Congress protests demolition of religious places at Secretariat

The Telangana unit of the Congress will wage a legal battle and hold state-wide protests against the alleged demolition of places of worship on the Secretariat premises here, a senior party leader said on Sunday. The Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president and MP of Nalgonda N Uttam Kumar Reddy accused the Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao of hurting the religious sentiments by allegedly ordering the demolition of the religious structures.

The TPCC chief further accused Rao of lying to the people on the issue by claiming that some damage was caused to the places of worship when some debris of other structures in the Secretariat fell on them during the demolition of the old Secretariat. According to Uttam Kumar Reddy, the state government is not empowered to demolish religious structures as they are protected under various laws.

"The Congress party will file a criminal complaint against those involved and responsible for the demolition. All other legal steps will be taken to pursue the case at a higher level. A state-wide agitation will be organised against the demolition," he said in a statement. Uttam Kumar Reddy also condemned AIMIM leaders Asaduddin Owaisi, MP from Hyderabad, and Akbaruddin Owaisi, an MLA, for their silence on the issue.

He slammedUnion Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy too for his silence and alleged that the incident has exposed that Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), All India Majlis-e- Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)were allies. Speaking on the next elections for Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), Uttam Kumar Reddy asked the party MPs, MLAs and all contested candidates to take up revamping the party structure in Greater Hyderabad, Warangal and Khammam.

Earlier, Chandrasekhar Rao expressed regret over the damage caused to places of worship on the Secretariat premises during demolition work and said new ones would be built in a more spacious area. The Chief Minister had said a new temple and mosque would be built over a more spacious area even if it meant spending crores of rupees. The ruling TRS government began the demolition of the Secretariat complex on July 7 to pave the way for construction of a new Secretariat. On August 5, the Telangana cabinet approved the construction and the designs of the new Secretariat complex.