Former Minister, Shabbir Ali strongly criticised Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao for not including the photos of Muslim freedom fighters in the official advertisement issued by Telangana government for the Independence Day celebrations and sought an apology for the omission.
“The TRS government did not include the picture of any freedom fighter belonging to the Muslim community. Although it is incorrect to identify the freedom fighters, who fought and even laid down their lives for the country's independence based on their religion, we are forced to raise the issue when you selectively omit the pictures of Muslim freedom fighters from the official advertisement published on the occasion of the anniversary of the Quit India Movement,” Mr Shabbir Ali said, adding that even the picture of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was ignored. “During the Quit India movement, Maulana Azad was imprisoned from 1942 to 1945 with other senior leaders of the Congress party,” he said in open letter to the Chief Minister here.
He alleged that the Chief Minister has been targeting the community and all the institutions related to its welfare, including minority colleges, since 2014. Moreover, Mr.Chandrasekhar Rao has not attend a single official function on the birth anniversary of Maulana Azad on November 11, which is also celebrated as the National Education Day, he charged.
Mr Shabbir Ali also claimed that the TRS government has, so far, illegally demolished six mosques in broad daylight and never apologised for the same. The demolition of Masjid-e-Khaja Mahmood in Shamshabad on August 2 is a recent example. The mosque was illegally demolished and following protest by Muslim organisations and other parties, it ordered its reconstruction, he added.
“In the previous Congress government headed by Y.S. Rajashekhar Reddy, I was the Hyderabad in-charge Minister and we had named the Godavari River Water scheme as Maulana Abul Kalam Hyderabad Sujala Saravanthi scheme. However, the KCR government has either changed the name or Maulana Azad’s name is deliberately being avoided,” he said.
