The Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Telangana and Odisha (JIHTO) has announced its support to the Telangana Rashtra Samithi in upcoming Assembly polls.
The JIHTO, a socio-religious organisation with a large following, decided to throw its weight behind the TRS after it found the party ‘comparatively better’ than others parties in the poll fray like the Congress and the Telugu Desam Party.
The decision came about after the organisation studied the TRS’ performance on three factors: governance, which includes availability of power, law and order situation, and handling of minority issues.
Speaking to The Hindu, JIHTO president Hamid Mohammed Khan said: “A comparative study of the political situation was done from 1994-2004, 2004-2014 and 2014-2018. We found the TRS is better than others. There’s been no curfew, no Muslim youth has been picked up, no Mecca Masjid blast-like incident has happened.”
Razakaar tag
Another factor which has swung the JIHTO towards the TRS is the party’s effort to rid the ‘Razakaar’ tag from Telanagana’s Muslims.
“For many years Muslims were associated with Razakaars. The TRS has made efforts to remove this misconception whenever it talks about the community,” Mr. Khan said.
Referring to the Alair encounter, Mr. Khan, who had termed the encounter as ‘murder’ in the past, said: “I will continue to call it murder. At a meeting with Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao last month, we demanded the encounter be reinvestigated.”
Reservation issue
However, despite several Muslims being unhappy with the TRS failing to legislate the 12% reservations, the JIHTO has overlooked this. A member who did not wish to be identified said: “The Jamaat knows well that bringing reservations is very difficult. There is unhappiness about this issue as many Muslims believed this would help the community. But the leadership has cited the comparative study to support TRS,” the member said.
Defending the organisation’s decision, Mr. Khan said: “While it is no substitute for 12% reservations, the TRS established the TMREIS network of schools for minorities. There are over 50,000 students, most of whom are from backward sections, studying there. The schools will bring about a sea-change in the community’s socio-economic standing.”