Although Bharat became independent on August 15, 1947 but, simultaneously, 562 princely States within Bharat also got the choice to accede with either Bharat or Pakistan. Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel and his trusted secretary and famous ICS officer VP Menon were entrusted with the responsibility of uniting the provinces into one nation. With efficient leadership and a brilliant strategy, Sardar Patel and VP Menon made the impossible possible, and within a year, 562 princely states were ready to merge with Bharat.
However, the areas which were still not merged with Bharat were principally Kashmir, Junagadh and Hyderabad. Among them, Hyderabad was not only the largest princely state, but its total geographical area was also way larger than the United Kingdom. The princely state of Hyderabad included many areas of states like present-day Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Chhattisgarh. Hyderabad was then ruled by Nizam Usman Ali Khan, the seventh ruler of the Nizam Asaf Jahi dynasty.
However, he was a mere puppet, as real power was in the hands of Kasim Rizvi, one of the advisors to the Nizam and a powerful leader of what is known today as the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen. Kasim was leading a private army of his own followers, known as the Razakars. According to sources, the number of Razakars ranged between 20000 and 2 lakhs. According to these Razakars, either Hyderabad should have been an independent state, where Sharia law would’ve been in force, or it should have been merged with Pakistan.
Even though Hyderabad was ruled by radical Razakars, the people there not only opposed their rule but were also willing to merge with Bharat at any cost. Also, as Pakistan was about 1500 km away from the Hyderabad region, it wasn’t logical to talk about their inclusion.
The Razakars resorted to the path of terror. They targeted non-Muslims and not only innocent people were sacrificed, but also the women and girls were mistreated, on the same lines as during the Direct-Action violence in Bengal or during the Partition of undivided Punjab. The Nizam allowed all these atrocities.
It was decided that Hyderabad should be asked to sign a standstill agreement, in which the Bharatiya Army would be stationed outside the borders of Hyderabad and Hyderabad would treat its citizens fairly. But the Nizam refused to accept the proposal due to the fierce demonstrations and violence of Kasim Rizvi’s Razakars. The standstill without troop stationing couldn’t be sustained as atrocities on non-muslim populations were rising day by day, and finally, Sardar Patel had to resort to the use of force. Military operations under Operation Polo began on 13 September 1948. The Bharatiya army forced the Razakars to flee the battlefield. Finally, at 5 pm on September 17, 1948, the Nizam announced a ceasefire. Major General Jayanto Nath Chaudhuri accepted the surrender of Hyderabad Chief of Army Staff, Major General Syed Ahmed Al Edroos and Hyderabad was officially merged with Bharat.
The State of Hyderabad was renamed thus by the fifth Qutb Shahi Sultan of Golconda, Mohammad Quli (r.1580-1612). It is located on the banks of the Musi River. On September 21, 1687, the Golconda Sultanate came under the rule of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, and Mir Qamruudin Chin Qilich Khan, the son of Aurangzeb’s General Ghaziuddin Khan Feroz Jang, became the ruler of the state who claimed his ancestry to first Khalifa, Abu Bakr.
The Nizam’s demands were technically declined as Mountbatten opined that Berar was practically integrated with central provinces. Therefore, any changes in the status quo could be changed with the consent of the people of the area. Similarly, the Dominion status for Hyderabad was also rejected as Mountbatten firmly stated that His Majesty’s Government would only accept through either of the two new dominions. These proposals were unacceptable, and the delegation returned to Hyderabad.
The last viceroy of Bharat and the first governor general after independence, Lord Mountbatten, was hopeful for Hyderabad’s accession with Bharat, and he pleaded that some extra time should be given to Nizam, to educate the 15 per cent minority, which was holding the most of the top position.
On August 8, Nizam again wrote to Mountbatten to not accede with Bharat but enter into an agreement with Bharat with conditions of almost autonomy as an independent sovereign state, especially the demand of privilege of not to align with Bharat in case of any war with Pakistan.
After several rounds of negotiations, in November 1947, Hyderabad signed a standstill agreement with the dominion of Bharat, continuing all previous arrangements except for the stationing of Bharatiya troops in the state. However, with the rise of militant razakars with whose support Nizam wanted to establish an independent Islamic state, the life of the majority of Hindus became hell. In order to curb the menace of militant Razakars and Nizam, it became necessary for Bharat to take punitive action against the state of Hyderabad in September 1948, leading to the surrender of Nizam and signing the final accession with Bharat.
Situation in Hyderabad.
