Union Minister warns of chaos, holds Congress responsible for potential law and order disturbances
Hyderabad: The meeting is scheduled by AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi and the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) at Darussalam on Saturday was a Congress-sponsored programme aimed at triggering unrest, alleged Union minister of state Bandi Sanjay Kumar on Friday. He warned that the state could slip into chaos, akin to Murshidabad and parts of West Bengal, and held the Congress government accountable for any such eventuality.
Addressing a press conference here, the minister claimed that protests under the guise of opposing the Waqf Act were part of a larger conspiracy to create law and order disturbances.
Citing official figures, he said that of the 77,000 acres of Waqf land in Telangana, only 16,000 acres — about 20 per cent — was under the control of dargahs and masjids. “Who controls the rest,” he questioned, alleging that the Owaisi brothers had encroached upon vast stretches of Waqf land to run hospitals, schools and offices, denying poor Muslims their rightful share.
He challenged the government to release a white paper detailing Waqf income, its utilisation and whether it reached the poor and Pasmanda Muslim communities. “Waqf lands in Telangana are worth over Rs 5 lakh crore, but there’s no transparency on how much revenue is earned or spent,” he complained.
More than 4,000 Waqf-related cases are pending in various courts, Sanjay said, accusing the Waqf Board of intentionally delaying proceedings by not filing counters. He blamed the previous BRS regime’s Dharani portal for changes in ownership titles over thousands of acres of Waqf land.
Defending the investigation into the National Herald case, he said the conspiracy to acquire the paper’s assets through the Young India Trust was uncovered in 2012, long before the BJP came to power at the Centre. “The court issued notices in 2013 and ordered a CBI probe. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are the accused in the case and are out on bail,” he said.
Sanjay said more than 5,000 freedom fighters and Congress workers were stakeholders in the National Herald, and questioned why Congress leaders were protesting outside the Enforcement Directorate office instead of Sonia Gandhi’s residence. “How is the BJP responsible for court-ordered action,” he asked.
He also criticised former Congress MP Anjan Kumar Yadav and others for using abusive language against BJP leaders during recent protests and questioned attempts to link BJP leaders, including Union minister G. Kishan Reddy, to what he called an independent judicial process.
