Ahead of the Assembly elections in the state, when everyone anticipated Amit Shah to tear into the K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR)-led government for not observing 17 September as ‘Telangana Liberation Day’–an issue which is part of its arsenal–the Union Home Minister conspicuously toned down his aggression against Chief Minister KCR at the Telangana Liberation Day event held on Sunday, September 17, at Parade grounds in Hyderabad. On September 17, 1948, the Hyderabad State was annexed with India.
Addressing the gathering, Shah alleged that the history of the ‘liberation’ movement has been ignored and neglected by the political parties for more than seven decades for “vote bank politics.” In 2022, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has decided to commemorate September 17 as ‘Telangana Liberation day’ while the state government headed by K Chandrashekhar Rao observed it as ‘National Integration Day.’ While the BJP employs the language of ‘liberating’ people of Hyderabad State from the Nizam, a Muslim ruler, the KCR government perceives this as creating a division between communities and observes the day as ‘Integration Day.’
Recalling the efforts of the then-Home Minister Sardar Vallabai Patel to annex Hyderabad state, he said, “While the nation celebrated Independence, the people of Telangana had to endure 399 days of suffering. The Razakar of the Nizam was forced to surrender as a result of the brave police-action plan carried out by Sardar Vallabhai Patel without any loss of life in the Hyderabad state.”
He claimed that several groups like Hindu Mahasabha, Arya Samaj, youth organisations and farmer groups protested against the Nizam, and a final plan was developed by Sardar Vallabhai Patel and KM Munshi, he said.
Slamming political parties for failing to observe the Liberation day Shah said, “In the past 75 years, no political party supported the idea of celebrating September 17 as Liberation Day solely for voter appeasement. It was Prime Minister Modi who made the decision to observe the day as Telangana Liberation Day.”
He said that the initiative is aimed to reawaken the spirit of patriotism among the young and the new generation by reminding them of the struggle for liberation, to pay tribute to the leaders who fought for the cause and realise their vision for the state.
Shah also paid tribute to notable Telangana freedom fighters like Ravi Narayan Reddy, Burgula Ramakrishna Rao, Kaloji Narayan Rao, and others.
Union Minister Kishan Reddy and BJP state president, Kishan Reddy also addressed the event and said, “The Razakars under the Nizam’s rule committed atrocities, including torturing Hindu women, while the country was celebrating independence," He alleged that the Congress Party deliberately neglected and intended to cover up the history of the movement where the people had heroically battled the Razakars.
Read: A movie on Razakars' violent history in BJP's arsenal for Telangana
It should be noted that the Sunderlal Committee, which was established by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru after the annexation of Hyderabad, estimated that between 26,000 and 40,000 Muslim lives were lost throughout the state as the Razakars continued to target Muslims and armed Hindu communal groups, particularly in the Marathwada and Karnataka regions.