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A reception dinner in honor of Mohammed Ali Shabbir, MLC, and Opposition leader of Telangana State Legislative Council was organized by American Telugu Association and Telangana Association of North America Aug. 9 at North Shore Banquets, Chicago, Illinois. The event was attended by over 300 Telanganities.
In his address Shabbir, opposition leader from the Congress Party, said that the extension of the benefit of 4 percent reservations during his tenure as cabinet minister enabled minority students to get “a respectable share” in education and employment, adding that the number of minority students who secured admission in different branches of engineering was about 100,000 and in medicine about 7,000 thanks to reservation.
“Succeeding in giving the reservations to minorities despite multiple legal hurdles and strong opposition to this initiative from a few sections of the community was a stupendous and historical success”, he said, according to an Asian Media USA, press release.
Shabbir said that the release of scholarships, running into hundreds of crores of rupees, enabled the students belonging to the weaker sections among minorities to pursue their education without any financial burden. He said that the Congress Party Government was also generous in according permissions for the establishment of professional colleges, including seven minority-managed medical colleges in Andhra Pradesh. He praised the leadership of Congress president Sonia Gandhi for carving out Telangana consulting with all parties In the state.
Shabbir said that the Congress Party carved out the Telangana State taking into consideration the consensus among all the political parties; however, it is equally committed to the overall development of both the States – Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The people of these States should join hands in protecting the language, literature, heritage, and culture, which continue to be common for both of them.
“I am extremely happy to note that in the United States, the Telugus march hand in hand, irrespective of the Telugu State to which they belong. This spirit should be further strengthened not only in the U.S. but also in the states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh,” he said.
He expressed serious concern over the fact that the state government under the leadership of K. Chandrasekhar Rao are lagging behind in addressing the concerns of the minorities in the fields of education, employment and scholarships. He said that the minorities should be taken into confidence, taking into consideration their backwardness as depicted in the report of the Sachar Committee, and empower them to join the mainstream as equal partners.
“The minorities have great potential to contribute to the all round transformation of the state and national economies and it should be fully actualized,” he said.
Iftekhar Shareef, trustee and events chair of FIA Chicago in his address said that the political career of Shabbir reflects the secular credential of Indian voters.
“Even though the non-Muslim voters constitute a staggering 92 percent in his constituency, and Ali Shabbir won elections on multiple occasions with thumping majority,” he said. Referring to his achievements as a cabinet minister at a very young age, Shareef said that Shabbir played a key role in establishing a full-fledged minorities welfare department, which was a first-of-its kind initiative in the entire country providing huge budgetary allocation to this department and launching a number of innovative schemes for the socio-economic and educational empowerment of the weaker sections among minorities.
“The 4 percent reservation for minorities in the domains of education and employment continues to be a colorful feather in his cap,” he said.
Ali Shabbir said that nearly two million-strong Telugu Diaspora comprising scientists, IT professionals and doctors, who are the highest paid job-holders in the U.S., have been immensely contributing to the growth of both American and Indian economies and thereby making the Telugu people proud.
Considering their love for their homeland, he invited them to multiply their efforts to invest their savings in their home states and to establish industrial units by making full use of their exposure to high-end technology.
“However, considering the heavy incidence of poverty, illiteracy, and ill-health in rural areas of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the NRI’s with flair for social service, may consider using their resources and expertise in finding enduring solutions to these problems,” Ali Shabbir said.
Ali Shabbir thanked the Telugu-speaking people who attended the reception, especially mentioning Shri Hanumanth Reddy the backbone of ATA who was seated on dais along with a youth Congress party leader Syed Mukkaram. He profusely thanked Iftekhar Shareef for taking a lead in arranging the reception for a secular gathering of Muslims, Hindus and Christians from Telangana State. “Mr. Iftekhar Shareef, who is the first recipient of the Dual Citizenship(OCI) in 2006 from then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, continues to be the role model for all the NRI’s across the globe,”, Ali Shabbir said.
Shareef announced the upcoming events of ATA conference in Chicago around Labor Day weekend, 2016, and requested all to attend Indian’s 69th Independence Day parade and celebration at Devon Avenue Aug 15 this year. ATA membership committee chairman Srinivas Reddy praised the services of Ali Shabbir and wished him good luck.
A Tri-color “Khandwa” signifying good lucks was presented to Shabir Ali by Hanumanth Reddy and Arshad Ali Khan. Boghdad Ali, a successful NRI businessman who recently completed a 250-unit residential building called ‘Avolon’ in Hyderabad was also honored by a “Khandwa.”
At the event Khaja Moinuddin, cousin of Mohammed Ali Shabbir, was introduced as a FIA member along with Mohammed Fareed, a friend of Shabbir.
Later, the Telugu Christian community presented a shawl to Shabbir and a bouquet was handed to him by Vijay Doma, Vijay Ranjan. This was followed by FIA immediate past president Keerthi Kumar Ravoori’s brief greetings and honoring Iftekhar Shareef for his leadership role in Chicago and India along with FIA officials including Ajai Agnihotri, Bhailal Patel, Ranjit Ganguly, and Babu Varma.
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