Telangana Muslims back Separate Statehood; but MIM Keeps Quiet

Even as the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, the Muslim political party with tremendous clout in Hyderabad, still keeping its cards on Telangana issue close to its chest, several other Muslim organisations have become active in support of the Telangana state.

Though Muslims in Hyderabad's old city, the bastions of the MIM are largely silent and aloof from the one month long agitation for Telangana state, the minority community members were participating in large numbers in protests and processions in other nine Telangana districts.


As the well established organisations like Jamat-e-Islami have declared their full support to Telangana on the grounds that smaller states will be helpful in providing good governance, several other Muslim groups like Muslim Forum for Telangana and Telangana Muslim Front have also come up to spearhead the movement.

The issue of Muslim participation in Telangana movement has always been sensitive and crucial as they constitute nearly 20 per cent of the four crore population of the region and were mostly concentrated in Hyderabad and other urban centers like Nizamabad, Kamareddy, Warangal, Karimnagar, Adilabad and Nalgonda.

Abdul Rahman Al Attas, the former Telangana Rashtra Samithi member of Legislative Council sought to dispel the impression that Muslims as a community were opposed to Telangana state.

"This is untrue. Muslims like the other people of Telangana region want Telangana state as their rights will be more secure and they will get back their due share in government jobs," he said.

He said that a Muslim Minority Joint Action Committee on Telangana was leaving for New Delhi on Saturday to meet Union home minister P Chidambaram , finance minister Pranab Mukherji and other senior leaders to spell out the stand of Muslims in favour of Telangana.

The MIM, which has one seat in Lok Sabha and seven in the state assembly, is among the eight recognised political parties of the state invited for the January 5 talks by the Central government. "We will not come out with our stand in the very first meeting as it will be a prolonged process," said the MIM president and Member of Parliament Asaduddin Owaisi .


Even as nearly 90 legislators of different political parties in Telangana region announced their resignations to mount pressure on the Central government to form the state, MIM has kept silent and the party has made no such announcement.

MIM has traditionally been opposed to the division of Andhra Pradesh and formation of Telangana state on the ground that separate Telangana state will be more fertile ground for the Bharatiya Janata Party and other 'communal forces' and the people from Andhra and Raayalseema regions were 'more secular' than those of Telangana.

"If Telangana is formed, politically it will be beneficial for my party as it can win 15 to 20 seats in a 119 member assembly. But we are not looking at the issue from the angle of political benefit. We feel that it will not be in the interest of Muslim minority. BJP can never think of coming to power in an integrated Andhra Pradesh but they will have a chance in separate Telangana," Owaisi had said a few months ago.

"We are neither for Telangana state nor for a united Andhra Pradesh. We are just saying that when they sit for discussion to decide the fate of the state, MIM should have chair at the table and Muslims as a stakeholders should be heard," he had said.

But with the mounting pressure on the Central government from pro-Telangana forces and inclination in the Centre to positively consider the demand, the MIM is a bit worried about the future.

Jamat-e-Islami Hind's Amir chief of Andhra Pradesh Malik Moatasim Khan declaring Jamat's support to Telangana movement dismissed the fear of communal forces becoming communally strong and said that the communal forces were present all over the country and Jamat along with other forces will fight against them.


"The issue now is not that of creating political consensus on formation of Telangana. But now the time has come to think of the development of the Telangana state," he said, adding that the Central government does not have any option but to form Telangana state.

Movement for Peace and Justice, another active organisation, has come out in its support and said Telangana state should be formed on the basis of justice.

Sources: Rediff.com

BJP to Raise Telangana Issue In Parliament

Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Prakash Javadekar and Pushpdan Gadhavi have bagged time to push for the creation of Telangana -- in the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha respectively -- during the fortnight-long Parliament session beginning on Thursday.

Javadekar is a Member of Parliament from Maharashtra and Gadhavi from Gujarat.

Javadekar, whose resolution is listed for February 20, told reporters that he was only pursuing his party's line to fight for Telangana. It will also figure in the BJP's manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls, he affirmed.

When media persons pointed out that the BJP had not made any efforts to create Telangana during the five-year tenure of the National Democratic Alliance, Javadekar quipped that the 1999 party manifesto had promised the creation of three states, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand, and the party had kept its promise.

Looks like BJP is the only party that is serious on getting a separate state of Telangana.

