Hyderabad: TRS working president and Telangana IT and industries minister K. T. Rama Rao (KTR) on Saturday sai that June 2 is when Telangana attained statehood and hence that will be ‘Liberation Day’ for him. He was responding to the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) demand to observe September 17 as ‘Liberation Day’, to mark the state’s annexation to India in 1948.
Yesterday, the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) celebrated observed ‘Merger Day’, while the BJP celebrated it as ‘Liberation Day’. Ever since the formation of Telangana in 2014, the saffron party has been making its demands, as September 17, 1948 was when the erstwhile state of Hyderabad (which Telangana was part of) was annexed to India through Operation Polo, a military offensive.
Interacting with media personnel after a party meeting, KTR’s statement to observe June 2 and not September 17, is also perhaps to tactic to not cave in the BJP’s demand, and also create a legacy for his own father and chief minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR), who led the statehood struggle for Telangana.
Responding to political attacks by opposition leaders on KCR and the TRS government, KTR said that case can be booked against them. “If need arises, they will be booked under sedition,” he added.
Significance of September 17
After independence in 1947, Osman Ali Khan decided to remain independent, not wanting to join either India or Pakistan, which perhaps any other king would have done. What happened, however, was that it allowed Qasim Razvi, leader of the Majilis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM), to take control of the political vacuum, even leaving the Nizam powerless at times.
The Razakaars were essentially a militia, running tacitly with state support. Razvi had become MIM’s head after its charismatic leader Bahadur Yar Jung died in 1944. Razvi’s antics and his group’s looting spread terror among the people. On September 17, 1948, the princely state, then ruled by the last Nizam, Mir Osman Ali Khan, was annexed into India by the Indian army. The operation under which ‘Police Action’ took place is called Operation Polo.
The major issue with it is the violence that was unleashed on Muslims in the state, especially in the Maharashtra and Karnataka areas, wherein about 27000 to 40000 people had been killed according to the Pundit Sunderlal report.