A video featuring Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao addressing the public during the opening ceremony of a recently constructed mosque at the state secretariat is currently circulating widely across social media platforms. The video is being shared with a communal claim, suggesting that the government is favouring Islam over other religions by building a mosque in the secretariat premises. Through this article let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Telangana Chief Minister KCR, inaugurated a Mosque at the state secretariat, ignoring other religions.
Fact: The Telangana state government has not just built a Mosque, but also a Church and a Temple within the premises of the new secretariat. This contradicts the viral claim that the state government is favouring a particular religion, ignoring others. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
The viral footage does depict the state’s Chief Minister, K. Chandrashekar Rao (KCR), participating in the inauguration of a recently constructed mosque within the state secretariat’s premises. However, contrary to the claim circulated in the viral post, the government has not only built a mosque but has also constructed a temple and a church.
On 25 August 2023, with Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan as the chief guest, Chief Minister KCR officially opened the places of worship for the major religions – a temple, a mosque, and a church – all situated within the new secretariat premises.
Previously, two mosques and a temple were demolished as part of the old secretariat buildings’ demolition process. In response to this, the chief minister committed to reconstructing these places of worship on larger sites and with the financial support of the government.
Visuals of the chief minister taking part in the inauguration of the places of worship along with the governor can be viewed here and here. Thus, from these, it is evident that the state government has not only built a mosque but also a church and a temple.
To sum it up, the Telangana government has built places of worship representing all three major religions, within the premises of the new secretariat.
