Shams Ahsan

Saudi Gazette

 

A SENIOR Indian leader is in the Kingdom seeking to revive the age-old ties between Saudi Arabia and the former princely state of Hyderabad.



“The old state of Hyderabad and Saudi Arabia have historic ties. There were buildings in Hyderabad called Madinah Buildings under the endowment for the benefit of the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah. Today the Muslims of Telangana state are eager to see those relations revived,” Mohammed Mahmood Ali, deputy chief minister of the newly created Telangana state in southern India, told Saudi Gazette in an interview on Thursday.



“We want to make Telangana a golden state. So we invite Saudis to visit our state and benefit from its investor-friendly schemes,” said Ali.



“We will provide all facilities to Saudi investors. We will facilitate a single-window procedure for businessmen from the Kingdom,” said Ali, who is also minister of revenue, relief and rehabilitation and registration.



He also appealed to the Saudi authorities to make available new rubats (Haj guest houses) to  pilgrims from Hyderabad. There used to be 12 rubats of the state of Hyderabad in Makkah, but today only one is in operation, the minister said.



Telangana became the 29th state of India after a long and often bloody struggle on June 2, 2014. And Ali, a late entrant into electoral politics, became its deputy chief minister.



The aspirations of Muslims were high as for many of them a separate Telangana meant a return to the good old days of the Nizams.



The first outcome of the bifurcation was the rise in the percentage of the Muslim population from approximately 9.17 percent to more than 12 percent.



Ali was associated with the Telangana movement since his college days. He said Muslims, who long faced discrimination in the state of Andhra Pradesh, are getting back their due.



“Muslims are now getting respect. Before 1956, Muslims were 30 percent in government jobs, but after Hyderabad state was dissolved and merged with Andhra Pradesh their employment rate fell to 1 to 2 percent,” he said.



The issues of Muslims which could not be solved in 57 years were solved in 57 days, the minister said, listing the number of welfare measures taken for the minority community. An annual allocation of Rs10 million has been earmarked for the development of Muslims in Telangana.



Poor Muslim children will get free education. The Cabinet has decided to form a commission to finalize 12 percent reservation for Muslims. Citizens, who are above 65 years of age, will get a monthly allowance of Rs1,000. Widows will be given Rs1,000 a month as subsistence money. The physically challenged people will get Rs1,500 a month to help them make the two ends meet. Poor girls will be given Rs 51,000 for marriage.



“Our target is to help 40,000 girls get married through this scheme in six months, and 200,000 girls in five years,” said the minister.



“We will also give a loan of Rs100,000 with 50 percent subsidy to poor people to start their own business.”



Telangana is the first state to give judicial and executive powers to waif (endowment) boards. “It was done in just 57 days after our party got power,” said Ali, who became a member of the Legislative Council in 2010.



Today Muslims need education, employment and overall development, Ali said. The government of Telangana is taking steps in this direction, which should be replicated in other states, he added.