Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao told the Assembly on Thursday that not everything related to Nizams’ rule in the erstwhile Hyderabad Province was bad as portrayed all these years, particularly during the combined Andhra Pradesh rule and there were several good deeds which needs to be given due recognition.
While replying to the debate on the short discussion on minority welfare, Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao stated that except for the excesses committed by ‘Razakars’ during the Nizams rule there was not much mention in the history books about other developmental and welfare activities that had taken place during the regime.
Nizamsagar
“Some of my critics refer me as ‘Naya Nizam KCR’, but the real history about Nizams is yet to reach people,” he noted.
“After my visit to the last Nizam’s grave to pay my obeisance during the years of movement for statehood to Telangana one television journalist from Andhra region had asked why sould I do this stating that Nizams had exploited people different ways. I had put a question back to him why people in Andhra celebrate Sir Arthur Cotton’s birthday, a British engineer behind construction of Dowleswaram barrage and a few other irrigation systems, when the British had ruined India for centuries,” the Chief Minister said and asked why shouldn’t people of Nizamabad celebrate Nizam’s birthday as he had constructed Nizamsagar that brought irrigation to their fields.
NIMS
Explaining an interesting anecdote about how Nizam’s orthopaedic hospital was established, the Chief Minister said after merger of Hyderabad Province with Indian Union, the Nizam was made ‘Raj Pramukh’.
When his driver suffered a fracture on his hand, he went to Osmania Hospital only to be told that the treatment was not available there since Nizam had not established a hospital for treatment of fractured bones (orthopaedics) — he had set up separate hospitals for fever, cancer, tuberculosis, mental health, children, maternity and other specialities.
Then, the Nizam donated one of the properties that was spared by the Government of India, the premises of present Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences, and gave his own money for establishing an orthopaedics hospital.
Nizam’s jewellery
Later, after the war with China when the country had almost gone bankrupt the then Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri had sought assistance from Tatas, Birlas and several others including Nizam. In response, the Nizam donated six tonnes of gold. When the PM offered to repay it later, the Nizam had graciously refused suggesting the former to take care of the country.
Akbaruddin Owaisi of AIMIM also wanted the State Government to bring back Nizam’s jewellery, the heritage of Hyderabad, lying in New Delhi back to Telangana since Princess Esra had offered the King Kothi Palace to store the wealth.