In the Hindu majority Hyderabad, the Nizam ensured that Hindus didn’t even have access to fundamental rights. He tried to convert Hyderabad into a sovereign Islamic state. Nizam was a ‘trusted friend’ of the British even during Lord Reading’s time, and because of the confidence he enjoyed with British, he started singing `independent Hyderabad’ tune.
The Hyderabad people under foreign-rule in an independent Bharat started agitating for freedom. Nizam tightened the state machinery and furthered his oppressive dictatorial regime. He acquired a religious organisation ‘ittehaadul musalmeen’ to support himself and his regime. This organisation started publicising that `Muslims were rulers and Hindus were ruled, and nizam represented the power of Muslims’. This religious organisation inducted it’s religious army `razakars’ into the arena. The Nizam had multiplied the percentage of Muslims in Hyderabad by settling Muslims from other regions in Hyderabad. Majlis is more accurately described as a Muslim cultural-religious organisation allied with the Nizam’s Government that became increasingly chauvinistic in character as communitarian conflict amplified in the state in the 1930s. As for its ideals, the organisation’s founder, Bahadur Yar Jang, had “reduced the Nizam from the personification of sovereignty to its mere symbol,” by propagating the view that “power resided not in the person of the ruler but in the community of Muslim believers who allowed him to rule.” Following this logic, Hyderabad, according to the Majlis, should be declared a Muslim state in which every Muslim “became a participant and a stakeholder in sovereignty.”
Bahadur Yar Jang died in 1944. One of his most significant successors was Kasim Razvi, who formed the Razakars, the paramilitary wing of the Majlis. It was under Razvi that the Majlis became more extreme in character. The Majlis was opposed to accession to Bharat in 1947 and the leader who succeeded Bahadur Yar Jang, Kasim Razvi, advised the Nizam to “enter into relations with Pakistan before it was too late,” to the effect of acceding to non-contiguous, geographically far-removed Pakistan. Understanding how ludicrous such a suggestion was, Nizam labelled him as “mad” and a “blackguard.”
Nizam had started acquiring weapons clandestinely by aeroplanes with the help of foreigners like Sydney Cotton. All the factories in Hyderabad state were converted into arms-manufacturing units. The Nizam then entered into a double game; while on one hand, he was building his army, he also started peace negotiations with the Govt of Bharat. He also started attacking Hindus by spreading hatred against them in the name of religious ‘Jihad’. Razakars spread terror and fear everywhere by looting people and raping women.
The razakars attacked many villages in Telangana region, looting people, raping women and conducting massacres, and spread the reign of terror. In this atmosphere of fear, people in some places started gathering courage and defied the rulers. As an act of subterfuge, Nizam Government then started ‘peace committees’ to mislead Hindus. This was a ploy to fool Hindus, and they showed that Hindu members were also on these committees. For example, in Janagama, the Industries dept supervisor, Sri MN Reddy and the Agriculture dept supervisor, Sri Satthagopacharyulu, were part of the peace committee. But if the Hindu members complained against razakars, their lives were in grave peril. And the sham became quite apparent, as in the ‘peace committee’ meeting once, Sri Shatagopacharyulu condemned the extreme atrocities of razakars; the very next day, he was dragged to the Janagama road and shot dead. When Sri MN Reddy complained against razakars more mildly, he was threatened that he would be killed.
In the town of Thipparthi, Muslim officers used to conduct arms exercises with people, without civil-military differentiation. They would train Hindus in shooting weaponry and get them to kill other fellow Hindus. At the same time, the Nizam used to publicise that they would protect people with the setting up of peace committees. This founding of `peace’ was so terrifyingly evident, as was illustrated by Sri MN Reddy; he was travelling on the Kodakandla-rangapur road. This area is 6kms away from Inanoor police station, and he saw 5 corpses hung on a tamarind tree. He immediately asked the villagers nearby; the bodies were of 5 Brahmins. A group of 7 brahmins were returning on that road after attending a death ceremony the previous day, they were accosted by a peace-keeping razakar gang. The razakars caught hold of all 7 brahmins, 2 of them fled away. They concluded on their own that these five persons were Govt agents. They hung them to the branches of the tamarind tree, put a fire beneath them so as not to burn the ropes, and killed them by burning all the five Brahmins alive. The razakars then left the corpses hanging on the tree to send a strong message to the other Hindus in the area. The silver waist ornaments on three of them were twisted and turned black; the silver coins they obtained from the death ceremony were found in the ashes. The dhotis they wore and their bodies were charred black; the villagers were terrified and completely shaken at seeing this inhuman ghostly visage.
