Abid Rasool Khan accuses Congress of betraying Muslims over Qabrastan row

Abid Rasool Khan, former Chairman of the State Minorities Commission, has accused the Congress government of mishandling the allocation of burial ground land for Muslims in Jubilee Hills.

Hyderabad: Former Chairman of the State Minorities Commission, Abid Rasool Khan rebuked the Congress government for playing with sentiments of Muslims of Jubilee Hills constituency on the pretext of allocating land for Muslim burial grounds (Qabrastan).

Muslims in theJubilee Hills constituency have been demanding land for a burial ground for a long time, he pointed out, adding that to appease the community, land near Masjid Ghairabad, Shaikpet mandal was hurriedly allotted by the order of Waqf Board signed by the unauthorised officer.

---

“The official Mohammed Safiullah, is not authorised to sign such orders. Moreover, no homework was done before making the allotment, as the military authorities have taken over the land claiming it belongs to defence establishments,” said Abid Rasool Khan.

He said to cover up the failure at Shaikpet, another Waqf land in Erragadda was handed over, to which the local residents, especially non-Muslim community, raised strong objections citing security concerns.

“If the government was keen to help the Muslim community, they should have allotted government land out of the three lands identified by the locals and submitted to the authorities,” he said.

On the selection of MLC candidates under Governor’s quota, he said the Congress is cheating Muslims by denying Mohammed Azharuddin an opportunity to contest in Jubilee Hills elections and represent the community in assembly. Instead, Congress announced him as an MLC knowing very well the Telangana Governor would not approve it, as Azharuddin is a politician and was a Member of Parliament from Moradabad, and does not qualify under sports quota.

Abid Rasool Khan demanded that the Congress government act in a fair and transparent manner to empower the Muslim minority, especially by fulfilling the promises made by the party and its leader Rahul Gandhi in form of “Muslim Declaration”.