MIM, BJP, CPI oppose UT for Hyd

During his interaction, Owaisi is understood to have had a heated argument with the GoM members. He contested the Centre’s decision on bifurcation of the State, which was formed on linguistic basis. On what basis Telangana was being created, he asked.

He said if creation of Telangana was only a case of de-merger, Urdu must be made the first language in Telangana, as was the case in the erstwhile Hyderabad State, where Urdu was the official language and the medium of instruction in schools and in Osmania University. Besides, he pointed out, formation of Telangana would only strengthen the Sangh Parivar. There was no threat to the people of Seemandhra, but there was a serious threat to Muslims and Christians.

Owaisi said he had submitted a supplementary memorandum to the GoM, in which he opposed the State’s bifurcation. If it was a fait accompli, then he favoured Rayala-Telangana. The MIM MP strongly argued for safety and security for Muslims in Telangana.

Muslims in two Rayalaseema districts of Anantapur and Kurnool would feel secure if they were merged in Telangana, he argued. He would not mind if Kadapa and Chittoor were also added to Telangana.

Emerging from the meeting, Owaisi said Hyderabad as joint capital under central control was wholly unacceptable. Handing over of law and order to the Centre was wrong, as it was a State subject, the MP pointed out.

Owaisi ridiculed the idea of Hyderabad as the joint capital, as there no such geographical part, which has its capital in the other State. Border with Seemandhra region was 180 km away from Hyderabad, he pointed out. Ruling out any threat to Seemandhra settlers in Hyderabad, he said when several Defence establishments, like the DRDO, had fool-proof security, how could there be a threat o the Seemandhra people, he asked.

As far as the common capital was concerned, Owaisi said only Khairatabad area should be the given for the purpose and that too only for a temporary period. “We will not accept the Centre’s intervention in the State administration in any manner. It is unconstitutional to take over revenue administration by the Union Government. Asking for sunset laws, he said in defined periods, issues should be resolved. The Andhra Pradesh High Court should also be divided, he said.

The next to meet the GoM, State BJP president G Kishen Reddy said, “We will support the Telangana Bill, but the interests of the Seemandhra region must be kept in mind.” The party stood for Telangana with 10 districts and Hyderabad as the capital. The party always stood for smaller States and would be certainly support Telangana. The party demanded the Centre bring the Telangana Bill in Parliament in its winter session and the BJP, which is the principal Opposition party, will support it. The Centre, he said, should address all issues relating to the State’s bifurcation. The GoM had not spelt out its own position on the 11 issues in the Terms of References. The Centre should first spell out its stand it was only then that the BJP would respond, he said. He rejected UT status or Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority limits for the joint capital. Reddy favoured an early decision by the Centre on the State’s division. Party leader K Haribabu said the Centre should respect the process laid down under Article 3. The BJP-led NDA Government, he recalled, had created three States of Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh without any hitch. When one of the three Chief Ministers said the State could be divided only over his dead body, the Vajpayee Government got him on board and conducted the entire process smoothly.

The third party to meet the GoM was the CPI. State secretary K Narayana said instead of a one-on-one meeting, the Home Ministry should have called an all-party meeting to discuss issues arising from the decision on the State bifurcation.

In a memorandum to GoM, the CPI had demanded an all-party meeting to decide on the issues relating to the division. Narayana said a separate capital must be created for Seemandhra within 10 years. “They can choose between Vijayawada and Ongole for developing as capital cities,” he suggested.