Hyderabad Liberation Day

Hyderabad Liberation Day

Subject: History

Section: Post Independence

Context: Ministry of Culture will organize the inaugural programme of the year-long commemoration of the Hyderabad Liberation Day, on 17th September 2022. The Government of India has approved the yearlong commemoration of the “Hyderabad Liberation Day” for the period 17th September, 2022 to 17th September,2023.

Concept: 

• On 17th September 1948, more than one  year after India secured Independence from the British, the state of Hyderabad got its independence from  Nizam’s rule.
• History is replete with illustrations of  struggles  in the entire freedom movement including the struggle of Ramji Gond against the British; the fight of KomaramBheem; the valour of Turrebaz Khan in 1857 who wanted to hoist the Indian national flag on the residence of the British Resident Commissioner at Koti in Hyderabad city.
• The struggle became vociferous after Indian independence. With the spontaneous participation of people chanting VandeMatram and with the demand of the merger of the samsthan into the Indian union, the struggle transformed itself into a massive people’s movement.
• The liberation of Hyderabad was possible due to the swift and timely action by  first Minister of Home Affairs  of India, Shri Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel under Operation Polo.
• The state of Hyderabad under the Nizam included the whole of current day Telangana, the Marathwada region in Maharashtra that included the districts of Aurangabad, Beed, Hingoli, Jalna, Latur, Nanded, Osmanabad, Parbhaniand  districts of Kalaburagi ,Bellary Raichur ,Yadgir, Koppal, Vijayanagara and Bidar in  current day Karnataka.
• The state governments of Maharashtra and Karnataka officially observe September 17 as the Liberation Day.

Hyderabad liberation

• When India gained independence in 1947 and Pakistan was formed, the British gave the remaining princely states a choice to merge with either union or stay independent. One of the largest princely states within the Indian union was Hyderabad, a Hindu-majority region ruled by a Muslim Nizam.
• The Nizam of Hyderabad, Mir Osman Ali Khan, was in a dilemma on whether he should join the Indian union or stay independent. On the other hand, the Majlis-e-Itihadul Muslimeen (precursor of present-day AIMIM) was adamant about the Nizam merging with Pakistan instead of being Independent. Being no more than a puppet to the MIM, the Nizam agreed to keep Hyderabad independent of either union.
• Though the Nizam tried to legitimise the Princely state of Hyderabad by appointing trade officials in European countries and sending delegations to the UNSC, there were civil movements within his territory led by Arya Samaj, Hindu Mahasabha and Hyderabad State Congress to fight for Hindu rights in Hyderabad and merge the state with the Indian Union.
• Nizam feared there would be an uprising by the majority-Hindu community, so he sanctioned the creation of Razakars led by Kasim Razvi, which was to be a paramilitary wing of the MIM.
• Razakars were empowered by Nizam to suppress Hindu uprisings and movements by whatever means possible. Following the green signal from Nizam, the ethnic genocide of Hindus in Rural Telangana began. The Razakars were committed to mass conversions of Hindus to Islam in an attempt to make Hyderabad a Muslim-majority province. The Razakars went village to village and mass-murdered, raped and kidnapped several villagers.
• One such incident is that of Veera Bairanpalli, a village in Telangana which was at the receiving end of the Razakars. Razakars, led by Kasim Razvi, managed to infiltrate the village with the help of the Nizam on their fourth attempt during the festival of Bathukamma. At the borders of the village lay a mud fort which the villagers used to guard themselves against the Jihadis, the Razakars shot all the guards at point blank range and proceeded to massacre the unarmed villagers.
• The Razakars continued their barbaric campaign till the Indian army routed their forces with Operation Polo in 1948, leading to the liberation of Hyderabad from Nizam’s control and accession to the Indian Union. These incidents highlight the sacrifices made by Telangana villagers to ensure the survival of Hinduism in present-day Telangana. Remembering their sacrifices will honour those who lost their lives in these barbaric attempts to erase Hinduism from the face of Deccan India.