Lok Sabha elections in Telangana: Graveyard problem prompts NOTA drive in Secunderabad

HYDERABAD: It isn’t candidates contesting in the upcoming elections alone who are going from door to door to meet voters. A group of residents form Amberpet, too, have taken up a drive to urge people to press the NOTA button on April 11.
Disappointed with their local leaders, a group of 25 residents are reaching out to as many households as they can in the Secunderabad parliamentary constituency area (Amberpet assembly constituency is a part of it) asking people to support their campaign.Their grievance: politicians’ failure to keep their promise of providing a burial ground.
At present, there is only one graveyard for Muslims in Amberpet, which has no burial space left. Owing to the space crunch, several residents are burying the dead in the same place where there forefathers were buried by adding a layer of mud.
These residents have decided that they will continue this campaign — mainly targeting voters from the minority community — and will only stop once they get written assurance from all contestants over the issue, pending for over 15 years.
“Every contestant, during every election, promises us a new graveyard. But once they come to power, they turn a blind eye to the issue, saying the Telangana State Waqf Board has to allot land,” said Shaik Salauddin, a member of this group.