Muslim chiefs not keen on K Chandrashekar Rao’s iftar party

Hyderabad: Muslim religious leaders are reluctant to attend the Iftar party hosted by Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao as a large section of the community is enraged over the demolition of the mosque in Amberpet.

The Chief Minister is hosting the Iftar party in the Lal Bahadur Stadium on June 2, formation day of Telangana.

There is a campaign on social media to boycott the Iftar parties hosted either by the leaders of the ruling TRS party or the government, to express the anger of the community.

They are also scoffing at those who are attending the Iftar by asking how many are ready to break the fast with dates from the hands of the Chief Minister who has maintained silence on the demolition of the mosque.

The All India Sufi Ulema Council, which had earlier called for a boycott of the Iftar hosted by the government, has now changed its stand and has asked all invitees to attend and express their feelings over the demolition of the mosque.

Some theologians said they have no interest in attending the Royal Iftaar as this leads to impiousness; others said they are worried that people will show their resentment against those who feel pride in attending such Iftars.

S A Hussaini of Mehdipatnam said he is contemplating attending the Iftaar hosted by the Chief Minister to publicly ask him about his stand on the demolition of the mosque in Amberpet. He said “Seeking justice and raising questions before our Chief Minister is not a crime and it is a democratic right. I want to just highlight the issue, so that he can take appropriate action.”

Arshad Hussain said it is not fair to spend a huge amount of public money in hosting Iftaar parties. The accrued expenses are being borne from funds meant for Minorities’ Welfare. If Mr Rao is fond of hosting such gatherings he has the liberty to do so under the banner of his party.

The officials are worried about possible protests outside the venue. At a review meeting the police was told to ensure foolproof security arrangements. Home Minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali convened a meeting on Friday at his official residence to discuss how to tackle the situation in case the protests go out of hand.