Momentous day for lovers of freedom, democracy
By K.Venkateshwarlu
HYDERABAD,
SEPT. 16.
Ye jung hai jung-e-azadi, azadi ke parcham ke tale...(It is a war, the war of independence, of the myriad souls....).
Around this time, 56 years ago, this soul-stirring marching song penned
by Hyderabad's own liberal Leftist poet, Maqdoom Mohiuddin, inspired
many a young lover of freedom to take a plunge into the struggle for the
liberation of Hyderabad State. But the adamant Nizam remained unmoved
and failed to see the writing on the wall.
Far from gracefully accepting the public mood against his autocratic
rule, the Nizam went on to declare Hyderabad an independent state,
pompously claimed to unfurl the Asafia flag on the Red Fort, threatened
to accede the State to Pakistan, sent an emissary to Britain and even
sought UN intervention. Yet, it took just four days and 13 hours,
beginning September 13, 1948, for the Indian Army to tame the "mighty"
Nizam's Army.
Nizam's surrender
"Operation Polo", as the famous "Police Action" was codenamed to couch
what was basically a military operation, brought down the curtains on a
tyrannical era. And when the people of the erstwhile Hyderabad State
encompassing Telangana and parts of Karnataka and Maharashtra, the
largest Princely State, woke up on the dawn of September 17, 1948, they
heard the big news of the Nizam's surrender, dubbed one of the meekest
in history. It not only freed people from enslavement, but facilitated
the integration of Hyderabad into the Indian Union, an event they had
been long pining for.
The best picture of the times that captured one of the decisive moments
in Hyderabad's chequered history said it all. Here was "His Exalted
Highness, Lt. Gen Muzaffar-ul Mulk Wal Mumalik Nizam- ul-Mulk,
Nizam-ud-Dowla, Nawab Sir Mir Osman Ali Khan Bahadur, the Faithful Ally
of the British, Nizam of Hyderabad," arguably one of the richest men in
the world, nearly bowing with a traditional "namaste" before the
redoubtable first Indian Union Home Minister, Sardar Vallabhai Patel, at
the Begumpet Airport.
Significant achievement
Notwithstanding the wrangling among the present day political parties
and whether the celebrations should be official or not, September 17
continues to be a momentous day for old Hyderabadis when they got the
hard earned freedom after several flip flops, a full 13 months after
Indian independence. In commemorating the event, they cannot forget but
recall the chilling accounts of armed marauders of Razakars, a militia
raised by Kasim Razvi of the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, with covert
support from the Nizam's Government, raiding villages, maiming people,
looting and raping women.
Common goal
The Hyderabad liberation struggle was essentially a three-pronged
movement fought often jointly and occasionally against one another by
the Congress, the communists and the Arya Samajis. Notwithstanding their
ideological differences, they fought for achieving the common goal.
"The Nizam paid for his mistakes. He remained stubborn not accepting any
of the conciliatory efforts made by Jawaharlal Nehru. He was offered
full protection and 40 per cent representation to Muslims in the
constitution of a responsible government, though their population was 12
per cent. Exhausting all options, the Nehru Government sent the army,"
recalls Burgula Narsinga Rao, a student activist of that time.
"It was a unique struggle encompassing the fight against the despotic
rule of the Nizam and feudal system, merger of Hyderabad State into the
Indian Union and the armed campaign for land to the tiller," said Ch.
Rajeswara Rao, who had participated in the Telangana armed struggle. His
compatriot and close associate of Maqdoom, Raj Bahadur Gour, adds, "The
land reforms initiated by the first popular government of Burgula
Ramakrishna Rao were the best and unparalleled in the country."
All of them are amused at the desperate attempts of the BJP leaders, to
bask in the reflected glory. "They have absolutely no right. The BJP was
not even born. The only Hindu group that existed was the one-man Hindu
Mahasabha led by Keskar. They are wrongly co-opting Arya Samaj, an
organisation formed essentially to reform Hinduism," said Mr. Narsinga
Rao.
© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu
కామెంట్లు లేవు:
కామెంట్ను పోస్ట్ చేయండి