Hyderabad, Oct 7 (NationPress) In yet another controversy regarding the Telangana government’s allocation of land for a graveyard in Hyderabad, residents of several apartment complexes in Erragadda protested on Tuesday against the proposed burial site in their neighborhood.

BJP MP M. Raghunandan Rao and party supporters stood in solidarity with the residents during the demonstration.

This incident follows the Army's halt on the construction of a graveyard in the Shaikpet area, where they asserted ownership of the land designated by the government.

During the recent protest, the BJP MP informed police that the land designated for the graveyard is private and backed by court rulings.

Numerous residents from various apartment buildings gathered to voice their concerns, with many holding placards and chanting ‘we want justice’.

The government allocated 2,500 square yards for the Muslim graveyard.

Law enforcement prevented the protestors, led by the MP, from accessing the land set aside for the graveyard.

The BJP MP criticized the Congress government for engaging in ‘appeasement’ and ‘vote bank’ politics, alleging that the land was reserved for the graveyard to garner Muslim votes in the forthcoming by-elections in the Jubilee Hills constituency.

Raghunandan Rao insisted that the government retract the land allocation order, warning that failure to do so would escalate the protests.

The MP firmly stated that a graveyard would not be permitted in a residential zone, asserting that they would take necessary actions to prevent construction.

This marks the second instance of opposition to government land allotment for a graveyard.

The previous dispute involved a burial ground site in Shaikpet, where Army officials intervened on Monday, claiming ownership.

According to a Government Order, 2,500 square yards near Ghairabad Masjid was designated for a graveyard.

Muslims residing in the Jubilee Hills constituency, especially in Borabanda, Yousufguda, Erragadda, and Shaikpet, have long sought land for graveyards.

Leaders such as Faheem Qureshi, chairman of the Telangana Minorities Residential Educational Institutions Society (TMREIS), and AIMIM Karwan MLA Kauser Mohiuddin visited the site on Monday. Subsequently, Army officials arrived and instructed the community to cease operations until the ownership issue was clarified.

This incident has left the government in a difficult position, with Muslim leaders accusing it of hastily allotting land without thorough groundwork.

Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president K. T. Rama Rao condemned the Congress government for betraying the Muslim community.

He highlighted that the BRS government had allocated 125 acres each for Muslim and Christian burial sites in 2022, as per an official Government Order. He criticized the Congress for attempting to claim credit for merely designating 2,500 square yards of contested land, where even the Army had intervened to assert ownership.