The Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) party made a forceful plea against Hyderabad being made a common capital under Central control stating that the fears expressed by Seemandhra Union Ministers were a ‘misconception’ and without any logic.
If any part of administration of Hyderabad was taken over by the Centre, it would set a bad precedent. “We urge the GoM to follow the same procedure for Hyderabad as was followed in the case of Madras, Bombay and Shillong,” MIM president Asaduddin Owaisi told the Group of Ministers (GoM), which interacted with the parties from Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday here as part of continuing its process on the division of the State.
Mr. Owaisi made a 27-minute presentation to the GoM which was attended by A.K. Antony, S.K. Shinde, Jairam Ramesh, Ghulam Nabi Azad, M. Veerappa Moily while Finance Minister P. Chidambaram was not present.
The MIM chief opposed the Centre’s move to make Hyderabad a joint capital with powers over law and order, land revenue, urban administration, education and healthcare being vested in the Union Government through the Governor of Telangana State. The concept of Telangana State without any control over the law and order and other key subjects sounded illogical and weird, he told the Ministers.
He suggested a security board with Chief Secretaries, Home Secretaries and DGPs of both States and Union Government representatives to oversee structural adequacy, functional efficiency and integrity of police force in both States.
Nevertheless, he warned that the issue had the potential of generating constant friction between the two States and remarked that Seemandhra leaders would not reconcile to leave Hyderabad even after a specified mutually agreed period. The GoM reportedly asked him about Rayala-Telangana to which the latter said that he stuck to his stand on united AP, but if division was inevitable, Kurnool and Anantapur could be merged with Telangana.
Mr. Owaisi later told the reporters that Khairatabad revenue mandal alone could be considered as jurisdiction of interim working. He wanted communal violence bill to be incorporated in the legislation on division.
He dismissed the argument put forth by the Seemandhra Congress leaders that there was no safety for their people. He said when he had asked Mr. Antony about any threat to defence installations like DRDO and DMRL, the latter had maintained that there was nothing of that sort. When he says there is no threat to DRDO, how can the Seemandhra leaders talk about their people being under constant fear? Mr. Antony denied having submitted a report to the Centre.
