MBT fields Former Mecca Masjid Blast Victim as GHMC Candidate

With the long awaited Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections in the state of Telangana underway, there were over 1,300 candidates filed for 150 seats. A closer glance at the candidates, highlights a few interesting standouts, one being Syed Imran Khan, who is contesting on the Majlis Bachao Tehreek (MBT) ticket from 119-Old Bowenpally division. What jumps out about Imran is that he was among the dozens of Hyderabadi Muslim youth who were falsely accused and victims of police excesses after the bomb blast at Hyderabad’s Mecca Masjid in May 2007.

The 7th Additional Metropolitan Magistrate had thrown out the charges against Imran due to a lack of any evidence produced to support the allegations. Imran was proven innocent; however, that was before spending nearly 18 months in jail under police torture that he vividly describes to this day.

MBT youth leader and former Azampura corporator Amjed Ullah Khan, who is now contesting from Akberbagh division and had provided free legal help to numerous falsely accused youth, including Imran, successfully proving their innocence, said that the decision to field Imran was to empower the youth who had been victims of the botched up investigations. “Imran is among 100’s of youths who were falsely implicated in cases. They were tortured and languished in jail for months. They only way those victimized will be empowered is if they enter politics and work to change the system itself,” the MBT leader said.

Imran, once a brilliant student of B. Tech in a Hyderabad based private college and a beacon of hope for his lower middle class family, endured tremendous hardships. Even though no charges were proven against him by the police in the court, his family faced harassment as they had been projected in the media as suspects in the case. To date, he says he has had to change 7 jobs due to police showing up at his place of work, with no cause, creating unrest among his employers.

Born and raised in the Old Bowenpally division, Imran is however determined to fight for the weak, so they don't suffer the way he has, stating, and “I understand firsthand the hardships and tribulations that our youth face. Others have been given an opportunity in this division here yet we are still lacking in multiple amenities. I look at life completely differently, with more seriousness today. I ask people to give my comprehensive social and economic development platform a chance and I promise to fulfill my commitments by fighting for the rights of the residents of this division.”

A delegation of known civil activists, including Khalid Rasool Khan, President of All India Muslim Sangam, has come out in support of Imran, with Khan stating, “Imran's victory here will be a huge victory for the civil society of Telangana. His victory will send a message to the establishment and to the political parties that citizens of Telangana are not willing to accept these kinds of injustices and blind prosecution of innocent youth by the State. We are going to support and canvass for Imran to ensure his victory.”

The GHMC elections will be held on 2nd February, 2016.