Revanth’s remarks on minority students, Old City power theft draw flak

Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has drawn strong backlash on social media over a remark about minority students, claiming that they can reassemble a Rafale fighter aircraft but “forget lessons from books”.

Speaking at the Minorities Excellence Summit at Adivasi Bhavan in Banjara Hills on Thursday, August 13, Reddy said children from minority communities were “skilled labourers”, who are capable of learning through practical experience rather than from books.

“Students from the minority institutions can reassemble a Rafale fighter if they are asked to. However, they forget lessons from books,” Reddy said.

His remarks have left minorities taken aback, with several questioning the logic behind it. The Rafale, a high grade militiary aircraft, requires specialised technical knowledge to assemble, making his claim ridiculous that students could potentially reassemble one while being unable to retain what they learn from books.

Several social media users have criticised the Chief Minister’s remarks, questioning his intent in making a sweeping characterisation of minority students at an event meant to celebrate their excellence. Several statements from Reddy’s event appeared to stem from stereotypes, typically propagated by the right wing, portraying the community as more suitable for manual work over academics.

His remarks have become a subject of ridicule and outrage on social media, with users questioning how a Chief Minister could make generalisations about the educational abilities of an entire community.

Further, they have stirred a row as they were delivered while addressing candidates who had worked to qualify for competitive examinations, drawing criticism over what can be termed not only as a poor choice of words but an insult to the students whose achievements the event was intended to recognise.

‘Minorities benefited most’ from free power

Reddy made another controversial claim while speaking about the Congress government’s Gruha Jyothi scheme, which provides free electricity up to 200 units to eligible households.

While stating that electricity theft was an issue in the Old City and that allegations of residents failing to pay electricity bills had sparked concerns and discussions in the State Assembly, he proudly claimed that minorities in the area were benefiting the most from the free electricity scheme. The awkward placement of his government’s personal achievement, implying that the minority community of the Old City were now being provided free electricity instead of stealing it, has also drawn flak. “Today I can proudly say that the free electricity scheme benefited people from the minorities the most,” he said.

The combination of the two statements, portraying minority students through a stereotype on their academic abilities and discussing free electricity while addressing allegations of theft, has led to backlash against the Chief Minister’s comments.

Reddy turns minority summit into political attack

Reddy also used the summit to defend the Congress government’s record on Muslim reservation and attack the BJP and the former BRS government.

He said Congress had treated Hindus and Muslims as “two eyes” of the government and referred to the four per cent reservation provided to Muslims during YS Rajasekhar Reddy’s tenure in the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh.

Reddy claimed the Congress government faced opposition over the reservation and approached the High Court and Supreme Court to defend it.

Referring to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit to Chevella, Reddy alleged that Shah had said the BJP would scrap Muslim reservation if it came to power. He said secular forces would work to prevent such a move as long as Congress remained active in India.

Reddy raises SIR concerns

Reddy also spoke about the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, alleging that opposition parties were attempting to delete lakhs of voters in Telangana ahead of the next Assembly elections.

He referred to the voter-roll exercise in West Bengal and urged people to ensure that the names of all eligible voters remain on the electoral rolls.

Reddy also alleged that “political forces in Gujarat” had turned their attention towards Telangana.

But it was his comments about minority students that dominated the discussion around the summit.