Why is Urdu ignored, asks Owaisi

HYDERABAD: AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Thursday raised objections to the lack of representation for Muslims and asked why Urdu, the second language of Telangana, was not getting sufficient funds.

Training his guns on the BRS, the MIM chief said the party would consider contesting elections outside of its traditional base of Hyderabad: “Who is stopping you from contesting from Hyderabad,” he rhetorically asked the BRS leadership. “I will go to Medak, Secunderabad, Kishanganj, Aurangabad. Come and fight us from Chandrayangutta, Malakpet.”

He said there were no advertisements in Urdu on the State Formation Day celebrations. “Urdu Academy got just Rs 101 crore in four years and only Rs 37 crore WAS spent. Our critics would ask me what did you do? where are those who talked of Ganga Jamuna Tehzeeb,” he SAID.

He said the minority welfare department had been given Rs 15,000 crore of which Rs 9,000 crore was spent. The Telangana government should explain why this was so, MIM leader asked.

Of the 20 SPs in the state only one was Muslim. Of the 16 Vice Chancellors, five were from the Velama community, six from the Reddys, two Munnuru Kapus and one each from the Yadavs, SC and ST communities, he said and asked, “Why is there no one from the Muslim community.”

He said the local MLA wanted the Tolichowki police station to be named after Filmnagar which was 5 km away.

He also objected to the protests in Maharashtra saying and pointed to Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavi’s remark of “Aurangazeb ki aulaad.” He asked if Fadnavis knew who were the offspring of Nathuram Godse and Vaman Shivram Apte.

Raising objection to the term love jihad, he challenged the government to come out with some data on it. “The intention of the government is to create riots in Maharashtra. Our unit there was instrumental in saving a temple there and did not allow this to happen there,” Owaisi said.