Hyderabad, February 20: Former minister and ex-Leader of Opposition in Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir has accused Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao of misleading the people with his dual stand on contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Population Register (NPR) and National Register of Citizens (NRC).
Addressing a press conference at Gandhi Bhavan on Thursday, Shabbir Ali pointed out that KCR never announced that CAA, NPR and NRC would not be implemented in Telangana. He said that the CAB was passed in the Parliament on December 11, 2019, and TRS MPs voted against it, but KCR spoke about it only after about 45 days on January 25. “As the ruling party in Telangana, TRS cannot simply say that it opposes the controversial law. KCR must specifically say that CAA will not be implemented in Telangana as it was done by other states including Kerala, Punjab, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh,” he said.
Shabbir Ali also pointed out the State Cabinet only appealed to the Centre to abrogate CAA and did not take the decision of not implementing it in Telangana. The Cabinet briefing, as shared by the CMO with the media through a press release on February 16 says, “The State Cabinet appealed to the Union Government, not to discriminate on the basis of religion for according Indian Citizenship. It requested that all religions must be treated as equal before the law. Cabinet further requested the Central Government to take measures to abrogate the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 which will lead to discrimination on the basis of religion while granting citizenship and thereby jeopardising secularism envisaged in the constitution. Cabinet decided to pass a resolution to this effect in the State Assembly the way Kerala, Punjab, Rajasthan, and West Bengal states did.”
The Congress leader alleged that KCR was trying to sail in two boats at once. The Chief Minister wants to keep Prime Minister Narender Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah happy by not taking a tough and clear against CAA while he is also trying to cheat Muslims by giving misleading statements. He also accused MIM President Asaduddin Owaisi of acting as a shield to KCR’s dual stand on CAA. “Following nationwide protest against CAA, Asaduddin Owaisi took a delegation of Muslim religious leaders to KCR on December 25. After the meeting at Pragathi Bhavan, Owaisi addressed the media and claimed that KCR would be making a big announcement in two days. But KCR did not speak a word on the issue till January 25, when results of local bodies elections were declared,” he said.
He appealed to the religious leaders who were part of the delegation to stage a dharna at Pragathi Bhavan against KCR who did not keep his promise made with them.
Shabbir Ali said TRS Government has been suppressing all agitations against CAA in Hyderabad and other parts of Telangana. “Telangana Police gave permission to RSS to hold a rally and meeting in Saroornagar. Various pro-CAA meetings were allowed including a meeting at Quli Qutub Shah Stadium. But no meeting or protest was permitted against CAA. The organizers were forced to seek High Court’s intervention to organize Million March and despite HC’s nod, Telangana Police is not permitting women to organize a protest against CAA. So far, more than 1,000 cases have been against those participated in anti-CAA protests. People are able to protest in some BJP-ruled States, but KCR Govt is not allowing any kind of protest,” he alleged.
The Congress leader also alleged that TRS Government has already initiated the process for implementation of NPR in Telangana. “On February 11, a notification has been issued by the Telangana Government for collecting routine information through house-listing and housing census in connection with the Census 2021. Though there is no mention of NPR in the notification, it has triggered serious speculations among people that this exercise is nothing but NPR which will eventually lead to NRC,” he said adding that some District Collectors have issued specific orders deputing personnel to carry out NPR exercise.
“KCR was quick to react when Modi Govt brought demonetization and supported it. Similarly, When BJP Govt passed GST Bill on August 8, 2016, KCR convened a special session of Legislative Assembly on August 30 (22 days) to ratify the Bill. Although the CAA was passed by the Parliament 71 days ago, KCR is not willing to convene a special session of Assembly to oppose the Bill,” he said.
Shabbir Ali slammed MIM President Asaduddin Owaisi for continuing his support to KCR and adopting a dual stand on anti-CAA protests. “While addressing rallies in different parts of the country, Asaduddin Owaisi is exhorting people to organize Shaheenbagh like a protest. But he himself is not allowing any such protest in Hyderabad. TRS Govt is not permitting any organization to organize a protest against CAA at the instance of MIM. Owaisi must explain the reasons for his silence on cases booked against anti-CAA protestors in Hyderabad and other parts of Telangana,” he demanded.
“Why not a single MIM worker is participating in the anti-CAA protests in Hyderabad? In fact, some local MIM workers are helping the police in identifying those who are regularly participating in the protests. Both KCR and Owaisi are cheating Muslims and other communities. While KCR is deceiving the people with a fake mask of secularism, Owaisi is hurting the interest of common Muslims through his communal agenda aimed at strengthening the BJP,” he alleged.