The Telangana Liberation Day, on which the erstwhile princely state of Hyderabad was merged with the Indian Union, was celebrated today by ruling Congress and other major parties including Telugu Desam and TRS here.
State Congress president D Srinivas unfurled the national flag at Gandhi Bhavan, the party headquarters, and Chief Minister K Rosaiah joined him in paying tributes to the martyrs, who fought against the Nizam of Hyderabad.
Paying homage to those who put up resistance against the oppressive Nizam rule, Telugu Desam Chief N Chandrababu Naidu said, “the spirit of valour and sacrifice of the freedom fighters is a source of inspiration.”
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He also felicitated freedom fighters on the occasion.
As the Nizam sought to retain independence, the princely state of Hyderabad was merged with the Indian Union on September 17, 1948 following “police action” by the Union Government under the supervision of the then Home Minister Sardar Patel.
TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao, who unfurled the national flag at the party head office, said Nizam is a respectable personality for the Telangana people as he built the Nizam Sagar project.
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“If Arthur Cotton, the British engineer who built the barrage on Godavari river, is a respectable figure to the coastal Andhra people, don’t we need to respect the Nizam who built the Nizam Sagar,” Rao asked.
Alleging that the history of Telangana is being twisted, the TRS president said it is high time such distortion of facts is stopped.
Praja Rajyam supremo Chiranjeevi too paid homage to the freedom fighters and hailed the sacrifices of the martyrs.
Lok Satta Party founder and MLA Jayaprakash Narayan unfurled the tricolour at the party office and paid homage to the martyrs. He said the present generation of political leadership should be inspired by the values for which the freedom fighters stood for.
Scores of freedom fighters, who fought against the Nizam and ‘Razakars’ - a band of violent supporters of the Nizam - were killed during the struggle.