Hyderabad: The Congress party on Friday held protests across Telangana State against the demolition of two mosques and a temple in the Secretariat.
Led by Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) Minorities Department Chairman Shaik Abdullah Sohail, the Congress leaders held demonstrations after Friday prayers. “Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao has committed a heinous crime by ordering the demolition of places of worship in the Secretariat just to satisfy his superstitious beliefs. He has shown utter disrespect to the feelings of not only Muslims and Hindus, but everyone who believes in the religion. He is acting as a ruthless ruler and not as a democratically elected leader,” Abdullah Sohail said while speaking to media persons at Masjid-e-Qutub Shahi, in Hyderabad where he led the protest today.
Abdullah Sohail said that there was no question of accepting the Chief Minister’s offer for having a mosque at a different place in the new Secretariat. “It is part of our religious belief that once a mosque is constructed, then it remains a mosque till Qayamah and no one is authorised or empowered to change its status although it can be expanded to improve facilities or increase capacity. But there is no question of permanently shifting the mosque to any other place,” he said.
The Congress leader said that CM KCR’s apology for the demolition of places of worship was fake and misleading as the State Government has razed the entire Secretariat to the ground without leaving any signs of two mosques and one temple. The Chief Minister tried to give the impression that some damage was caused to places of worship due to the demolition of other structures in the Secretariat. He said that CM KCR has got habituated to cheating the Muslims. “KCR came to power by cheating the Muslims on the promise of giving 12 per cent reservation in jobs and education. He secretly allied with the BJP and supported all decisions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi including the Triple Talaq Bill, National Register of Citizenship (NRC) and Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). He is now trying to cheat the Muslims on the demolition of two mosques in the Secretariat. He is under-estimating the anger of the Muslim community. Our three generations have fought for Babri Masjid for over seven decades. We will wage a legal battle and use all democratic means to ensure the re-construction of both the mosques and one temple at the same place where they existed till July 8,” he said.
Abdullah Sohail also demanded that the Chief Minister clarify on the whereabouts of the copies of Holy Quran, other religious books, Janimaz (prayer mats) and other property belonging to the two mosques. He said that the State Government should clarify whether the mosques were demolished after taking out those holy books or they got mixed in the debris.
He warned that the Congress party would not allow the construction of the Secretariat until the government re-construct both the mosques at the same place. “The construction of Secretariat will not complete in one day or a week. No company or contractor will be able to begin and complete the Secretariat construction until the mosques are re-constructed,” Sohail stated.
He informed that the protests were organised by all DCC Minorities Department leaders across Telangana State. He said that the Adilabad Minorities Department Chairman Sajid Khan, along with other Congress workers, held the protest near a temple demanding re-construction of Secretariat temple at the same place. He announced that the protest would be intensified after Eid-ul-Adha.