HYDERABAD: While communalism and hatred against minorities has been on the rise in rest of the country, Telangana did not see any communal riots in the last four and a half years, says AIMIM chief, Asaduddin Owaisi.
Reiterating his friendship with the Telangana Rashtra Samiti, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said that he hoped the people of Telangana will bring its supremo Chandrashekar Rao back to power in the upcoming polls.
“Though there have not been any communal riots in the state, people do get affected by what is happening in the rest of the country. Mob lynchings, changing names of cities, have a lasting impact on people,” he said and added that such incidents adversely impacts the Muslim, Dalit community and such people who believe in India’s pluralism.
“If a boy and girl walk together they are not stopped and questioned about their relationship in Telangana. We don’t have that atmosphere here,” he said.
However, he ruled out the possibility of this friendship with KCR extending into that between their parties. “On the ground, there is no such thing as a friendly election, no matter how hard anyone tries. There is an individual aspiration, ambition and ego. It is a contest.”
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Indian Muslims are not radicalised
This, however, has not been able to radicalise the Muslims in India, opined Owaisi. Commenting on the Indians who reportedly wanted to join ISIS and were caught, he said that nearly 70 per cent of them lived abroad where they were radicalised. He is also of a view that the number of such youngsters pegged at 24 was an inflated figure.
“Yes some people wanted to join the organisation but the manner in which police arrested them is not highlighted. The truth is that arrests were made after parents of the youngsters approached the police. In the incident where three boys from Nagpur wanted to go to Syria, it was the parents who alerted CCS,” he said. He further supported the statement by union home minister, Rajnath Singh when he said Muslims in India have not been radicalised and this needs to be taken into consideration.
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Best friends forever?
Setting the record straight, after his brother Akbaruddin expressed a desire to become the CM of Telangana like HD Kumarasamy did in Karnataka, Owaisi said his party or its leaders were not interested in the CM chair. Akbaruddin’s statement had set tongues wagging, causing a friction between TRS and AIMIM. However, Owaisi made it clear that there will be no friendly contest.
AIMIM leaders booked for using drone
The Chaderghat police on Thursday registered cases against AIMIM members for use of drone cameras in capturing the procession of ex-MLA Ahmed Bin Abdullah Balala as he made his way to file nominations for the upcoming polls. According to police, members were booked cases under section 188 disobedience to order by public servant) of IPC.
Congress, TDP like rahu-ketu
Congress and Telugu Desam Party alliance as part of the is like the duo of Raahu and Ketu, Owaisi had said at Rajendranagar. Rahu and Ketu are shadow planets, which are the most “malefic planets” in astrology. He recounted how TDP was founded on a core of the anti-Congress platform. But Naidu and Congress’ Rahul Gandhi announced their alliance.