Hyderabad: The contentious issue of Hyderabad Liberation Day celebrations on September 17 has again kicked up a storm. The TRS government, to avoid being caught in a BJP and MIM cross fire, has decided not to officially celebrate and follow the stance of previous Congress and Telugu Desam governments in undivided Andhra Pradesh. On this day in 1948, the Indian Army marched into the princely state of Hyderabad, headed by Nizam VII Mir Osman Ali Khan, and the state was merged with the Indian Union.
Telangana was part of old Hyderabad state along with some districts of present day Maharashtra and Karnataka states. Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, told a BJP delegation, led by BJP floor leader Dr K. Laxman and BJP MP Bandaru Dattatreya, that the government would not hold any official celebrations on September 17. “The CM is not inclined to hold the celebrations. We told him Karnataka and Maharashtra governments are celebrating the event officially, but he said his government will not do it,” Dr K. Laxman told this correspondent after meeting Mr Rao at the Secretariat.
Dr Laxman also requested the CM to include Hyderabad Liberation and related issues in the new Telangana textbooks and the Chief Minister promised to consider the request.
The BJP has been demanding official celebrations for a long time but successive Congress and Telugu Desam governments turned down the demand on the ground that this could create communal tension since the Muslim community has reservations on the issue. While the BJP decided to celebrate the event on a big scale in the new Telangana state and wants the first TRS government to do it officially at Golconda, the government has firmly ruled it out. The Congress, Telugu Desam and Left parties are planning to celebrate the event in a big way, like the BJP. The MIM is opposed to the celebrations.
TRS president and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, who has a soft corner for the Hyderabad state rulers the Nizams especially Nizam VII Mir Osman Ali Khan, for his developmental work as a king, never participated in the Hyderabad Liberation Day celebrations at Telangana Bhavan but entrusted representation to present home minister Nayani Narasimha Reddy and other TRS leaders.
Mr Reddy last year demanded that the Congress government organise official celebrations, but the TRS is silent now. Interestingly, present Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu participates in the celebrations in the party office annually and has hoisted the national flag as did many Congress leaders.
Even as the controversy continues, senior Urdu journalist M.A. Majid has come up with a book titled “Celebrations on my Coffin”, which opposes Hyderabad Liberation Day celebrations. “What’s there to celebrate? Hundreds of Muslims and also Hindus were killed during that period. It’s like reopening old wounds. The Pandit Sunderlal Committee gave a detailed report on how Muslims were massacred,” Mr Majid said.
