TMS slams Telugu media terrorist tag on Alair encounter

The Tahreek Muslim Shabban (TMS) has decided to approach the High Court against the Telangana Government and leading media houses of Hyderabad for projecting the under trials who were killed in Alair encounter as terrorists and demanded a CBI probe into it to expose the real culprits.

TMS President Mohammed Mushtaq Mallik strongly condemned the use of prefix "ugrarwadi or terrorist" by some media houses and news channels while mentioning the names of five Muslim youth who were killed in encounter. He said although all five of them were facing serious charges, none of them was convicted by a court of law on the terror charges.

Mushtaq Mallik said that some vernacular newspapers are trying to link the entire Muslim community and its leaders with terrorists’ organizations. The Indian Muslims neither support any kind of terror activities, nor do they show any sympathy towards terrorists. Therefore, all the newspapers and channels, who have described those five Muslim youth as "terrorists”, have to prove the charges or face legal action.

He said that the SIT, headed by IPS officer Sandeep Shandilya, is not expected to conduct a fair probe as it was Sandeep Shandilya who submitted a wrong and misleading report to the State Government on Mecca Masjid firing incident of May 2007. As the then DCP of South Zone, Sandeep Shandilya prepared two separate reports - on bomb blast in Mecca Masjid and another on police firing wherein in he misled the government.

While one of his report described bomb blast at Mecca Masjid as the result of infighting among Muslim groups and in another report, he justified the police firing on the youth who protested against the bomb blast. Later, it was proved that bomb blast at Mecca Masjid was done by right-wing Hindu terrorists. The Bhaskar Rao commission report on police firing is yet to be made public.