When Viquaruddin and his five associates were arrested on July 14, 2010 the entire police force and the common folk breathed a sigh of relief. Though he had stated that he was avenging the death of Muslims, he enjoyed no support from any quarter, including his father, who had said that the law should take its course.
But when Viquaruddin was gunned down by the police who claimed that they shot him and four co-accused when Viquaruddin tried to snatch a rifle there was an upsurge of emotions among the Muslims and all those who believed in the rule of law and due process of justice. All blaming the police for the immensely avoidable killings.
There appears to be a sudden rupture in the relationship between KCR and the Muslims that form 12% of the Telangana population. KCR had nurtured this relationship by saying that he would correct all the wrongs done to them by the previous regimes. The Muslims believed in his words, deserted their traditionally friendly Congress party and voted for him.
In the recently concluded assembly session the observers noticed that the chief minister was going out of the way to acknowledge the contribution of the MIM and accepting the party's demands and suggestions without much hassle. When he visited Jamia Nizamia, a prestigious institution of Islamic learning in Hyderabad, he was given a warm welcome. Wearing the traditional Muslim skull cap, he wowed the audience with his impeccable Deccani and promised to construct an auditorium at the Jamia costing Rs. 9.6 crore.
But on Thursday KCR was in for a shock. MIM President Asaduddin Owaisi who led a delegation of Muslim organisations and scholars reportedly told him bluntly that the people believed that it was he who gave the go ahead for bumping off Viquaruddin and his associates. KCR was flabbergasted and denied the allegation categorically.
Some observers are of the view that such an encounter could not have been staged without forceful nudging from the central government.
At whosoever's instance these extra-judicial killings have been carried out, the incident is sure to have long-term implications on the political situation in the state.
What can be seen as of now are cracks in the partnership between Muslims and the TRS. The killing of home-grown militants who had no links with international terrorist outfits could become a major turning point in the nascent history of Telangana, a state which came into being on the promise of social justice and humane enforcement of law. The dream of a golden Telangana - the contours of which are still being worked out -has been dealt a debilitating blow.
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