The evils perpetrated by the brutal Nizam state and razakars exceeded those of British army officer Neil during the 1857 First War of Independence. Neil used to hang Bharatans to death, he used cannons to fire at them. There were no instances of even Neil burning people alive. The credit for burning people alive goes to razakars only, even the demons wouldn’t have done such barbaric acts. Razakars and govt staff together used to raid villages and loot them at night without any qualms. They used to pull and snatch ear-rings and nose rings of women and used to leave them bleeding. They used to collect the bloodied ornaments and hide them under the tables in Sri MN Reddy’s office, and distributed the loot among themselves in the mornings. There was no use in complaining about such dastardly acts. Hindu officers like MN Reddy were immensely distressed but helpless. Even when Hindus condemned such acts, the Nizam Govt not only justified these acts in the name of emerging agitation and establishing peace but oppressed the Hindus even more.
Mohammad Ali Jinnah came to Hyderabad in 1947 and made many provocative statements addressing a big public meeting. He said, ‘we will break the Hindus like chicken necks. We will cut them like radish, which puts the Razakars in an even more aggressive mode.
The meeting hall was filled up with thousands of Muslim people shouting Islamic slogans and Islamic songs. ‘Majlis-ittehadul-musalmeen’ leader Khasim Razvi called by his followers as’ali-janaab siddique millath’ and `salaar-e-azam’, protected by armed razakars on both sides, is moving towards the dias. ‘Shahe Usmaan zindaabad, azaad Hyderabad paayambaad siddique millath khasim razvi’ slogans greeted him. Razvi made a surcharged speech saying he was determined that Hyderabad would continue to remain independent. He said that Nizam made a Stand-Still agreement with Govt of Bharat and mentioned the Residency building. At that time ,KM Munshi, Agent General of Govt of Bharat, was residing there. Razvi threatened that the Residency building is a symbol of Hyderabad’s sovereign state; hence, if KM Munshi doesn’t vacate the building, they will raze it to the ground. The assembled Muslim crowd applauded him and endorsed his idea. As a result, the Nizam sent orders to Sri KM Munshi to change his residence from Residency to Bolarum house. And the Residency building became the Police headquarters. This development was not only part of Aizam and Razvi’s strategy, but it was also a political win for Razvi.
In 1947, as per the then circumstances, Govt of Bharat said that those provinces which do not wish to merge into Bharat or Pakistan can remain independent. Taking this as a pretext, Nizam felt that he could remain independent in mainland Bharat. The Nizam history reveals another historical truth. The Nizam royalty have always bowed down before every empire, initially the Marathas, afterwards the French and later the British, to whom they remained loyal servants. This mindset reached its pinnacle when Nizam begged the British not to leave them helpless, as the British empire was withdrawing from Bharat.
In the fast-changing events of the time, in the guise of his religion, Nizam made numerous efforts to remain independent. His fanaticism for Islam and brutal monarchy can be gauged from his own verses, ‘salaatheenee salph, sab hogaye nazre, azal usman musalmaanonkaa therii sultanat se hai nishaan baaki’ – Islamic kingdoms have perished because of political changes, he Osman! But today, your kingdom remains as a symbol for Muslims’. `Banda naakhus hua sunke naara ye thakiibeerjal jalaa, aahi gaya rishtha ye junnaarpar’ – Allah o akbar chants stopped the blowing of conches, it is doom for people wearing the sacred-thread (yagnyopavitham). The Nizam felt that merging his kingdom with Independent Bharat was an insult to him and his royalty. To advise him on constitutional matters, he specially invited well-known lawyer Maleckon and paid him Rs 1 lakh in fees every day.
As part of his plot, he did everything to instigate Islamic fanaticism in the Muslim population. He felt that it would be dangerous to have states of independent Bharat surrounding his kingdom. For which, he would need a sea-port. He even thought about buying Goa from the Portuguese Government. He understood that Govt of Bharat’s approach was against his own plans, and he knew it was impossible to fight with a very powerful Bharatiya army. So, he started making other efforts, which included expanding his army and training them in guerilla warfare. He decided to import arms and weapons from foreign countries as well as manufacture more weaponry from their own factories. As a second front, he developed the Razakar army. He especially brought Pathans to guard his borders. He made preparations to secretly import weapons in aircrafts. He renovated aerodromes in Bidar, Warangal, and Raichur. With a view to bring the Muslim population on par with the Hindu population in Hyderabad, he attracted Muslims from other areas with many assurances and resettled them. He instigated caste disturbances between upper-castes and harijans, and instigated one against the other. Razakars created terror by killings, looting villages, burning homes and raping women. He had his loyalist Hindu ministers in the cabinet. He rejected all positive suggestions from Govt of Bharat and continued with his nefarious designs. We already saw how he treated Govt of Bharat’s representative, KM Munshi who came to Hyderabad as Agent-General.
