“Wakf Board Chairman Azmathullah Clarifies: ‘We Promised to Increase the Amount for Imams and Muezzins in Our Manifesto, but Did Not Commit to a Specific Methodology'”
Hyderabad, December 30 : A silent protest was staged by several Imams and Muezzins from across Telangana at the Haj House, Nampally, on Monday, expressing dissatisfaction with the Congress-led government for failing to release their honorarium.
During the protest, the demonstrators issued a strong warning to Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, accusing his government of failing to honor its election promises. “Your government is dishonest. Despite making grand promises during elections, we have not received even a single rupee in the past year. This government will not last long,” said the protestors.
The protest drew the attention of Telangana State Wakf Board Chairman Azmathullah, who addressed the gathering. He clarified that while the Congress party’s election manifesto promised to increase the honorarium for Imams and Muezzins compared to the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government, no specific timeline was provided for its implementation. “The government is committed to fulfilling its promise, but no concrete announcement has been made yet,” Azmathullah stated.
The BRS government had earlier set the honorarium for Imams and Muezzins at ₹5,000, which was disbursed after verifying applications through the Telangana State Wakf Board. However, the Congress party had pledged to increase the amount during its election campaign.
Speaking at the protest, Maulana Hakeem Syed Shah Muhammad Khairuddin Sufi , president of the All India Sufi Ulema Council, accused the Congress government of treating the Muslim community unfairly. “Since coming to power, the Congress party has not paid a single penny to the Imams and Muezzins. The community feels deceived,” he charged.
The protestors alleged that the honorarium released a few months ago was actually approved during the BRS regime but was delayed due to the election code. They claimed that the Congress government has so far failed to allocate funds for institutions like the Telangana Urdu Academy and Telangana Minorities Finance Corporation.
Warning of more protests if their demands are not met, the Imams and Muezzins highlighted that honorarium payments have been pending for 12 months. Efforts to contact officials of the Telangana State Wakf Board for clarification on the matter were unsuccessful.
