The Telangana government has swiftly transferred an official for making highly offensive and disrespectful remarks about the victims of the recent bus accident in Madina, Saudi Arabia. The incident occurred, and the transfer order followed just two hours later.
The state government issued an order to immediately transfer Mohammed Safiullah, Director of the Urdu Academy. He will return to his parent department, TG Genco, as Deputy Secretary (Non-Cadre) on administrative grounds with immediate effect.
Safiullah made the controversial comments during a meeting at Haj House with relatives of those who died in the Madina accident. He questioned the relatives, asking why they wanted to travel to Saudi Arabia. He asked if they wanted to see the “burnt pieces” of their loved ones.
Protests erupted immediately within the meeting following his remarks. Senior BRS leader and former Minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali was also present. He condemned the remarks. Mohammed Faheem Qureshi also stated that using such language is wrong and the government will not tolerate it.
Safiullah’s video quickly went viral on social media. The public reacted strongly and expressed widespread anger.
The official later issued an apology. He claimed the mistake happened due to the continuous pressure of work. However, the government quickly sent him back to his parent department given the growing public outrage.
He was serving as the Director of the Telangana Urdu Academy and Incharge Executive Officer of the Telangana Haj Committee. The government has relieved him of both posts.
The government appointed Mohammed Asadullah, CEO of the Waqf Board and Survey Commissioner of Waqf, to take over. He will assume responsibility for the day-to-day administration as Incharge Executive Officer of the Telangana Haj Committee and Director of the Telangana Urdu Academy.
Meanwhile a source of ruling Congress Party told Raftaar e Deccan that Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy also expressed displeasure on the behavior of said officer and asked higher officials to take strict action against the officer responsible.
Mohammed Naseer Giyas is a multi-media and bilingual journalist with over 20 years of experience across print, digital, and television media. Founder of Raftaar-e-Deccan, he is an alumnus of IVLP, Thomson Reuters Foundation, and ICFJ, and has worked with leading English and Urdu news organisations.