After some time, Hyderabad kingdom’s Prime Minister, Mir Laiq Ali, went to Cheriyala for a visit. Thousand villagers under the leadership of Immadi Rajireddy went to him and complained about razakar attacks. He simply told them to stay together. With no other option, the villagers in that area started gathering weapons for their own self-defence. They obtained a cannon from Vallapatla Ramachandrarao Deshmukh and mounted it on Bhairavunipalli Burj (tower); plenty of ammunition was always kept ready. The blacksmiths in the village started making iron balls and other weapons. Bekkal, dhoolimetta, thorasal, Jaalapally, Kondapur, Kutigal, Solipur, Ankusipur and many other villages prepared their own self-protection groups. Bhairavunipalli became the anchor village for all these activities. Hence, razakars focused on this village.
Bhuvanagiri deputy collector Iqbal Hashim regarded Bhairavunipalli villagers as rebels and prepared to attack them. The courage and valor of the villagers was like an open challenge to him. Hashim pounced upon the villages with his armed police force in the name of peace-keeping. He ruthlessly shot more than 40 innocent villagers dead in Kodakandla village. Then, with his 150-member armed police troupe, he reached Bhairavunipalli village. The guards on the top of Burj /tower noticed the troupe’s movement and beat the drums. In the pitched battle, Hashim’s troupe was trounced with the firepower of the small cannon. Defeated, Hashim vowed to take revenge and destroy the village. Encouraged by their victory in the battle, the people of Bhairavunipalli grew more confident that they could face the Razakar army fearlessly. But can they face Nizam’s army? They didn’t think much about it. When they came to know that the army surrounded their village, it didn’t occur to them to run away into the forests and save their lives. Therefore, the complete destruction of Bhairavunipalli village couldn’t be prevented.
By then, the sun rose, and daylight was spreading. Even as the two youths, Magutam Ramaiah and Bhumaiah, were on the vigil standing on the watch-tower, they were hit by cannon shots and collapsed immediately. The surrounding walls, the interior and the defence equipment were destroyed. The villagers understood that this was not a razakar attack and that there was no use fighting the battle. They showed white-flag from the tower. But the Nizam army continued the cannon firing at the village, and the soldiers entering the village behaved like wild animals. They shot and killed every person they saw; at one place, they threw hand grenades at ten youngsters; Viswanath Bhatt Joshi and others were killed. Many innocent villagers were murdered, including a mother who just delivered a baby. The live baby was found when identifying the bodies. The village’s self-defence was completely destroyed.
Nizam Govt officials and army resorted to barbaric acts after their victory and destroyed Bhairavunipalli as if they defeated the biggest rebellion. They searched houses and tied up all the youth, raped women, looted all the houses, they burnt all the fodder. There seemed to be no difference between religious fanatics and Nizam Govt’s army. All the 92 youngsters were brought outside the village, and there were two older persons, too. The officers stood there trying to test their shooting skills, they estimated how many can they kill with one shot using their 303 rifles. The youngsters were bound in ropes like sacrificial animals, and made to stand in 4 rows, one behind the other. First, an army officer started firing, the same bullet pierced through four young men, and all of them collapsed instantly. Second, a police officer shot and killed three youngsters. Next, civilian officers came forward to show their prowess. Bhuvanagiri Dy Collector Hashim killed eight persons with vengeance. Except for the two older persons, they murdered almost all of them with stun-guns. Razakar army commander Razvi’s chief aid, Mohazzim Hussain (Nalgonda), played a major part in this barbaric massacre. Later, they called Harijans from the village, got all the 90 bodies thrown into an unused well and did a mass burial. The people killed in the village are not part of this count. Around 11 am the same morning, this army, on their return journey, went via Kutigal village. There, they murdered 25 persons, including the village patwari Narasimha Rao.
Janagama people hated the Nizam Govt after the massacres and brutal attacks in Bhairavunipalli and Lingapur villages. But Nizam brought journalists from abroad by spending thousands of rupees, distorted the massacres of Bhairavunipalli, and portrayed them as Govt taking measures to protect law and order after the Hindus of the area resorted to an armed rebellion against Govt. Yet the truth of Nizam’s inhuman acts and bloodshed of innocent people emerged in the public.
