DC Correspondent
Hyderabad: The new Secretariat complex coming up in Hyderabad will have a temple, two mosques and a church. The temple and two mosques are meant to be like-for-like atonements for religious emotions hurt by the razing of religious structures within the old Secretariat complex two months ago. A church has been added to make Christians happy as well.
This, chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao told a Muslim delegation that called on him on Saturday to press their case for mosques in the new Secretariat, is what the Ganga Jamuna tehzeeb is all about: give every religion what it wants.
The delegation was led by home minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali and included All-India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi.
The delegation was told that the foundation stone for the three religious structures would be laid down, by the chief minister himself, on one day after the monsoon session of the Telangana Assembly is done with.
The two mosques would be reconstructed at the same place where they stood before the demolition.
All expenses will be borne by the Telangana tax-payer.
The chief minister proclaimed, “Telangana is a symbol of Ganga Jamuna Tehzeeb. Hence, new places of worship will be constructed in the new Secretariat for all religions.”
The temple will be built over 1,500 square yards of land and the mosques of 750 square yards each with imam’s quarters as an annexe. After construction, they will be handed over to the Enowments Department and the Wakf Board respectively.
Chandrashekar Rao gave several other assurances to the Muslim delegation. One was that funds will be released to finish the construction of a Muslim orphanage, the Anees-ul-Gurbah. It’s 80 per cent built and the rest of the work will be speeded up.
Similarly, construction of the proposed Islamic Centre, delayed due to COVID-19, will now be speeded up.
The chief minister also promised to allot land for new burial places for the Muslim community in Hyderabad. Some 150-200 acres of land woul be allocated to these burial places, and the district collectors of Ranga Reddy and Medchal Malkajgiri have been told to find such land.
