HYDERABAD: AIMIM president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plan to appoint non-Muslims on Waqf Boards while only Hindus are allowed to be part of the TTD Board. He also attacked the BRS, once considered a friendly party of AIMIM, accusing it of adopting an inconsistent stand on Musi rejuvenation project.
BRS chief and former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao considered Asaduddin as his best friend. Posing a direct question to BRS, Asaduddin asked why the pink party is shifting its stand on the Musi rejuvenation project
Speaking to media persons at his party office at Darussalam on Saturday, the AIMIM supremo said: “When BRS announced a Musi river development plan, I had asked them not to. Why did they not release water from Gandipet into Musi. Had they done it then water would have filled the tank constructed in Bodagutta. TRS (now BRS) people are like ghadi mein tasha, ghadi mein masha.
They should maintain consistency. In the 2020 GHMC elections, it was only because of the AIMIM support that they (BRS) won more seats. They lost the Assembly elections (2023) due to their own fault. If they had not fielded 24 sitting MLAs in the elections, they would have won. But, you (BRS) paid for your arrogance. If I open my mouth, you (BRS) would face embarrassment.”
The five-time MP said that it was time the pink party introspected on its electoral failure.
“You (BRS) people are the ones to start this plague. You started the whole planning (of Musi development). Today also, we are saying that you (the present government) are most welcome if you want to work without demolishing the houses.”
Centre shouldn’t interfere in Waqf affairs, says Owaisi
Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Owaisi asserted that while the recently appointed chairman of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) announced the Hindu staff-only policy in Tirumala, the NDA government at the Centre wants to induct non-Muslims into Waqf boards.
The remarks came in the wake of TTD chairman BR Naidu’s statement on October 31, asserting that all staff at the temple, dedicated to Lord Venkateswara, should be Hindus. He questioned why Modi is making a non-Muslim, a member of the Waqf Board.
“There is not a single non-Hindu among the 24 members of the TTD Board. TTD chairman is saying that employees should also be from Hindu religion. Even Kashi Vishwanath Board insists that all officials should be from Hindu religion. Many states, including Telangana, Odisha and Tamil Nadu, have made it clear that if any official (commissioner or assistant commissioner) changed their religion and became a non-Hindu, they would be removed from the board. If you are only focusing on your religion, we don’t have a problem, but why are you interfere in ours? Why is Modi making non-Muslims members of Waqf Board?,” the Hyderabad MP questioned.
Demanding parity, he added, “TTD is a board for the Hindu religion and Waqf Board the Muslim religion. In the Central Waqf Council, you are saying that a minimum of two members will be non-Muslims and later the number might be increased to 12. This means that the majority of members in the Central Waqf Council will be non-Muslims and non-Muslims will be there in the State Waqf Council too. When the trustees of TTD cannot be Muslims, how can a non-Muslim be a member of the Waqf Board?”
Owaisi further alleged that the Union government was hell bent on destroying the Waqf Board through the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, five years after taking over its management.
Owaisi backed the recent call of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu chief ministers, N Chandrababu Naidu and MK Stalin, respectively, to people to have more children. He wondered whether the people from southern states made a mistake by maintaining less population over the years.
“If people in the south have maintained less population over the years, then instead of rewarding us, you are reducing our seats. Already, the south has limited power in Indian politics. What kind of justice is it to punish the states with less population by reducing their representation in legislative bodies and reward those with higher population by increasing their seats in parliament?” he asked.