based non-resident Indian (NRI) Muslims from Andhra Pradesh have vehemently expressed their solidarity with the ongoing struggle for the creation of a separate Telangana state in southern India. A group of Muslim Indians that met in Riyadh last week have announced the formation of a Muslim Solidarity Committee (MSC) that will liaise with the Joint Action Committee set up in India with the membership of various political parties, social and non-governmental organizations to discuss the possibilities of a separate state. Anwarullah Khan, principal of an international Indian school in Riyadh, was the keynote speaker in the function organized to express solidarity with the ongoing Telangana movement back home. Abdullah Reddy, a prominent NRI and social activist, convened the meeting. A number of prominent NRIs from the Telangana area of the state attended the function. Reddy said around 15 percent of the 1.8 million non-resident Indians in Saudi Arabia come from the Telangana region and are Muslims. He said Muslims are generally expected to adopt a non-partisan attitude towards the struggle for a separate state. The Indian Muslims living in Saudi Arabia from Andhra Pradesh have no political affiliation to any of the regional political parties and independently and unequivocally want to share their views on the Telangana movement, Reddy said. “There should not be any doubt in the minds of people that we (Muslims) want to have our say. In fact, we want to be represented in the future legislative assembly, when the Telangana state becomes a reality,” he said. He said that the unconditional support of Muslims would definitely help to safeguard their rights in a newly created state. – SG Some facts as presented by the keynote speaker, Khan, which strongly support the creation of a separate Telangana state, are: • Discrimination in the allocation of jobs has been the major bone of contention as regards distribution of employment that went largely to the people from Andhra areas. According to proportional representation, Telangana should get 42 percent jobs in the AP State Secretariat Office based in Hyderabad. In fact, nine percent of the people who belonged to Telangana were recruited to work in State Secretariat raising a question as to how could people's representatives in the Legislative Assembly or Legislative Council get their bills passed if the majority was from Andhra areas. • Daily wage workers in industries: People from Andhra areas that include nine districts offer jobs to 3,16,000 people while Telangana with 10 districts offer jobs to 81,000 Telangana people and Rayalaseema's four districts offer jobs to 70,000 people. • However, based on proportionality at least 40 percent of jobs (600,000) should have been given to the people from Telangana region as compared to less than 300,000 jobs currently given to them. • Technical institutions: Twenty-six vocational and technical institutions are located in Telangana region as compared to 54 in Andhra area. Twenty polytechnic colleges are in Telangana region while 70 are in Andhra area. Two medical colleges are located in Telangana as compared to six in Andhra region.
