Minority netas worried about Muslims’ future in Telangana

By M H Ahssan

Muslim politicians and organisations have emerged as the latest opponents of Telangana cause. Just when it appeared that the road to the creation of the new state had become smoother in the wake of the TDP’s somersault on the issue, the stand taken by Muslim politicians of various hues has complicated matters.

With the buzz about the formation of the new state of Telangana after bifurcating Andhra Pradesh getting louder, a contingent of Muslim leaders of the Congress from Andhra left for the Capital on Wednesday morning to apprise the party leadership about their reservations on the issue.

Citing the recent communal flare-up at Vatoli in Adilabad district, which claimed the lives of six members of a Muslim family, as proof that interests of minorities would not be served well in the proposed state, they have mounted pressure on the Congress brass to come out against bifurcation of the state.

Earlier, the Majlis-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM), which wields enormous clout among Muslims in and around Hyderabad, had gone public with its opposition to the plans on the creation of the new state.

The Congress leaders were spurred into action following reports that the central leadership, which had been pushed on the back-foot on the Telangana proposal after the TDP’s about-turn on the issue, was toying with the idea of giving its green signal to the plan. Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, who had all along opposed the move but appeared to be nursing second thoughts after TDP’s U-turn, had reportedly been summoned twice to the Capital by the party brass for talks on the subject.

Andhra Pradesh goes to polls towards the middle of next year, and the Rajasekhara Reddy government is confronted with a severe anti-incumbency
disadvantage. In his discussions with Congress president Sonia Gandhi here on Monday, Mr Reddy is said to have argued that an assembly resolution agreeing to the proposal for creation of Telangana would go a long way in neutralising this anti-incumbency.

With the TDP’s change of heart, the Congress has now come under tremendous pressure to give up its resistance to the move. With Mr Chandrababu Naidu opening channels of communication with Mr K Chandrasekhara Rao’s TRS for an electoral tie-up in the Telangana region, the ruling party’s prospects have become shaky.

State Muslim leaders feel that by agreeing to the creation of the new state of Telangana, the Congress would be playing into the hands of the BJP, which had been pushing the case vigorously.

MIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, speaking to newspersons earlier this month, had come out openly against the proposal. ``It is not that we are opposed to Telangana per se. If a new state is formed, the tally of seats of our party in elections will go up. But we have to first ensure the safety and welfare of Muslims and other things such as the future of Urdu language. Whether these will be safe in Telangana is the issue,’’ he had argued.

The stand taken by the Muslim leadership has put the Congress brass in a quandary. It risks alienating the community if it goes ahead with the proposal. On the other hand, it faces the prospect of ceding ground to its political opponents, at least in the Telangana region, if it vetoes the move.