Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) president K. Chandrasekhar Rao has promised political reservation and a quota in education and employment based on population for Muslims in separate Telangana.
Addressing a public meeting organised by Jamaat-e-Islami Hind on the Nizam College grounds here with permission granted by the Andhra Pradesh High Court, Mr. Rao felt Muslims would not be assured of social justice unless they got political reservation.
However, their experience in 53 years of unified State was bitter.
Mr. Rao assured that a special provision in Constitution would be invoked, as was done by Tamil Nadu government, to extend reservation to Muslims in education and employment.
They would get the reservations proportionate to their population which was 13 per cent to 15 per cent in Telangana.
The TRS chief also promised a budget for welfare of Muslims based on their population.
He appealed to the Muslims to shed self-defeatism and assert themselves in separate Telangana.
Earlier, Telugu Desam Party leader Nagam Janardhan Reddy faced an angry crowd demanding that party president N. Chandrababu Naidu spell out his stand on separate Telangana.
Mr. Reddy informed the crowd that it misunderstood Mr. Naidu and said it was with the latter’s permission that 39 MLAs of the party in Telangana joined the movement for Statehood.
The TDP leader also assured that his party would extend political reservations and reservations in education and employment to Muslims in separate Telangana.
Former Home Minister T. Devender Goud wondered if there was a government in the State as organisations wanting to hold meetings did so with court permission every time.
Veteran Congress leader G. Venkatswamy deplored that the contribution of local population for the development of Hyderabad was sought to be snatched by outsiders.
The meeting adopted several resolutions, one of which sought professional, people friendly and law abiding police force in Telangana State. Congress MP Madhu Yaskhi Goud, Telangana Joint Action Committee convener C. Kodandaram and former Minister Basheeruddin Babu Khan also spoke.
