On Telangana Formation Day activists and individuals recalled the role of Muslim organisations and their demand for separate statehood.
Mohammed Ziauddin Nayyar, president, Majlis-e-Tameer-e-Millat, pointed out that several members of the socio-religious organisation had immersed themselves in the movement. Some of them wrote poetry during the movement, he said, and pointed out that the organisation was also proactive during the Telangana Agitation of 1969.
“The Tameer-e-Millat was formed given the socio-economic conditions of the Muslim community in Independent India and Syed Khaleelullah Hussaini from this organisation was a tall leader. The then general secretary Mir Laiq Ali Khan was very active in the movement for a separate State. There were several members of Tameer-e-Millat who were imprisoned. There was Yusuf Rahamtullah who too was an important figure,” Mr Nayyar said.
Mr Nayyar expressed his disappointment that the new generation is not aware of how the organisation took part in the struggle.
The Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, also a socio-religious organisation, voiced its support for the creation of Telangana, a senior member said. Between 2007 and 2008, the organisation started to actively support the formation of Telangana.
‘“We had formed a committee with the current president of our jamaat as its head. This committee studied deeply the issues faced by the Telangana region. I must stress that this was not looked at as a Muslim issue, but as a socio-economic issue and that of backwardness. We looked at the deprivation using data and reports. We then gave our support to the formation of the State,” he said, adding that it also had to allay the concerns of the members of the organisation who were from Andhra and Rayalseema. “We had to reach out to them and explain why we took the decision.”
In February 2010, the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind organised a Telangana Garjana at the Nizam College Grounds which proved to be successful. “The number of people who attended was massive. The message that went across was that Muslims cared about the region,” a member of organisation said.
