Can Welfare Of Muslims Be Your Priority Ever, Chandrababu?  

Ajjamooru, West Godavari District:  Mastan Vali and Basit of Akiveedu, two Muslim residents met me on Friday in this holy month of Ramadan. They recalled my father, the late Dr. YS Rajasekhara Reddy’s vision in introducing 4% reservation for the minority community and initiating the pioneering fee reimbursement scheme. Basit’s words spoke volumes not only for the success of the scheme in terms of how it reached out and percolated to the target group of the poorest segments of society, but also bore testimony to my father’s vision, as he put it. “Sir, of my four daughters, two have become doctors and the other two have completed their PhD and have settled in the United States of America. All this is thanks to your father’s vision and foresight. What more can I, as a father, aspire for? He transformed our lives. We will always remain grateful to Almighty Allah and your father," he said. “In the holy month of Ramadan, Muslims undertake charity and remember those who were kind, compassionate and charitable to them—their benefactors, with gratitude,” they said, in voices choked with emotion.

Read: YSRCP Will Stand By Aqua Farmers: YS Jagan

Further down at Chinnakapavaram village, hundreds of Muslim followers and supporters were waiting for me eagerly. “Sir, we prayed to Almighty Allah to grant you good health and bless your Padayatra with success.” They welcomed and honoured me with a shawl and a traditional prayer cap. I was deeply overjoyed by this show of affection.

My father had, during his time seen on a first-hand basis, the suffering of Muslim brethren. During the course of his Padayatra, he interacted with them even more closely and gained a deeper insight into their lives and plight. As a leader of the masses whose heart beat for the common man, he had always known that they belonged to the lowest rung of the socio-economic ladder. He had seen young Muslim boys work at puncture repair shops, mechanic sheds, market yards, shops and hotels. He knew how these families struggled to make both ends meet and pushed these children into work, out of sheer necessity, depriving them of their childhood and education.

Determined to give them an equal footing and with a will to change the future of such poor children, my father introduced 4% reservation for the Muslim brethren. The fee reimbursement scheme supplemented this initiative and helped thousands of Muslim families educate their children. “It’s Allah’s Grace that you were born to that great man,” said scores of families to me, expressing their gratitude to him. I always feel overwhelmed by this display of gratitude and invariably, it strengthens my belief in helping the Muslim community in the same way that my father did, during his tenure.

Further down, a child came to me, her eyes sparkling, a radiant smile on her face—“
Uncle, my name is Pravallika of Narayana Puram and I am a student of Class VIII. My mother’s name is Rajeswari and my father’s, Ashok." The words came tumbling rapidly out of her mouth. I asked her mother what the matter was and she then told me the child’s story. She said that she had been born congenitally mute and deaf.  For a family which struggled to eke out a living, it was difficult to imagine getting this child treated. Who can we turn to? How will this child lead a normal life? This question worried them no end. To their good fortune, she said, my father became the chief minister and introduced Arogyasri, the pioneering healthcare initiative.

Pravallika went through a battery of tests after being admitted in a hospital for 40 days and underwent a cochlear implant surgery worth Rs.10 lakhs. Their food, stay, medicines— practically everything, came free of cost. Subsequently, she had to go through speech therapy for one year, which was also at state expense. “Your father, the late Dr. YS Rajasekhara Reddy gave a new life to my daughter and is like God to us.  She is now able to express herself freely, said the mother, as tears of joy streamed down her cheeks. Recently when the child had to undergo a minor nasal surgery, they had to spend a whopping Rs.90,000, she said. She was hoping and praying for the return of Rajanna Rajyam, she said.

My poser to the chief minister— your manifesto promised free education from KG to PG to Muslim girls, fee reimbursement to Muslim students, scholarships, free bus passes to Madrassa students, free clothes, appointment of Urdu teachers through a separate DSE, among other commitments.  Have you fulfilled at least one of these promises?  Have you not betrayed the minority community? Can one assume that you have integrity or sincerity when you have not admitted a single Muslim minister into your cabinet? Can we expect any concern for the welfare of the Muslim community from you who seem to think of this social group only at the time of elections?