ADILABAD: Leaders of the JAC of various Telangana Muslim organisations are touring various districts to gather support for their ‘Muslim Declaration-2023’, styled as an agenda for Muslim's socio-economic and political development.
Their slogan, 'Hame Iftar Nahi Chahiye… Rojgar Chahiye', drew widespread attention in districts where the Muslim population is prominent.
The JAC members are trying to expose the double standards of political parties vis-a-vis their welfare and development. The JAC is mounting pressure on the political parties to include their demands in their election manifestos for the upcoming elections and implement these when they come to power.
The JAC comprises Muslim intellectuals, academicians, activists and prominent writers.
Nearly 20 Muslim leaders attended a round-table meeting in Hyderabad on June 25 and discussed the problems faced by the community, the failures of the political parties and on how to empower Muslims in all fields of human endeavour.
The JAC leaders say political parties and governments are looking at Muslims as a vote bank even as the community commands a population strength of over 13 per cent in Telangana. Muslims can influence the assembly election results in 40 constituencies, they say.
The Justice Sachar Commission and the Ranganath Mishra Commission at the national level and the Sudheer Commission in Telangana reported about the backwardness of Muslims. The JAC now wants the political parties to implement these commissions’ recommendations.
State general secretary of the Telangana Muslim Welfare Organisation said the state government should give relaxation in rules to Muslim-educated youths in the recruitment of teacher posts in the Urdu schools in the Agency areas in Mancherial, Adilabad and Komaram Bheem districts.
Urdu teacher posts were lying vacant for many years due to non-availability of the tribal youths with Urdu qualifications and training.
Syed Saleem Pasha, convener of the JAC, opined that just running Gurukulas for minority students in rented buildings without permanent teaching and non-teaching staff will not give the desired results.
Co-convener of the JAC of Telangana Muslim Organisations and prominent writer Sky Baba (Sheik Yousuf Baba) said the state government recently started sanctioning Rs 1 lakh financial assistance with full subsidy to Muslim youths for their employment after their organisation raised the issue and exposed that nearly 2.16 lakh fresh applications were pending with the Minority Corporation for financial assistance for the last six months
Prof (retired) Md Ansari, state president of the Minorities Rights Protection Association, said they were creating awareness among the Muslims about their rights, explaining the prevailing political situation and asking them to take the right decision while exercising their vote in the next elections.
The demands include:
1. Allocation of 10 MLA seats each in one erstwhile district and priority to Muslim leaders in nominated posts
2. Provide a hike in the reservations to 10-12 percent from the exiting 4 to the backward Muslim Minorities in education and employment
3. Allocation of Rs 10,000 crore for the welfare and development of Muslims and put the allocations under the green channel and utilise the total funds
4. Constituting Commissionerate with judicial powers for the Wakf Board
5. Construction of permanent buildings for Muslim minority residential schools and recruiting teaching and non-teaching posts in these schools, and upgrading them to degree and post-graduation colleges
6. Encourage and give priority to Urdu, the second official language of Telangana
7. A Rs 10 lakh assistance with a total subsidy to each poor Muslim family for employment under the ‘Muslim Empowerment scheme’
8. The declaration appealed the all the political parties to announce that they will not implement NRC and CAA Legislations in Telangana
9. Include the ‘Mehtar’ (Valmiki) community (Manual scavenging community) which is logging behind on various accounts into the Scheduled caste’s list since the community was included in the list of BC-B without their knowledge in 2006
10. Allocation of 2BHK to Muslims as per their population in the state
11. Stop using funds from the Minority Welfare Department for Iftar Dhawath for Muslims on the occasion of Ramzan instead use the CM's special funds for the same