80-year-old Sri Irasettappa Vanke of Gorta village stated recently that Nizam had exploited and impoverished the villages. Between 1928 and 1948, for 20 years, the nizam enslaved the Hindus, exploited their hard work and looted them. Anybody who revolted was murdered. In the first act of resistance in Gorta, Sri Vanke, too, underwent one-year imprisonment. The moment Nizam declared that he was running an independent regime, every Muslim started behaving like a ruler himself. Those in power, especially, became dictators and oppressed other villagers. Muslim officials in Huyanabad, Kalyan, Balki, Rajeswar, Ghodavadi, Saigaon, Mohekar and other villages started harassing, looting and killing Hindus.
They would enter Hindu homes, drag the men out and murder them, followed by rapes of the girls and women. These violent acts were indescribable. In one instance, they started to stab and kill all the men; they dragged the last youngest brother too outside, and his pregnant sister fell on him and started crying. The cruel murderers hit her in the stomach; she gave birth to a baby and died then and there. The child being called Babu is surviving today. Evil rule prevailed in the village on that day; they raped every woman that they came across, and several women became victims of bazaars sexual assaults. There was no one to face their brutality on that day. Among the 50 persons murdered, these are a few names- Aniruddhappa, Mulusetty, Jagabetti, Sivappa, Dhangar, Sivappa maitri, Maruthi appakone, Dholappa kanaje, Ramarao pataje, Gurappa kanaje, Bhimanna rajole, Saranappa kanakati, Chinnappa baradari, Gurappa baradari, Kasappa madhukanti, Virupaakshappa mathapathi, Basavappa vanke and many others.
Nizam, whose ambition was to establish the Islam- asafiya empire (sultanat-e-asafia Islamia), proclaimed independence and declared himself His Majesty the Nizam after 1947. His was the most oppressive rule, implementing extreme brutalities on hapless Hindus. He wanted to be an `independent kingdom’ in a newly independent Bharat nation. He increased the Muslim religious influence with the organizational support of Ittehadul Musalmeen and protected his regime with the cruelties unleashed by the razakars. Even the then-former British PM Winston Churchill supported `independent Hyderabad’ and argued that it could remain as a `buffer state’ like Switzerland is in Europe.
Razakar commander Khasim Razvi gradually became a self-created problem for Nizam. He began to think that he was in the mould of great military commanders in history like Field Marshal Rommel. He met Iron Man of Bharat, Sardar Patel and said Hyderabad would remain independent. Sardar Patel remarked briefly, ‘no one can prevent anyone from committing suicide’. Razvi made inflammatory speeches to instigate Muslims; he boasted that he would capture the capital, Delhi and hoist the `Asafia’ flag on Red Fort. But within three days of the Bharatiya army’s entry into Hyderabad, the Nizam’s army and razakars laid down their arms and surrendered. Nizam simply shifted blame to Razvi and razakar army, and surrendered to Bharat.
After Police Action, a special court was constituted for the trial of Khasim Razvi, where he stood in the dock as a mass murderer and a dacoit. The court had sentenced him to seven years’ severe prison punishment. From an ordinary lawyer to a rogue army commander who projected himself as a Field Marshal, ultimately, Razvi had to show himself in his true colours as a common dacoit and looter. Because of the stupendous efforts by Intelligence dept head Sri Narsing Prasad, Razvi was convicted in the trial with clear evidence and witnesses, and he had to undergo stringent punishment.
Role of “Majlis-I-Ittehad-Ul-Muslemeen” & Razakars in Nizam’s Administration
Mir Osman Ali Khan, the last of the Asaf Jahi dynasty, was under the control of a fanatic organisation by the name “Majlis-I-Ittehad-Ul-Muslemeen”. It was the voice of ‘Ittehad’ that gained victory in the state affairs and not Nizam’s choice. There was a considerable influx of outsiders who wielded a big deal of influence on the affairs of state administration. So it was a matter of worry for the local Muslims about their future, privileges and employment opportunities. As a result, the Mulki and non-Mulki fight became more spectacular in the state. The non-Mulki group, for their safety, began a movement of “Ittehad-ul-Muslemeen” (Muslims are one) to gain the popular support of local Muslims to realize their dream of Azad Hyderabad.
