The word Razakars evokes different sentiments among those who are familiar with the kind of atrocities or bestial behaviour they demonstrated against the Hindus after the Partition and those who know only some aspects of them due to whitewashing of their misdeeds by Communists historians. However, there are some families of the erstwhile princely state of Hyderabad who have had first hand experience of dealing with them.
One such individual is Gudur Narayana Reddy, a filmmaker from Telangana whose grandfather had a face off with diabolic Kasim Rizvi, confidant of Nizam whose mission was to frighten Hindus in a bid to forcibly convert them into Islamic faith. Rizvi sent Razakars, paramilitary volunteer force of the nationalist party of Hyderabad, to terrorise the peace-loving people of Telangana and districts of Maharashtra, which were part of the princely state. Razakars were told to achieve their anti-national objective.
As a result, they barbarically liquidated believers of Sanatan Dharma and committed criminal assault on their women. In an exclusive interview with Chief Copy Editor Organiser Madhur Tankha, Gudur Narayana Reddy explains what made him produce the film ‘Razakar: the Silent Genocide of Hyderabad’ that was being delayed as the then Government of KCR was creating a spanner in shooting of his film which releases in Hindi and Marathi on April 19. Revolving around the Hyderabad Liberation Movement, the film captures the pathos and struggle of Hindus in the early days of Independence to reclaim their faith and identity in the face of military oppression by Razakars. Excerpts:
What was the catalyst for making the film Razakar in multiple languages?
To begin with, my Dada (grandfather) was my guru. I got my name from him. He was Vatanadar, a kind of landlord, and revenue head under Nizam VII in 1948. From 1790 onwards, my forefathers were Vatandars. Razakars were created by the Nizam of Hyderabad to convert Hindus and make erstwhile Hyderabad a part of Pakistan. To fulfil their objective, sixty thousand women were raped and two lakh Hindus were killed. Therefore, it was my duty to showcase atrocities on Hindus by Razakars on the screen.
“People who don’t learn from history tend to repeat the same mistake in future. I do not want the people of Bharat to face such a silent genocide which was negated in our history and never acknowledged till March 13”
Did your grandfather comply with the command of Nizam?
Absolutely not. Nizam VII had an evil design of making Hyderabad a Muslim country with the name Turkistan, and that too associated with Pakistan. Since he wanted to connect Turkistan with the seashore, he wanted to buy Goa from the Portuguese. Now, Kasim Rizvi had a face off with my grandfather. Communal tensions had worsened day-to-day life making lives of the locals of Hyderabad miserable.
So, Rizvi was looting the praja (public) of Hyderabad?
As the mayhem and looting spree increased beyond imaginable proportions, my mother Gudur Bharati, who was seven-year-old then, was shifted to Bombay. It was done to save her life from Razakars. Today, she is 83-years old. Coming back to your first question, I developed a strong intuition to make this film after I had darshan (obeisance) at Tirupati on January 22, 2022.
Making this historic must have been a painful exercise and opened fresh wounds. That’s why the film took such a long time to complete?
Indeed, it was a painful exercise but I was determined as it is important to enlighten the masses about the dark chapter of Razakars, who created so much bloodshed in Hyderabad that generations recount their misdeeds. I am not afraid of trolling. I am a proud son of Bharat Mata and am not afraid of Congress and Communists, who brushed the entire misdeeds of Razakars under the carpet in their bid to create minority appeasement.
How did you ensure that the film is in sync with today’s generations, many of whom may not be aware about atrocities inflicted on believers of Sanatan Dharma by Razakars?
I made extra efforts in getting the right combination of actors. Now, we have a film which will give an edge of the seat feeling to the audience. The film was scheduled to be released on September 17, 2023 but the Government of KCR neither allowed us to complete the shoot nor release it later. We have spent Rs 50 crore for producing this magnum opus with larger than life sets dating back to 1947-1948 creating the post-Independence look and feel of erstwhile princely state of Hyderabad.
n Will the subject of your film -Hindu genocide by Razakars – lead to consolidation of Hindu votes in the General Elections?
People who don’t learn from history tend to repeat the same mistake in future. I do not want the people of Bharat to face such a silent genocide which was negated in our history and never acknowledged till March 13 (when Union Government decided to officially celebrate the Liberation of Hyderabad on Sep 17)
