Political parties planning to gain weightage over this day as Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has announced the same day as ‘Hyderabad Liberation Day’ Amit Shah to kick off Union govt’s celebrations on Sept 17 in Hyderabad. Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has, meanwhile, announced the decision to celebrate the same day as ‘Telangana National Integration Day’.
By chance, September 17 — the day on which the 224-year-old Princely state of Hyderabad acceded to the Indian Union under pressure 74 years ago — has become a platform for nearly all major political parties to manipulate public mood. This year, they will commemorate September 17 as Liberation Day, Integration Day, or some other such holiday, while downplaying the sentimental baggage associated with the Princely state, where Muslims had ruled for more than two centuries despite the area being largely non-Muslim.
Notably, the multilingual, multireligious realm ruled by the Nizams was renowned for its harmonious religious development. Being the official language, Urdu has been given priority everywhere, even in Telugu-speaking regions.
From elementary school through higher education, Urdu was the language of instruction. Even in terms of professional courses, it was an easy process for Urdu. Members of the united Andhra Pradesh state government who had studied law in Urdu during the late 1960s were included. Of course, there were problems when they interacted with people from other states, particularly those who had learned in the English language. It makes sense why there was animosity toward the Nizam dynasty because they effectively suppressed the regional tongue.
Large land holdings among the Nizams’ feudatories sparked an armed uprising against the ruling class under the banner of the formerly united Communist Party of India. The seventh and final Nizam of Hyderabad’s princely kingdom had briefly expressed interest. The seventh and last Nizam of princely state of Hyderabad had briefly shown interest to accede to Pakistan.
The armed struggle by Communists and the democratic movement launched by the Hyderabad State Congress (formed by Swami Ramananda Tirtha) against the Nizams saw people rallying against suppression of rights, cutting across caste and other lines.
Finally, following the ‘Police action’, the Nizam surrendered to the Indian government. Mohammad Ali Jinnah, first premier of Pakistan, had advocated that Hyderabad should be part of his country, considering the ‘common’ elements of culture and religion.
But Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel had crafted a strategy and accordingly the ‘police action’ took place when then Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru had gone to Britain on an official visit. Even after Hyderabad became a part of India, the positive feelings that some forces had towards Pakistan continued for some time.
For instance, at Khalil Wadi maidan in Nizamabad town of the erstwhile Hyderabad state, people hoisted the national flag of Pakistan on the day when India celebrated its Independence.Religious harmony was somewhat disturbed during the regimes of M. K. Vellodi, head of the transitional government, and B. Ramakrishna Rao, the head of the first government democratically formed under the Constitution of India. The rise of Majlis-e-Ittehadul Musalmeen (MIM) headed by the family of Owaisis did not mend matters.
In this backdrop, the erstwhile state of Hyderabad had to be divided as per the policy of formation of states on linguistic lines in 1956. Consequently, Telugu-speaking areas of the Telangana region – which was the biggest part in Hyderabad state with eight districts – became part of the newly formed Andhra state or Visalandhra (united Andhra Pradesh) on 1 November, 1956.The other two regions, with Marathi- and Kannada-speaking people, were merged with Bombay state and Mysore state respectively.
Meanwhile, the MIM grew extending its influence mainly over the Muslim community. Successive governments could not help following the ‘suggestions’ coming from MIM. As for the possibility of celebrating ‘Hyderabad Liberation Day’, successive governments have turned down such demands mainly because the MIM opposes it on the ground that it would paint in bad light the last Nizam, who, despite being the richest man in the world then, had to bow his head before the ‘Iron Man’ Sardar Patel.
Now all the major parties have suddenly turned their attention to September 17 in an effort to capitalise on public sentiment over the Nizams’ rule. The celebrations on September 17 may have an impact on the upcoming by-elections for the Munugode Assembly.
As a result, the BJP has chosen to celebrate the conquest of Hyderabad for an entire year. The TRS and the Congress have chosen the same route for celebrations to oppose the BJP. It will be interesting to observe if Telangana’s voters fall for the political parties’ ploys! #Khabarlive #hydnews #hyderabadlive #hyderabadi
