Intro: September 17 was a historic milestone for Telangana, which the TRS is now unwilling to recognise for petty political interests.
Police arrested 400 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activists, including Secunderabad MP Bandaru Dattatreya its State President and four legislators for trying to hoist the national flag at Golconda fort to mark the Hyderabad Liberation Day on September 17. While the counterparts in Karnataka and Maharashtra celebrate the event with aplomb with respective chief ministers hoisting the national flag as it is not official yet in Telangana.
| Telangana |
It may be recalled the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) led by present Chief Minister and his senior party functionaries had demanded the then Congress Government led by Kiran Kumar Reddy last year to declare and celebrate as “Liberation Day” and also fought pitched battles with the police in many places and even claimed that it is their birthright to hoist the national flag defying prohibitory orders. Now TRS ruling Deputy Chief Minister Mohammad Mahmood Ali, in defense says that his party had racked up the issue prior to forming the government only to spread awareness about the day, which he claimed was when Telangana achieved democracy in the true sense of the word only to lose it again following its merger with Andhra in 1956. Such a poor defense was an amusement to many including local televison news channel that lampooned the government of the day and replayed the statements made by its star campaigners last year again and again exposing the hypocrisy and political opportunism of the ruling party. Many attribute the ruling party's reluctance to declare September 17 as Liberation Day to impending Greater Hyderabad municipal elections where TRS is most likely to ally and do not want to displease MIM which now controls the Hyderabad Municipality.
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“September 17 was a historic milestone for Telangana, which the TRS is now unwilling to recognise for petty political interests,” said BJP state President and elaborated how the day had marked the end of an oppressive era, accentuated by the presence of the Razakars, who he described were part of “the Nizam's private militia.It indeed signified people's freedom from the oppressive rule of the Nizam. BJP accused the K Chandrasekhar Rao-led government of going back on its pre-poll promise of bestowing official status on the Hyderabad Liberation Day. The “flip-flop”, BJP alleged, was rooted in the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi's (TRS) attempts at appeasing the city's Muslim population by intentionally concealing the “autocratic” image of the last Nizam.
Liberal Muslim intellectuals dismiss arguments about the day freeing people from the clutches of Nizam as Liberation Day are baseless. They term the development that was bound to happen as it was delayed briefly as the Nizam took time to explore the possibility of retaining Hyderabad's status as an independent state.”
Thus to some sections the role of Sardar Patel late Home Minister is found dubious as if the Indian Army then sent to tame the Nizam, the then prince of Hyderabad was just insignificant not withstanding brutalities of the Razakar regime. Pt Sunderlal, who was a communist and had cozy relationship with Jawaharlal Nehru gave a report which was totally biased and tutored by Razakarites. Even then, he had said that the revenge actions were mostly in the Marathwada and not in Telangana and Hyderabad.
Iron Man of India Sardar Patel had fewer options then. He ordered Army to march into Hyderabad and was forced to disarm Razarkars and Nizam Army to restore peace and order thus integrating with India like any other princely state. Thus Sardar Patel determined Indian people will prevail.
—Nagaraj Rao from Hyderabad