Sources: Rediff.com

Congress Ditching Telangana

After going through the news reports past couple of days, it looks like the more than 100 year old Congress Party is shying away in implementing what it stated in its manifesto - a Second State Re-Organization Commission (SRC) which will decide on the separate statehood for Telangana.


The Congress, which is ruling now, took the support of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) in the previous elections saying that they are in support for a separate Telangana state and won the elections. The opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP), which was in power at that time was dead against separate state. Now, with the elections just couple of months away, the parties have taken completely opposite stand.

The TDP, which is in opposition is now supporting Telangana while the Congress Party which is ruling the state is against Telangana.


Looks like these two major political parties are taking the aspirations of the 3 Crore Telangana people for a ride. These two Political parties have got habituated in going against what they have pledged during the election campaigns. At the sametime, Telanganites have got used to getting ditched by their own politicians whom they elected.

For the sake of getting Ministries in the Central and State Governments, the TRS also didn't take up the Telangana issue vigorously. They sat on the issue and now with elections very nearby, they are again taking up the issue seriously - once again to take the people for a ride.


All these political parties should be taught a lesson. Unless they come out with a timeline for a separate Telangana, we should not vote to these parties.

The Bharatiya Janata Party had already stated that once they are in power in the central government, they would give Telangana within 6 months. During the earlier BJP rule, they carved our states like Uttaranchal, Jharkhand and Chattisgarh and proved that they would stick to their word. The BJP had already passed a resolution for separate Telangana state in their once in a year meetings. Other parties have still not passed such a resolution in their own meetings.

Before we go for voting, we got to make sure to vote to those parties which stick to their word.

Congress Ditching Telangana

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Y.S.Rajasekhar Reddy is trying the show off that he is a Master strategist. During the previous assembly elections, he had an understanding with Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and fought the elections and won the elections. One of the agendas is creation of a separate Telangana - albeit through a second State Re-Organization Committee.(SRC)

Second SRC never came nor any commitment for a separate state. Looks like those who are in power never want to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh. The earlier Telugu Desam Party(TDP) refused the separation point blank and now the same party has ditched its stance and supports a separate state.

Important Political Parties For Telangana:

* Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
* Communist Party of India (CPI)
* Telugu Desam Party (TDP)
* Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS)
* Nava Telangana Praja Party - belonging to Devender Goud who split from TDP

Important Political Parties Against Telangana:

* Congress Party
* Communist Party of India (Marxists)
* Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM)

Important Political Parties Who are Neutral or not yet taken a decision:

* Loksatta Party
* Praja Rajyam - belongs to the film actor, Chiranjeevi

Each party has its own stance on the Telangana issue. BJP was the first political party to take a right decision regarding the separation while others jumped into the fray due to other political reasons.

Two days back, the Chief Minister went to New Delhi for a Congress core committee meeting on Telangana issue. He informed the party chief, Sonia Gandhi that Congress is on a strong footing on Telangana. Looks like YSR is day dreaming. The day he says that he is against Telangana, Congress would be routed in entire Telangana region where TDP and TRS have a good following.


YSR is taking the party high command for a ride and he is going to drown the party along with him. When he was in a meeting, he ensured that all the Muslim MP's, MLA's and MLC's from Congress campaign against Telangana.

There is lot of similarity between YSR and Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Jinnah fought for a separate Pakistan saying that Muslims would never be safe in Hindu India. Now, YSR is projecting the same.

Hindu Suicide Squads ?? Ridiculous !!

Now, here is a person who needs to be immediately put inside a mental rehabilitation center. But after second thoughts, he might become risky for the patients inside the center. Maybe he has to be incarcerated in the infamous Andaman Jail or we need to ask the Americans to host him at the Guantanamo Bay Jail.

The person I am talking about is none other than Bal Thackeray, the Head of Maharashtra based Shiv Sena party. While the entire world is fighting against terrorism, here comes an insane person who is advocating terrorism and that too from Hindus. This is Joke of the Century!! Okay......I agree to become a member of suicide squad but on one condition - Bal Thackeray be the first Hindu Jihadi!! Let him attain "Moksha" by dying for the religion, then I would think it over. I dont understand why people like him and Mohammad Bukhari (Chief Priest at New Delhi's Jama Masjid) are widely tolerated. Being a Democracy, our hands are tied up. We can only get rid of them by politically decimating them.

While the entire world is becoming one through globalization, here is a person who is inculcating hatred between religions. No doubt, Islamic Terrorism has to be suppressed but this is not the right way. You would only end up creating a monster to kill another monster. There are laws in this country to tackle such issues. I hope Thackeray will get back to senses and realize his folly.

