Gunshots, splattered blood, deadly screams, and a boy impaled on what seems to be a giant sword. These sum up the recently released motion poster of upcoming “pan-Indian” film Razakar: The Silent Genocide of Hyderabad, which claims to tell the story of the atrocities unleashed by the eponymous paramilitary force in the erstwhile princely state of Hyderabad State. Directed by Yata Satyanarayana, the film is being bankrolled by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Gudur Narayana Reddy under the banner of Samarveer Creations, and is expected to be released ahead of the Telangana Assembly elections later this year.
At the poster launch event in Hyderabad on Friday, July 14, the makers of the film said they will release the movie in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, and Hindi languages. The film features actors including Bobby Simha, Vedhika, Prema, and Makrand Deshpande in lead roles. Speaking at the event, director Satyanarayana said Razakar was a film inspired by the struggle for “Hyderabad’s liberation”, and thanked Narayana Reddy for giving him the opportunity to direct it.
Besides Narayana Reddy, senior BJP leaders including former state party chief and Karimnagar Member of Parliament (MP) Bandi Sanjay Kumar, former MP AP Jithender Reddy, and former Maharashtra Governor Chennamaneni Vidyasagar Rao attended the poster launch event. The party’s leaders had similarly backed recent controversial films such as The Kerala Story and The Kashmir Files, which have been accused of bolstering a propaganda campaign in favour of the BJP’s Hindu nationalist agenda with their anti-Muslim narratives.
At the event, Bandi Sanjay said Vivek Agnihotri’s The Kashmir Files had inspired him and the producer to make the film. “When we watched the film Kashmir Files, Narayana and I both thought we should make a movie called Patabasti (Old City) Files. But we decided to do the film Razakar first. Today’s youngsters do not know enough about our history, and it’s great that someone wants to show them that history,” he said. He added that while some people described Nizam's rule as a “golden age”, that was a wrong assumption. “Pseudo-secular people are not revealing the real history to avoid upsetting some people and to indulge in vote bank politics,” he alleged.
BJP’s support for Razakar sits in tandem with its aggressive push over the past year to christen September 17 (the day on which the erstwhile princely state became part of the Union of India 75 years ago) as the ‘Hyderabad Liberation Day’ — indicating the “liberation” of Hyderabad from Nizam Osman Ali Khan’s ‘tyranny’. Considering neither the BJP nor its ideological parent had any role in the events that led to Hyderabad’s annexation, the attempt was widely seen by critics and opposition parties as an attempt to politically hijack the region’s history.
Though the AIMIM and its leaders have said from time to time that they have nothing to do with the old MIM leader and Razakar leader Qasim, the BJP has made continuous efforts to link the two groups. Reminding Telangana about the cruelty unleashed by the Razakars would help distance voters from AIMIM and additionally gain them Hindu votes by telling the story of the Nizam’s rule, the BJP hopes.
What the BJP conveniently also hides is the fact that from 1946-51, Telangana had also witnessed a very powerful communist Party of India-led peasant rebellion against feudal landlords appointed by the state. The communist leadership and its cadres also faced off against the Razakars in the tumultuous 1947-48 period, and post it with the Indian army as the armed struggle as it is called, continued till 1951 until it was called off. This entire episode is missing from the BJP's narrative.
"Razakar" The very word was terrorizing. 10s 0f 1000s men, women and children of Telangana were killed. Atrocities on women and children were unbearable, even to hear.
— Konda Vishweshwar Reddy (@KVishReddy) July 15, 2023
At "Razakar" The movie poster release yesterday. Produced by my friend Gudur Narayan Reddy, directed by Yata… pic.twitter.com/PF2PKRdCUr
Here’s the powerful and intense first look of #Razakar!
— Mallikarjun Tatikonda (@mallitimes) July 14, 2023
Silent Genocide of Hyderabad
More updates rolling out soon… #YataSatyanarayana #GudurNarayanReddy #BheemsCeciroleo @SamarveerCLLP pic.twitter.com/aMhYo0pcj6
The Razakars were a paramilitary volunteer force empowered by Qasim Razvi, a fanatical leader with a Muslim supremacist outlook who took over the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) party in 1946. With an aim to maintain Hyderabad as an independent princely state, members of the militia infamously went around attacking people and indiscriminately pillaging villages, often targeting Hindus. The victims included Muslim activists who stood in support of the merger as well.
During Operation Polo, the Razakar force had become the primary line of resistance to the Indian army. After the princely state was merged with the Indian union, the force was disbanded and Razvi was jailed. Later, he was allowed to take asylum in Pakistan.