This fanatic institution came into existence in 1926, and its founder president was Mahamad Nawaz Khan. The Pathans and the Rohillas joined the group. So this group was called the ‘Razakar’s (servant of God), and under the leadership of Bahaduryar Jung and Kasim Razvi, the organization rose to a key position in state affairs. It is needless to say that Nizam supported it.
Bahaduryarjung assumed the charge of ‘Ittehad’ in 1927, and under him, the organization grew as a powerful check on Nizam’s pre-negatives. Between 1927-28 Bahaduryarjung demanded that the Hyderabad state should be declared as Muslim state. It was a great shock to Arya Samaj, nationalists Hindu Mahasabha and liberal-minded Muslims who piously desired a responsible government for the restoration of political, civil and religious liberties in the state.
Bahaduryar Jung died in 1944, and on the consequent death of Jung, the Nizam appointed Abdul Hasan in charge of Ittehad affairs. He was a liberal-minded Muslim and had a soft corner for Arya Samaj’s activities and the state congress programmes. So Abdul Hasan was not a person who danced according to the tunes of Nizam. So Nizam appointed Kasim Razvi as president of Ittehad in 1946. The activities of Ittehad became more intensive from 1946 onwards and reached a climax between 1947 and 1948. This period of Razvi is generally termed as ‘Reign of Terror’. Let us have a glance at Kasim Razvi’s career.He originally belonged to Latur in Maharashtra. He completed his graduation from Aligarh Muslim University and began his legal practice at Latur.
Kasim Razvi established the Razakar institution in Hyderabad in 1947. Under his leadership, Muslims took solemn pledges as crusaders to sacrifice their lives for Ittehad. “In the name of Allah – I do hereby promise to fight by power in the Deccan.” Razvi had an excellent skill in organising men and material. He declared openly that the Muslims were the rulers of Hyderabad and the Hindus had no share in the affairs of state administration. The state cabinet was formed as per his guidelines, Shia officials were made to retire from service, and the Sunnis got the upper hand in the state administration. He held all powers to control the State administrative machinery. Syed Taqiuddin, a follower of Razvi, was made in charge of the spy department. The new police minister, Moin Nawaz Jung, was asked to hand over old rises to Ittehad and to retain the new ones in police custody. The police officials were duly instructed not to inspect and check the vehicles carrying the arms and ammunition meant for Ittehad. So Razvi was nothing but a defacto ruler.
To achieve his goal, Razvi had a network of Razakar organisations in the State. He stationed Razakar groups in 52 centres of Hyderabad. Each centre had 2000 trained Razakars. Here, Razakar volunteers were enrolled and given training on how to operate weapons. In the Hyderabad Karnataka region, such Razakar forces were stationed at Bidar, Gulbarga, Aland, Yelsangi, Raichur, Gangavati, Surpur, Kuknur, Kushtagi, Hanamsagar Rajoor, Koppal and Tungabhadra. The strength of Razakars in their centres varied from 400 to 650. The district headquarter had a special group of 2000 Razakars.
In each district, a committee was formed consisting of a collector, superintendent of police, and nominees of Razvi to monitor the activities. Taluka officials were instructed to assist in enrolling Razakar in towns and villages. Such newly recruited Razakars were to receive training for 21 days in looting, arson and operating weapons by the retired army and police officials.
By January 1948, 30 thousand Razakar volunteers were enrolled at Hyderabad, and by July – August – 1948, the strength increased up to one lakh. Raichur and Gulbarga districts have special forces; the details are as follows.
The Ittehad had its own transport wing, which included lorries, jeeps, and trucks. The State Government Radio Service was fully utilised by the Ittehad to broadcast its programmes. Ittehad published seven dailies and six weeklies in Urdu, and these papers published speeches of Razvi prominently on the front pages to seek support from the Islamic world. The activities of Razakar volunteers were as follows.
The Razakar atrocities further continued in the village. The Belur Razakars, under the guidance of Rasul, killed Basappa and Anneppa brutally in front of the Laxmi Mandir of Gorta. In addition to this, the Razakars caught hold of Gurpadappa, Ram Rao Patwari, Narayan Rao Moktedar Basappa Malipatil and butchered them like animals in the village. The panick-stricken people of Gorta village gathered at Mahduppa Dumane’s house for safety. About 800 people got shelter here, and local leaders like Kashappa Bhalke and Nagappa Hulember had rifles with which they continued their fight against Razakars till evening. During this conflict, Channappa Biradar, Maruti Kone and Mallappa Jagshetty became victims. From other directions the villagers used to throw stones at the Razakars and checked Razakars from committing further atrocities. One lady who was pregnant prayed not to kill her brother, but the Razakars kicked the lady on her stomach, and the lady died on the spot, and the child came out from her womb. This was the nature of the atrocity of Razakars. In the night, the villagers fled to a safer place. On this occasion, Sidda Vira Swami, Rachoti Sivacharya, Suresh Swami Hiremath, Gurpad Sivacharya, and others helped the needy with food and shelter.
