Muslim empowerment hinges on political representation: Shabbir Ali

Hyderabad (Same Day): Congress leader and Adviser to the Telangana Government Mohammed Ali Shabbir said that meaningful empowerment of Muslims is possible only through adequate and sustained political representation, particularly in decision-making bodies.

Speaking after releasing the New Year calendar of the All Minority Employees Welfare Association here, Mr. Shabbir Ali said Muslims constituted nearly 15% of Telangana’s population and therefore required representation across sectors, especially in politics. The calendar release ceremony was attended by Adil Shareef, president of the All Minority Employees Welfare Association, along with members of the organisation.

Recalling past initiatives, Mr. Shabbir Ali said the 4% reservation for socially and educationally backward Muslims in education and employment was introduced in 2004 during the Congress government led by Dr. Y.S. Rajashekhar Reddy, when he was part of the Cabinet.

He said the policy had benefited over 22 lakh poor Muslim families across the erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh, including present-day Telangana. Thousands of Muslim students secured admissions into professional courses such as MBBS, while the community also received a 4% share in government recruitments conducted since 2004–05, except during a few years when legal hurdles intervened.

Beyond education and employment, Mr. Shabbir Ali said the Congress government ensured political empowerment by including Muslims under the BC-E category, enabling them to contest elections from Backward Class-reserved constituencies. This, he said, led to the election of several Muslim representatives in rural and urban local bodies, including Sarpanches, MPTC and ZPTC members, corporators, councillors, ward members, mayors, deputy mayors and Zilla Parishad chairpersons.

He added that Muslim representation was also ensured in cooperative societies, agriculture market committees and other statutory institutions, allowing the community to play a role not only as beneficiaries of welfare schemes but also in governance and policy implementation.

Recalling his tenure as a Minister in the Cabinet of former Chief Minister K. Vijayabhaskar Reddy, Mr. Shabbir Ali said the country’s first Minority Welfare Department was created during that period, which later led to the introduction of a separate budget for minority welfare. He said decisions affecting large sections of society could only be taken through political authority and urged the community to support leaders committed to its welfare. He cautioned against divisive and communal politics.

Warning against what he described as attempts by the BJP to divert attention from governance failures, Mr. Shabbir Ali referred to the renewed debate over Vande Mataram and urged people not to react impulsively. He explained that the Constituent Assembly had adopted Vande Mataram as the National Song on January 24, 1950, the same day Jana Gana Mana was adopted as the National Anthem, with equal respect accorded to both under a declaration by then President Dr. Rajendra Prasad.

Referring to discussions in the Lok Sabha during the 150th anniversary commemorations in December 2025, he said the issue had once again been politicised, with differing interpretations of historical decisions taken to preserve national unity.

Mr. Shabbir Ali said the Congress government in Telangana, led by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, was committed to upholding secular values and ensuring that all communities and castes had space, voice and freedom in governance.