TDP’s Muslim leaders have urged Naidu not to support the amendments. With Muslims accounting for 10-12% of Andhra Pradesh’s population, the TDP doesn’t want to antagonise the community, which played a crucial role in its stunning victory in the recent assembly and Lok Sabha elections.Muslim groups have been opposing several amendments, including the appointment of non-Muslims as members of the Central Waqf Council and state Waqf Boards.Senior TDP leader Nawab Jan said last week that Naidu will not let any bill that harms Muslims be implemented. At the ‘Samvidhan Bachao Sammelan’ organised by Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind in Delhi, the TDP leader claimed that Naidu was instrumental in sending the Waqf Bill to the JPC. Asserting that Naidu is a secular leader, he said Naidu’s opinion is that whether an institution is governed by Muslims or Hindus or Christians, it should be managed by people of the same religion.A delegation of Muslim leaders, led by the AIMPLB leader Maulana Mohammed Fazlurrahim Mujaddidi, met Naidu on October 23 and urged him to oppose the Waqf Bill in Parliament. Naidu assured them that the party would make an appropriate decision after discussion with stakeholders.The Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind had urged both Naidu and JD(U)’s Nitish Kumar to heed the sentiments of Muslims on the matter.
Source link
