Nizam was a secular ruler: Akbar Owaisi

Hyderabad, Jan 20 (INN): 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 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 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 introduced the Bill.

He said both the Leader of the House N Kiran Kumar Reddy and Opposition Leader N Chandrababu Naidu were 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 were targeting 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 said that the Seemandhra leaders could not ignore the reality. He said that the demand for Telangana gained prominence due to the injustices done to the region in the fields of employment, energy and other sectors and not because of atrocities of Nizam as being alleged.

The MIM leader said that the then Prime Minister Pandit Nehru described Hyderabad State as mini-India for several obvious factors. He said the Nizam equally promoted six languages - Urdu, Telugu, Hindi, Kannada, Marathi and Persian and gave funds.

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

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 Nizam's contribution and calibre and therefore, he was made the Raj Pramukh. In 1962 war with China, Mir Osman Ali had donated two lorry loads of gold coins which were then worth Rs 9 crore as his personal contribution. He donated Rs 10 lakh for Banaras Hindu University and also gave 55 acres of land to Dr BR Ambedkar for setting up educational institutions. He said in 1890, Hyderabad was a revenue-surplus State with 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 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's 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 three 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.

Akbar Owaisi said that Andhra Pradesh 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 people have lost faith on him as he was getting closer to the BJP-led NDA to promote communalism.

TDP's Revanth Reddy strongly protested against Akbar Owaisi's remarks and accused him of diverting the issue. He claimed that Naidu was secular and it was him who made Dr APJ Abdul Kalaam the President of India. He alleged that MIM opposed Kalam's candidature.

He alleged that while the MIM was still having tie-up with the Congress in the GHMC, the same Congress party was behind the Muzaffarnagar riots. He alleged that former Chief Minister Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy was behind the 1990 communal riots in Hyderabad and MIM has been maintaining close relations with the YSR Congress party.

At one stage, Legislative Affairs Minister S Sailajanath wanted 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.