Hyderabad: A showdown appears to be on the cards between the BJP, which is pushing the Telangana government to officially celebrate September 17 as 'Hyderabad Liberation Day', and the ruling TRS in the state, which appears to be in no mood to oblige, at least this year.
The saffron outfit had been demanding for years that the celebrations of the "liberation of Hyderabad State" be made official. This year, the opposition party seems to be pressing it with a lot more vigour and aggression.
BJP national president Amit Shah is slated to address a public meeting in Warangal district on September 17 as part of 'Hyderabad Liberation Day' being celebrated by the party's state unit.
The Hyderabad State, which was under the Nizam's Rule, merged with the Indian Union on September 17, 1948, following a "police action". The BJP views the Nizam's Rule as "tyrannical".
During the "autocratic" rule of the Nizam, Telugu language was discouraged as the medium of instruction in educational institutions, Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu had recently said, while asking the Telangana government to officially celebrate the day as 'Hyderabad Liberation Day'.
TRS leader and Karimnagar MP B Vinod Kumar said, “The ruling party wanted to build a consensus on the issue of the government officially celebrating the day as there were divergent views among the political parties on whether the occasion should be called 'Merger Day' or 'Liberation Day' among other issues.
Ever since it was formed, TRS has been celebrating the day by hoisting the national flag but without mentioning it as 'Merger Day' or 'Liberation Day'.
"Now, per se, we are not against celebrating it the way the BJP wants it. As a responsible political party, we want to build a consensus on the issue and definitely, as and when there is consensus, we will officially celebrate it, nothing wrong in it," Kumar said.
"But now, as a responsible political party and as a government, we should name it. Should we name it Liberation Day or Merger Day? That is the issue before the government," the MP added.
"This year (by September 17), you cannot expect (a consensus). We will celebrate it as a political party as usual, that's all. I request the BJP not to rake it up as a communal or political issue. This country is already facing an issue, Jammu and Kashmir. But, the BJP is unnecessarily raking it up as a communal issue which is not good," Kumar said.
