The Joint Action Committee (JAC) of Telangana Muslim organisations has declared its support to the Congress in the Telangana Assembly elections.
The JAC has appealed to Muslims across the state to vote for the Congress and show the power of their vote. It believes that the decision will serve as a valuable tool in exerting pressure on the Congress to implement the demands of the Muslim Declaration of JAC if the Congress government is formed after the elections.
JAC State Convenor Syed Saleem Pasha and Co-Convenor Sheikh Yusuf Baba said that their stand in the next year’s Lok Sabha elections will depend on the Congress government fulfilling its commitments to the Muslim community and demonstrating its integrity.
The JAC has been in operation for the past two years and it has formulated a plan of action known as the Telangana Muslim Declaration. Released on July 9, 2023, the Muslim Declaration outlined a set of 22 major demands aimed at fostering the advancement and progress of the Muslim community.
The Muslim JAC organised 17 Muslim Declaration awareness meetings throughout the state and provided the BRS government an opportunity to respond but it made no effort to establish communication with the JAC representatives. The BRS manifesto failed to address the demands put forth by the Muslim JAC. The JAC leaders said the promises made to Muslims including 12 per cent reservation were not being addressed in the election campaign.
The JAC leaders said the Congress Party’s Minority Declaration Drafting Committee approached them. It expressed its commitment to carefully evaluate the objectives outlined in the Muslim JAC Declaration, and incorporated eight major demands into its Minority Declaration.
They said at a meeting of the heads of the state committee and district committees of the JAC held on November 11, leaders of the majority of the districts expressed the opinion that all the Muslims are leaning towards the Congress locally and that it would be prudent to support them in the upcoming elections.
During the last week, Muslim JAC state leaders spoke to many Muslim intellectuals, thinkers, and intellectuals who came to examine the activities of Muslim JAC and gave their opinions. Majority of them suggested that the JAC should support the Congress. They said the BRS government intentionally ignored its commitments to the Muslim population. The reason for this is that there has been a mutual political understanding with the BJP at the Centre for the past 10 years.