The very next day, Razakars again came to Gorta and attacked Dumane’s house and looted it. The entire village had a desert look; people had gone to safer places and taken shelter in refugee camps. There were heaps of human skeletons in the street. About 200 villagers were murdered brutally. There was none to visit the dead bodies. After hearing this tragic news, Acharya Vinoba Bhave, Swami Ramanand Tirth and K. M. Munsi visited Gorta (B), and the report was sent to the Union Government. It is said that the tears rolled down from Jawaharlal Nehru’s eyes when he heard the tragic news of Gorta.
In 1947 the Razakars attacked Chitguppa, a paiga unit, as there was a programme of national flag hoisting. Sri Virabhadrappa, father of R. V. Bidappa, was injured, and Appanna and Gundappa were killed in the attack. In the Udgir-Donagaon area also, the Razakars committed atrocities.One Yakub gave trouble to the people of the Torna and Udgir area. There were brave youths in Donagaon village named Chanvir and Manik Rao Mule. These two youths caught hold of Yakub and removed his eyes. After two months, they were arrested in Donagaon, and later, after police action in 1948, they were released with the help of Tilak Chand. It is said that about 150 girls and women committed suicide because Razakars molested them during 1947-48 in the Hyderabad Karnataka region. Ramachandra Virappa of Humanabad, a staunch follower of Arya Samaj, was seriously beaten by the Razakars when he tried to rescue a lady from Razakar’s rape.
Gulbarga:
In the Gulbarga district also, the Razakar atrocities were more intensive during 1947 and 1948. The following villages in the district were victimized. Mahagaon, Hebbal, Kamalapur, Chincholi, Kadaganchi, Nimbarga, Gangapur, Ratkal, Kurikota, Yelsangi Sarasamba, Kalgi, Jewargi and Aland etc.
The Razakars attacked Yelsangi village and looted the household articles, including cash god and food grains. The villagers shifted to the Sholapur refugee camp. The Razakars murdered Virupakshappa and Mahantgoud of Surpur during day time. On September 4, 1948, Aland Razakars killed42 innocent persons without any reason. On September 17 1948, nine persons were shot dead at Aland by Razakars. Chandramappa Bhimappa, Revanasiddappa, Basavannappa, Ramchandra Chandranath Jindas, Rahuchand and Vithal were killed.
Raichur – Koppal:
During 1947 and 1948, murder, rape, and looting were the regular features in the Raichur district. Koppal, Gudigere, Kolur, Kavalur, Manvi, Kuknur, Belagatti, Banapur, Kinnal, Sudi, Kartagi, etc., were attacked by the Razakars. At Somawarpeth, Raichur Razakars looted Rs 60,000 from the residence of Savitri Sugayya. In Timmapur Peth in Raichur, 60 huts were put on fire by the Razakars. Two Hindus were assassinated near the police colony of Raichur.
The National Flag Day was observed on August 15, 1947, in Kinnal, Koppal, Yelburga Kuknur, Navali Kushtagi, etc. The nationalists and the samaj workers had taken part in Flag Day functions like Siddappa, Panchakshari Hiremath, Sham Rao Desai, Raja Pinjar and Sudi Rachappa, and they were arrested.
In Malagatti village, Razakars looted wealth and molested women. Razakars killed two ladies, Shawamma and her daughter Laxmavva, suspecting that they supplied secret information to freedom fighters. Alavandi Matha was looted, and the documents were put on fire. Shantarasa of Raichur was teased by the police for hoisting the national flag at his village Hemberal.
Kavalur was another village on the border of the Koppal area which was looted by the Razakrs, who did not even spare the sacred ornament (Mangalsutra) of women and killed three persons. In Gangavati and other places, the national flag was hoisted in 1947. In this regard, Benakal Bhimsen Rao Desai and others were arrested and kept in Gulbarga jail. Later, Bhimsen Rao became a victim in jail.
The Charts given below give us statistical information about the atrocities committed by the Razakars in the Hyderabad Karnataka region between 1947 and 1948.
