BJP all set to take the importance of the Liberation Day to a new level

Gujarat and Telangana have a close relationship in terms of the Liberation Day as it was the Iron Man of India, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel who made the Nizam surrender and merged Telangana with India. Hyderabad, in fact, would have taken more time to surrender under the then adamant rulers but for the dedication shown by Sardar Patel who saw the merger of 650 princely states in India. It is time that the people of Telangana  state create awareness amongst the masses in bringing about greater awareness about the history of Telangana.

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will carry forward the legacy of Sardar Patel and see that every state in the country is developed fast. Mr Modi is committed to the development and transformation of Telangana into one of the best states in the country.

 

On  September 17, 1948, the Indian Army forced the Nizam of Hyderabad to surrender and merge his kingdom with the Indian Union, 13 months after India had become an independent country.

The day is celebrated every year in Telangana as Hyderabad Liberation Day.

 

After reports that the Nizam’s Army was committing atrocities against innocent civilians, Sardar Patel ordered the army into Hyderabad. The army action was called as ‘Operation Polo’. People know it as ‘Police Action’. 

 

A three-member delegation of Congress leaders, consisting of Pandit Sunderlal, Kazi Abdul Ghaffar and Moulana Misri, toured Hyderabad for three weeks in December 1948, and submitted a report. Their report was so explosive that it has not been declassified till date.

 

A request for the Sunderlal report on Hyderabad, through the RTI Act is pending, according to the sources. Historians say the then government was not pleased with the work done by the committee, with Sardar Patel personally chiding the members. 

 

I have copies of the letters written by Sardar Patel to Kazi Abdul Ghaffar questioning his decision to go to Hyderabad. The term ‘Police Action’ was a misnomer because if the Indian government had called it military action, it would have invited the intervention of the United Nations as it would have been seen as India invading another state. The Nizam did go to the UN, but he withdrew his complaint on September 17 in a broadcast to Hyderabad state.

 

In 1969, when the demand to form Telangana came up, Indira Gandhi did not agree to it because she knew a case was on in the UN and it would not be prudent to create Telangana which was the same geographical area as the old Hyderabad state. 

 

 

 

Another man from Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is taking forward the initiative of Sardar Patel. So he gave a call to the BJP cadre to celebrate September 17 as Telangana Vimochana day, as well as Sankalp day, with a door-to- door campaign. 

 

In fact, it is not because of Sardar Patel that Hyderabad was liberated. Hyderabad did not get independence on August 15, 1947. It was under Nizam rule. Civil rights did not exist. People in rural areas suffered atrocities at the  hands  of feudal lords. The bonded labour system existed. People were denied education in their mother tongue.  

 

In 1935, the Andhra Maha Sabha, was formed to promote the Telugu language. Later, they felt that apart from promoting the language, there was a need to uproot the evils in society. The  Andhra Maha Sabha, under the leadership of Ravi Narayana Reddy and others, awakened the people of Telangana to fight against feudalism and the Nizam. Finally, the Communist Party decided that direct fighting was the only solution to end the autocratic rule of Nizam. 

 

On September 11, 1947, Communist leaders Ravi Narayana Reddy, Maqdhoom Moinuddin and Baddam Yellareddy gave a call for arm struggle. In response to this call,  the people and peasants of Telangana  joined in. Day by day, Dalams lead by the Communist Party stated liberating the villages from the feudal lords and distributed  thousands of acres to  the peasants and poor. About 3,000 villages were liberated and 10 lakh acres of land were distributed. About 4,500 Communists sacrificed their lives. 

The Nizam, weakened, tried different strategies. Taking advantage of the situation, the Indian army was sent to Hyderabad in September 1948. Due to lack of support from the people, the Nizam was forced to surrender before the Indian government. 

The BJP,  or its predecessors, have no role in the struggle against the Nizam. But the Sangh Parivar, which was banned by Sardar Patel, is trying to distort history. They are trying to add a communal  shade by projecting the struggle of people against the Nizam as a fight between a Muslim ruler and Hindus. This is false. 

 

Amit Shah, who was once exiled from Gujarat by court, has no moral right to talk about the Telangana freedom struggle. Telangana people, with their historical secular background, are clever enough to discard the venomous attempts of the Sangh Parivar.