"It is lamentable," Asaduddin Owaisi on G Kishan Reddy's comments on terror in Hyderabad
Hitting out at Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy for his reported comment that Hyderabad has become a safe zone for terrorists, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi Saturday said such remarks will hurt the city's image.
Mr Reddy assumed charge as minister of state for home in Delhi on Saturday.
"He (Reddy) did not even take charge of his post, but makes such... comments. I am asking him and his ministry tell people of Hyderabad how many written advisories NIA, IB and RAW gave in the last five years that Hyderabad is becoming a den for terror," Mr Owaisi told reporters.
It is lamentable that such comments are made although peace prevails in Hyderabad for the last five years, said the AIMIM chief, who is also the MP from Hyderabad.
Hyderabad is second only after Bengaluru in software exports in the country, Mr Owaisi claimed.
Mr Reddy could not be reached for comments.
The AIMIM president asked, "Why do they have this enmity towards Telangana, Hyderabad. Don't they like (to see) Hyderabad grow."
"Big companies are coming (to the city) and the minister of home speaks such things. It conveys how much hatred they have for Telangana and Hyderabad," Mr Owaisi said.
BJP leaders fear that investment is coming to Telangana under the leadership of Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, he alleged.
On ISIS sympathisers being found in Hyderabad, he asked whether such people have not been caught in Uttar Pradesh in the highest number. "Has that (UP) become a den," he said.
"...Because, it is their mentality. Wherever they see a Muslim, they feel that he is a terrorist," Mr Owaisi said.
Claiming that hate crimes against Muslims are happening in places like Gurugram and Begusarai even after Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke (about inclusiveness) he said mere lip service would not do.
"Their policy that Modi would say one thing and Kishan (Reddy) would say something else. Modi would say one thing and VHP would say something else...It is their theory of confusion. They keep practicing that... We have understood them. That's why I say, you practice," he said.
Noting that composite culture prevails in Telangana where progress is being achieved under the leadership of Chief Minister Rao, Mr Owaisi claimed the BJP would prove to be unsuccessful in its attempts to grow in Telangana.