Role of Opposition Political Parties
A number of political organisations began to be founded with the goal of bettering the economic and social plight of the majority Hindu community in the state. The Andhra Mahasabha was formed in 1936. This organisation became the cover organisation of the banned Communist Party of Bharat (CPI), which was the vanguard of the peasant Telangana Armed Struggle.
While the Arya Samaj was established as early as 1892, in 1938 it came under attack by the Nizam’s Government as it issued orders that the Arya Samaj could not set up kunds –fireplaces for prayers – without the express permission of the government. Following this policy, the famous 1938 Satyagraha was launched, which saw an increasing polarisation between the Hindu and Muslim communities in the state.
The Hyderabad State Congress was founded in September 1938 with the goal of responsible Government under the aegis of the Nizam and the Asaf Jahi dynasty.”
The object of the Hyderabad State Congress is the attainment by the people of Responsible Government under the aegis of H.E.H. the Nizam and the Asaf Jahi dynasty. This objective is to be achieved by all peaceful and legitimate means by promoting national unity, fostering public spirit, and developing and organising the country’s intellectual, moral, economic, and industrial resources. As for the term “Congress” in this secular, nationalist political party’s name, it had been adopted to distinguish the party from the “communal or provincial movements” and to align itself with the “constructive programme of the Indian National Congress.
Role of Congress
Nizam, Muslim Majlis, and oppressor Khasim Razvi all tried their best to prevent Hyderabad’s merger into the Bharatiya Union and cheated the people. Nizam declared that Hindus and Muslims are as dear to him as his two eyes; he cleverly fooled the people by saying that Hindus would be upset if Hyderabad merged with Pakistan and Muslims would not like it if it merged with Bharat; hence, in these circumstances, it would be better if Hyderabad remained independent. He hid his ambitions and religious fanaticism and issued a decree declaring Hyderabad as independent. But the reality was very different. Hindus, who constituted the majority population in Hyderabad, wished to merge their region into the non-religious independent Bharat and wanted a responsible democratic government to be established. Hyderabad State Congress Party was struggling to achieve this aim. And the Nizam was trying to hide the reality and suppress people’s aspirations. He nurtured the religious organisation `ittehadul musalmeen’ to support him in this venture. Nizam was fully prepared; he further strengthened his army and brutally suppressed people’s legitimate struggles. From August 15, 1947, the Hyderabad state congress intensified the people’s struggle; Nizam arrested all the parties which participated in Satyagraha and started severe repression. Nizam police forces, razakars are committing immense number of atrocities against people as well as suppressing the congress struggles with the use of police forces. Satyagrahis were lathi-charged and injured in jails also.
On January 11, 1948, Nizam got goondas and hooligans from outside into Nizamabad jail, and they severely beat up and injured the political prisoners. Unable to tolerate it any longer, Sri Ramacharya resigned from Liaq Ali’s cabinet. Thousands of political prisoners were subjected to cruel violence inside the jails. Students were boycotting schools to participate in the independence movement. Razakars were committing atrocities against progressive-minded people and leaders. Lakhs of people were fleeing Hyderabad province to other regions, fearing for their lives; their lives, dignity and properties were not safe in Hyderabad. Hundreds of people died felled by bullets. Burning people alive, raping women, and looting houses were common, and there was chaos and mayhem everywhere. The press, which reported on these atrocities, was shut down. In these difficult circumstances, the state congress started its activities from outside the province.
Role of RSS
During the razakar atrocities, on August 4, 1946, in the premises of a house on the north side of Warangal fort, in Warangal town, swayamsevaks were standing in a row; they were singing `jhanda oonchaa rahe hamaara, vijayi vishwa thirangaa pyaara’ and were saluting the Bharatiya tri-colour pledging that they would sacrifice their lives to protect the flag’s honour. After the song, the slogans `inquilab zindabad, bharat mata ki jai’, mahatma gandhi ki jai’ reverberated in the area. It is extremely inspiring that in the Warangal fort area, which belonged to Nizam’s chieftains, the Bharatiya tricolour was hoisted, and freedom songs were sung!
Before the Police Action, a few youths fought against the razakar atrocities and protected Udgir and its surrounding areas. With their amazing courage, valour, and discipline, the young men transformed into a united fighting force, battled against armed Razakars, the Nizam army, Rohillas and Pathans with heroic valour and protected many villages for over six months. They fought the enemy valiantly and killed many razakars and police officials. The farmer’s group in the Bidar district became a threat to razakars and the police force. After Police Action, women, while doing farming activities, sang songs about farmer guerillas.
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