NRI elections in Sharjah again display denial of Telangana’s share

Dubai: The latest election results of a prominent Indian community organization in the United Arab Emirates once again proved continued denial of representation of the vast majority of the Indian community other than from Kerala. All Malayalis were elected to 14 positions of the management committee that went to poll last week. 1330 out of […]

Dubai: The latest election results of a prominent Indian community organization in the United Arab Emirates once again proved continued denial of representation of the vast majority of the Indian community other than from Kerala.

All Malayalis were elected to 14 positions of the management committee that went to poll last week. 1330 out of the total 2552 members cast their votes in the polls.

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There is a long standing complaint from Telugu speaking expats and also from NRIs of other states that the association is not admitting new members and preventing entry of non-Malayali people. The Association was established with the aim of helping the community come together on a single platform and voice their concerns to the local authorities. Over the years, however, it has been a victim of internal politics and groupism of various Malayali factions.

The half century old Indian Association of Dubai in neighbouring Dubai also embolden similar controversies.

The Telugu speaking NRIs in general and those from Telangana in particular, are the second largest block after Malayalis, in the United Arab Emirates. But they are denied their due share in affairs of Indian Association of Sharjah. which is one of the vital emirates in the UAE where the Telangana community is concentrated.

The election campaign ran similar to Kerala elections and Congress NRI leader Y.A. Raheem of pro-UDF won the president post. A known figure among Telugu NRIs in the emirate, Raheem is also known as advocate Raheem and is elected as president for fourteenth time.

TV Nazir is elected as general secretary and Mathew John as vice president and TK Srikanth as treasurer, all these belong to the panel of Raheem. Prateesh Chithara, M. Harilal and Abdulmanaf of LDF panel were also elected to the committee. However, Pro BJP camp Vijaya Nair was defeated in the polls. The half-a-century old Indian Association of Dubai also embolden similar controversies.

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