SKC Report just expression of Seemandhra leaders' opinion: AIMAF

“How can the Srikrishna Committee members, who are ignorant about the irrigation projects on the Rivers Krishna and Godavari, can devote a full chapter of their report to the security and stability of a future Telangana?” questioned senior High Court advocate Prakash Reddy on Saturday.

He was addressing the gathering at an Open Discussion on the Eighth Chapter of the Justice BN Srikrishna Committee Report, which the state High Court had ordered to be made public.

The senior advocate wondered how the Srikrishna Committee could advise the Centre that communal strife would increase and Maoist influence strengthened in Telangana if a separate state is carved out of Andhra Pradesh when the Committee members were ignorant about the various projects underway in the state.

“The Report is more of an expression of opinion of the Seemandhra leaders rather than an unbiased assessment of the ground situation in Telangana,” the senior advocate told the attendees of the Open Discussion, organized by the All India Minority Advocates Federation (AIMAF) at the Basheer Bagh Press Club.

“The attempt by the Centre to keep the eighth chapter of the Report from the public eye itself shows that the Report is nothing but a futile exercise. The Committee has done nothing except wasting precious time of the Telangana people,” Mr Prakash Reddy alleged.

Other speakers at the Open Discussion, particularly members from the Muslim Community too lashed out at the Report. They criticized the Committee for stating that Muslims of Telangana favoured Andhra Pradesh remaining integrated.

The speakers, including Osman Shaheed, said that the Committee should present evidence to back their claims that the Muslims at large favoured keeping the state integrated. “Any evidence to support this claim must be made public,” Mr Osman Shaheed demanded.