The legal heirs of Mir Osman Ali Khan, the seventh and final Nizam of Hyderabad have filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), against the renaming of the Osmania University Library in the city, to Bharat Ratna Dr B R Ambedkar Library. The petition contended that the move was illegal and did not follow the due process of law. It also asked the court to direct the Telangana government to restore the library's original name.
Najaf Ali Khan and Mirza Mohib Baig, the grandson and great-grandson of the Nizam, have filed the petition, which is expected to come up for a hearing in a few days. The petition stated that no Government Order (GO) was issued to change the name and also appealed to the HC to stop using the new name till their plea was heard and a judgment is delivered.
“The decision of the Osmania University officials has deeply hurt the sentiments of the heirs of late Mir Osman Ali Khan Bahadur,” the petition stated.
Last month, activists belonging to various organisations reached the campus of Hyderabad’s Osmania University to oppose renaming of the University’s library to Bharat Ratna Dr BR Ambedkar Library. They started raising a few slogans, when the police quickly removed them from the campus, even as the renaming ceremony was underway.
The library was initially called Osmania University library, named after the Nizam, who had also set up the entire university. It was established in 1918 along with the University and later moved to another building, which was inaugurated by the then President Dr Radhakrishnan in 1963.
The demand to rename the library came from Dalit groups; Nawab Najaf Ali Khan, the grandson of Mir Osman Ali Khan, opposed it, along with some other activists and advocates.
In a video addressing the public that was released last month, Najaf Ali Khan said that it was his grandfather who built the massive library, containing nearly 5 lakh books and 6,000 manuscripts.
“Even though Dr BR Ambedkar is respected and loved by everyone in this country, not only for drafting the Constitution but for being a social worker, it is hurtful to many people that they are trying to rename it,” said Nawab Najaf Ali Khan. He also wrote a letter to the Chancellor of Osmania University, Governor ESL Narasimhan, urging him to make the University revoke their decision to rename the library.