Hyderabad: MP and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi spoke in Telugu at the inaugural ceremony of the World Telugu Conference on Friday.

The Telugu speech by the Majlis leader came as a pleasant surprise for the audience and the dignitaries that included the chief guest Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu, Governor ESL Narasimhan, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and a host of ministers, political leaders and Telugu language lovers.

This was the first time that the Majlis leader spoke in Telugu though he is a pure Hyderabadi. Though most Muslims in Hyderabad speak Telugu with ease, the Owaisis, including the MIM patriarch Sultan Salauddin Owaisi were never heard speaking a word in Telugu.

Owaisi pointed out that the Hindus and Muslims have been living together in the state like milk and water for centuries and their respective languages were never an obstacle between both the communities. He read out a prepared speech, maybe written in Urdu, though. Surprisingly, he switched to Urdu at the end and concluded his speech by asking for forgiveness if he may have made any mistakes in Telugu.

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