MUF Leaders Unhappy With MIM Stand On Encounter?

Several Muslim United Forum leaders have reportedly expressed resentment over the "soft stand" adopted by the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen over the issue of the Alair encounter wherein five undertrials were killed in firing by the Telangana police.

While many MUF leaders were in favour of giving a call for a Telangana Bandh or at least a dharna at the camp office of Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, MIM president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi reportedly turned down the suggestion.

According to sources, Owaisi asked them to confine the protest to the submission of a memorandum to Governor E S L Narasimhan and the Chief Minister.

He was of the view that a loud protest might lead to communal tension in the city.

However, it was reportedly agreed upon to conduct a public meeting on April 18 at Darulsalaam in protest against the encounter killings.

Some MUF leaders also pointed out that no action had been taken in the case of the deaths of three persons in the police firing in the Kishanbagh area in May 2014. Several people were also injured in the firing, while many cases were also booked against the community members.

They advised that a strong protest be held to pressurise the government to resolve pending cases and also order a judicial probe into the Alair encounter. Inaction by the government in such cases had been spoiling the image of the Muslim leaders among the common people, and therefore the MUF should start taking a tough stand on such issues.

However, Owaisi assured that the MIM would pressurise the TRS government to take immediate corrective steps.

Interestingly, instead of by Muslim Personal Law Board Assistant General Secretary Moulana Abdul Rahim Qureshi, the press conference was addressed by Asaduddin Owaisi himself.

Owaisi also skipped a question when asked by reporters whether he planned to withdraw support to the TRS government over the encounter issue. (INN)