Hyderabad: Koti school recalls Mahatma Gandhi visit

Hyderabad: Mahatma Gandhi’s visit to the 112- year-old Vivek Vardhini Educational Society in Jambagh, Koti, is an experience that the school greatly cherishes.

On the eve of the 150th anniversary of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, regarded as the Father of the Nation, the school rekindles memories of that visit on April 1, 1929.

Ninety-one-year old K. Sridhar was present on that historic occasion and recalls: “I was with my parents in the school when Gandhiji came and talked about the freedom movement in the country. He said that he had come to Hyderabad to receive donations from the people for the freedom movement. He insisted that everyone present must have freedom as their goal and must cooperate with him on that.”

Hyderabad was then a state governed by the Nizam. Anant Tope, a member of the educational society, says that “during that time the Nizam had a lot of Afghani soldiers in his army. But when Gandhiji came here, there was no unforeseen incident as the Nizam realised that he was an important person, and the meeting was carried out peacefully.”

During his visit to the school, Gandhiji spoke about the importance of rural employment and empowerment.
He managed to collect `15,000 for the freedom struggle, Prabhakar Budhale, general secretary of the society told Deccan Chronicle.

“Gandhiji was happy to learn that Hindus and Muslims were looked upon equally under the Nizam’s rule,” Mr Budhale added.

Many other national leaders have visited the school in the decades leading to Hyderabad State’s 1948 merger with the Indian Union, said Mr Tope, a life member and former governing council advisor to the society.

The school was run by Maharashtrians and Gandhiji welcomed the cordial relationship they shared with the Nizams, even during the Razakar movement.

The society became a centre for volunteers to join the freedom movement.