Shiv Sena is a political party established by Bal Thackeray to fight for the rights of Maharashtrians as they feel that people from other states have settled in Maharashtra and taking away the jobs of Maharashtrians. Initially, these people are mostly from Tamilnadu and now, from Bihar too.

But, every Indian has the right to choose his / her place of living in the country. This right was given by the Constitution. IF your political party has the power, try to change the Constitution. Sincerely, the Supreme Court would not allow such a thing to happen. People like Bal Thackeray are more dangerous than our known enemies like Pakistanis and Chinese.

Good to note that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), an ally of Shiv Sena advised Bal Thackeray to behave responsibly.

Shocking By-Election Results

The by-elections to 18 Andhra Pradesh State Assembly seats (MLA Seats) and 4 Loksabha seats (MP Seats)have given a shocking thumbs down to the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS). The by-elections are conducted after 16 TRS MLA's and 4 MP's resigned to put pressure on the Government for a separate Telangana State to be carved out of Andhra Pradesh. At two other places elections were held as the sitting MLA's died. One of them is Khairatabad in Hyderabad where I voted.

TRS could retain only 7 Assembly Seats and 2 Loksabha Seats while the Congress Party won 6 Assembly Seats and 1 Loksabha Seat while the opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) which supports a united Andhra Pradesh won in as many as 5 Assembly Seats and 1 Loksabha Seat.


TRS was pushed to a corner on Telangana issue as Congress Party was not implementing what it promised in the earlier elections. Congress came to power taking help of TRS in the Telangana region thus indirectly supporting separate Telangana. As the Congress party strengthened, it started to distance itself from TRS forcing the TRS to pull out of the Government and eventually resigning to put pressure. TRS was almost synonymous with the Telangana issue. With this shocking defeat, opponents of Telangana State started asking whether the demand is valid as people are not supporting it.

Because of TRS, the separate Telangana State issue came out of the dust and forced all the political parties to take stand on the issue - either for or against the separate state. This is something good which came out of TRS. The main problem with TRS is their loose tongued leaders. From the party president down to all the levels of the party cadre are loose tongued, use filthy words and are known drunkards. Except for a couple of leaders like Harish Rao, others dont stand good in public scrutiny. This has given a very bad image of Telangana itself and people outside Telangana started thinking whether this is the culture of Telangana - using filthy words and drinking.

People from Telangana itself have understood that they have been taken for a ride by TRS and thus started opting for such parties like TDP, which are known well about their policy for a United Andhra Pradesh (Samaikya Andhra Pradesh). This has reflected in the dwindling vote share of TRS past couple of elections. I strongly believe TRS would be wiped out of the map in the general and state elections slated next year.


So, is separate Telangana State issue a closed chapter ?? I dont think so !! Even though people have opted for other parties, separate Telangana State is an issue which is something close to the hearts of people. TRS has to work hard to regain its lost glory. They have to come closer to all sections (Telanganas and Andhras who have settled in Telangana areas) of people and most importantly strive for the development of their constituencies. TRS has not got entire right on Telangana but TRS has the credit of taking the issue to the national stage. Atleast for that purpose, we need to credit TRS !!

Another factor that played in this elections is the role of new political party, Lok Satta. This was started by a former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) Officer. Lok Satta was initially started as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) and then transformed into a political outfit whose aim is clean politics where there is no place for corruption, nepotism and all the other ills of politics. Their aims look great but is it possible in India where political parties are spending hundreds of Millions just for the sake of a single assembly seat ? Practically Impossible !!
I voted to them because of There Is No Alternative (TINA) factor. Iam a traditional Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supporter and since BJP didnt contest in Khairatabad, and since Iam a traditional anti-Congress supporter, I had no option but vote to Lok Satta.

Lok Satta played a destabilizing role in the Musheerabad Assembly constituency in Hyderabad where BJP candidate, Dr.Lakshman was pitted against a old Congress lady. BJP chances weakened as the Congress used money and muscle power as BJP stood no chance against their power. But Lakshman fought hard and was leading in many rounds of vote counting. What tilted the balance is the 5000 odd votes Lok Satta got denting traditional BJP vote bank - the educated !! End of the day, BJP lost the elections by a very low margin on 2000 odd votes.

This comes back to the point "Is there a necessity for so many political parties?". In a democracy like ours, such questions are not answered nor asked!!