Hyderabad : Senior Congress leader and former Hyderabad District Congress Committee president Mohammed Waliullah Sameer on Saturday accused the BJP of attempting to manufacture communal tension in Telangana by exaggerating isolated incidents and organising politically motivated protests.
Sameer said a series of recent developments involving educational institutions and religious sensitivities pointed towards a deliberate conspiracy to disturb peace in the State. While some incidents required legal action, several others were minor in nature and had been promptly addressed by the police and the authorities concerned, he said.
“Instead of allowing the police to investigate and resolve these matters in accordance with law, BJP leaders are trying to mobilise large protests, circulate provocative narratives and turn local disputes into communal confrontations,” Sameer alleged.
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He said that in one incident, a group of political workers allegedly entered an educational institution, demanded access to confidential student records and attempted to conduct a self-styled inspection. In another case, political activists allegedly entered a school and assaulted a member of the teaching staff. Such actions amounted to taking the law into their own hands and could not be justified in the name of religion, national security or political activism, he said.
Sameer also referred to a recent controversy arising from a classroom assignment. He said the school management had immediately acted against the teacher concerned and the police had taken precautionary measures. Despite the prompt response, BJP leaders attempted to magnify the issue and use it to provoke religious sentiments, he alleged.
“Once the school management took corrective action and the police ensured peace, there was no justification for political leaders to inflame the situation. Their intention appears to be not to secure justice, but to create confrontation and extract political benefit,” he said.
The Congress leader said educational institutions should not be converted into political battlegrounds. No political group had the authority to enter school or college premises, intimidate staff, inspect records or assume the role of police and investigating agencies, he added.
Issues relating to citizenship, refugees, foreign nationals or documentation fell within the jurisdiction of the competent State and Central government authorities. Political workers could submit information or complaints to the authorities, but they could not conduct raids or vigilante operations, he said.
Sameer Waliullah said Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, who also holds the Home portfolio, had handled law and order effectively and ensured that potentially sensitive situations were brought under control without allowing violence to spread.
“The Chief Minister has maintained peace across Telangana despite repeated attempts by provocative elements to disturb communal harmony. The BJP is unable to politically confront the Congress government and is therefore trying to tarnish the Chief Minister’s image by creating an impression of a law-and-order failure,” he alleged.
He said the BJP’s strategy appeared to involve identifying minor or localised disputes, giving them a religious colour, amplifying them through social media and subsequently organising protests to create tension on the ground. “The repetition of the same pattern at different places cannot be dismissed as a coincidence. It clearly indicates a coordinated political design to polarise society and destabilise the peaceful atmosphere in Telangana,” Sameer said.
He urged the police to act firmly and impartially against anyone involved in trespass, intimidation, assault, circulation of provocative content or attempts to disturb communal peace, irrespective of political affiliation or religious identity.
Sameer also appealed to people not to believe unverified social media posts or become part of politically sponsored demonstrations intended to provoke confrontation.
“Telangana, particularly Hyderabad, has a proud tradition of coexistence and communal harmony. People should remain alert to forces seeking to divide society for electoral gains. Differences or complaints must be addressed through the law and not through mob mobilisation,” he said.
He reiterated that the Congress government would neither tolerate wrongdoing against any community nor permit political organisations to misuse sensitive issues to incite violence and disrupt peace in the State.
