Nizam Was A Secular Ruler: Akbaruddin Owaisi

MIM floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi on Monday slammed the Seemandhra leaders for targeting Mir Osman Ali Khan, the last Nizam of Hyderabad, during the debate on the State Reorganisation Bill.

During his 70-minute "yet-to-be-concluded" speech, Akbar Owaisi strongly condemned the criticism against the Nizam, which triggered protests by the Seemandhra legislators from TDP and also the BJP MLAs.

At one state the Seemandhra MLAs rushed to podium of Deputy Speaker Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka against Akbar Owaisi's remarks.

Participating in the discussion on the Telangana Bill in the State Legislative Assembly, Akbar Owaisi described the Congress party as a "divided house".

He said that the Congress party could not convince its own MLAs on the Telangana issue and yet introduced the Bill.

He said that both the Leader of the House N Kiran Kumar Reddy and Opposition Leader N Chandrababu Naidu are supporting those who are opposing the division of the state and both have lost control over their Telangana MLAs.

Akbar Owaisi said that instead of speaking about the Telangana Bill, the Seemandhra leaders are targeting the Nizam.

He said that the Seemandhra MLAs need to learn the history and the real conditions that prevailed before the merger of Hyderabad with the Indian union.

The Assembly resolution passed on November 25, 1955 to merge Hyderabad state with Andhra also needs to be studied, he remarked.

He said that the Seemandhra leaders couldn't ignore the reality.

He added that the demand for Telangana gained prominence due to the injustices meted out to the region in the fields of employment, energy and other sectors, and not because of the atrocities of Nizam as being alleged.

The MIM leader said that the then Prime Minister Pandit Nehru described Hyderabad state as a mini-India for "several obvious factors".

He said the Nizam equally promoted 6 languages - Urdu, Telugu, Hindi, Kannada, Marathi and Persian and gave funds.

He asked Seemandhra leaders to state when the Begumpet Airport was constructed.

He further added that Madras got power almost 17 years after Hyderabad was electrified.

The Hyderabad Civil Services was started in 1913 and several other projects were in place much before Hyderabad was merged with Indian Union, he further pointed out.

Akbar Owaisi said that Sarojini Naidu finished her higher studies with the scholarship given by Nizam.

Hussainsagar Power Project was started by the Nizam which was later sold away by NTR for just Rs 6 crore.

"The then Central government led by Pandit Nehru was aware of the Nizam's contribution and calibre and therefore, he was made the Raj Pramukh. In 1962 war with China, Mir Osman Ali donated 2 lorries load of gold coins which were then worth Rs. 9 crore as his personal contribution," Owaisi stated.

He donated Rs. 10 lakh for Banaras Hindu University and also gave 55 acres of land to Dr. B R Ambedkar for setting up educational institutions.

Owaisi added that in 1890, Hyderabad saw a "revenue-surplus" of Rs. 73 lakh.

Akbar Owaisi said that the Seemandhra leaders could not keep the state united by criticising the Nizam.

The MIM leader's speech evoked protests by the Seemandhra MLAs on multiple occasions.

At one stage, TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu intervened and claimed that Hyderabad went on global map during TDP's regime.

He said that it was the TDP that changed the identity of Hyderabad, which was earlier notorious for frequent curfews.

He challenged Akbar Owaisi for an open debate on the development of Hyderabad.

Continuing his speech, Akbar Owaisi also claimed that over 1.5 lakh Muslims were massacred during the police action and it was clearly exposed by the Pandit Sunder Lal Committee.

He said that the Hyderabad state was divided into 3 parts to dilute its identity.

The properties owned by Muslims were taken over through Ceiling Act, Inam Abolition Act and other laws.

He advised the Seemandhra leaders "not to scratch the old injuries".

Owaisi said that AP was ruled by Seemandhra Chief Ministers for almost 48 years.

He asked as to why those leaders failed to develop their regions.

He slammed Naidu for his claim on Hyderabad's development and said that people have lost faith in him as he is getting closer to the BJP-led NDA, to promote communalism.

TDP's Revanth Reddy strongly protested Akbar Owaisi's remarks and accused him of diverting the issue.

He claimed that Naidu is secular and it was him who made Dr. A P J Abdul Kalaam the President of India.

He alleged that MIM opposed Kalam's candidature.

He also alleged that while the MIM is still having a tie-up with the Congress in the GHMC, the same Congress was behind the Muzaffarnagar riots.

He also alleged that former Chief Minister Dr. Y S Rajasekhara Reddy was behind the 1990 communal riots in Hyderabad and that MIM has been maintaining close relations with the YSR Congress party.

At one stage, Legislative Affairs Minister S Sailajanath attempted to intervene.

However, the MIM legislators stalled the proceedings of the House demanding that they would not allow Sailajanath to speak as they want Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy to give clarifications.

Following uproar for over 10 minutes, the Deputy Speaker adjourned the House till Tuesday. (INN)