All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, the biggest Muslim political party in Andhra Pradesh has expressed serious reservations over the fate of the Muslim minority in case of the formation of Telangana state.
In its detailed memorandum to the Justice Srikrishna Committee, the MIM has urged the committee to look at the demand for Telangana state from the point of view of the minorities specially the Muslims and expressed apprehensions that justice will not be done to them in a small state.
"MIM is of the view that the relative implications of both these demands (separate Telangana and United AP) need to be considered from the viewpoint of the minorities as well as other disadvantaged sections of society -- Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Backward Classes -- and the linguistic minorities," it said in the memorandum
"Our party is of the considered opinion that, in the ideal situation, the continuance of status quo, that is, united Andhra Pradesh state, is in the overall interest of the minorities. The Muslims have issues and concerns with regard to the demand for separate statehood for Telangana because of apprehensions regarding their safety, security and socio-economic well-being and welfare in a smaller state, more so because of the open hostility of the Bharatiya Janata Party and other constituents of the Sangh Parivar on the one hand and the deep-rooted animosity of the Left parties on the other hand towards them," the party president Asaduddin Owaisi said.
MIM, which has traditionally dominated the politics of Hyderabad and has seven assembly and one Lok Sabha seat in the city, said that the present status of Andhra Pradesh state should be maintained while giving constitutional guarantees to protect the interests of the Telangana region.
But, it said, in case of central government finding formation of Telangana state inevitable, there should be a greater state of Telangana by merging Rayalseema region with Telangana, as both the regions were backward and the greater Telangana should have Hyderabad as the state capital.
At the same time the party has come out openly against the idea of separating Hyderabad from Telangana and making it a union territory, saying historically Hyderabad has been part of Telangana region for centuries, and was a capital.
MIM said that the people and the leaders of the other two regions -- coastal Andhra and Rayalseema region -- have no right to stake a claim on the city as Hyderabad was geographically linked to those regions.
The memorandum, which was submitted by the MIM president and member of Lok Sabha Asaduddin Owaisi, said that the resources of Hyderabad should be utilised for the development of the Greater Telangana or Telangana state.
It also demanded special guarantees and arrangements to safeguard the interests of the minorities specially the Muslims in the new smaller state. MIM wanted that Urdu and Telugu both should be the joint official languages of the new state.
"After the Telugu-speaking Hindu majority, it is the Urdu-speaking Muslim minority that has high stakes in the issue, as it can make or mar their future well-being. Muslims in Andhra Pradesh, as elsewhere in the other states in the country, have serious concerns regarding their physical security, economic well-being, social and cultural cohesion, educational advancement and political empowerment. These concerns cannot be overlooked or under-estimated. They need to be addressed from a larger and long-term perspective."
MIM demanded security of the life and property, employment and business of the minorities as well as the people from the other regions should also be ensured in Telangana state.
Pointing out that injustices were done to the minorities even in big states with required resources, MIM asked 'how they will get their due share in the smaller states with lesser resources?' It also said that in the newly created smaller states, there was no progress in the process of empowerment of minorities.
He said in case of Telangana, no political party has any thing to allay the apprehensions of the religious and linguistic minorities. In this context MIM said that the Muslims cannot trust the BJP or the Left parties. Even the Telangana Rashtra Samithi has proved to be an opportunist, as it did not hesitate to join hands with the BJP.
"MIM is of the view that the separate state of Telangana wil be helpful in BJP's single point agenda of ousting Congress through smaller states and rule them," it said.
On the recurring demand for Telangana state, the MIM said, "It is suffice to point out that the separate Telangana statehood demand over the last one decade has been revived and exploited by all the political parties in the state -- Congress, Telugu Desam Party, Telangana Rashtra Samithi, Bharatiya Janata Party, the two Communist parties and Praja Rajyam Party-- for seeking political gains or electoral dividends. This itself shows that the demand for separate Telangana has more to do with local politics than the perceived feelings of the people of the region. How this issue dominated the 2004 and 2009 general elections (both Lok Sabha and AP Assembly) is well-known."
