One historic occasion and four political parties are trying to milk it the most for their political advantage as the election season picks up in Telangana.
September 17, the merger day of the Hyderabad princely State into the Indian Union in 1948, is a bone of contention in the celebrations and the venues with the ruling parties using their power to outdo the opponents. The Opposition Congress has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) of colluding to create obstacles for the Congress meeting.
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While the argument over whether it is a Liberation Day, Integration Day, Merger Day, Betrayal Day or Independence Day has found no convincing answer with all the political narratives sounding incontestable, the political parties want to extract maximum mileage from it this year due to the ensuing elections.
Senior leaders of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee celebrate Hyderabad Merger Day, in 2021. | Photo Credit: The Hindu
The BJP tries to identify the surrender of Nizam’s forces to the Indian Army after the Police Action, as the sole achievement of first Home Minister of the country Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and not the Congress party.
Last year, the BJP, for the first time, made its political intentions clear organising a public meeting in Parade Grounds that was addressed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. He is coming back again to the same venue on the same day this year. The party is banking on the event to give some political mileage yet again as it also coincides with the birthday of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The BJP has been accusing the BRS government of appeasing the Majils-e-Ittehadul-Muslimeen (MIM) party by not celebrating September 17 as Liberation Day. The BRS during the agitation days made the same accusations against the then Congress government but now is ignoring the same demand.
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The MIM too joined the chorus saying September 17 is the National Integration Day as Hyderabad was integrated into the Indian Union. The party has planned a bike rally with the Tricolour culminating into a public meeting. AIMIM chief, Asaduddin Owaisi has been maintaining the same stance over the last few years and he always objected to the term “Liberation”.
Some extreme elements within the Muslim community also term it the ‘Betrayal Day’ alleging atrocities in the police action, but their number has dwindled over the years.
Congress party also terms it ‘Integration Day’ saying Hyderabad State agreed to join the Indian Union with the efforts of Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel. This year, the party plans a massive public meeting on the city outskirts and it has alleged that both the BJP and the BRS have colluded by not giving permission for its request for the venues within the city.
The meeting also coincides with the culmination of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting on September 16 and 17 in Hyderabad. It will be attended by All India Congress Committee (AICC) president Mallikarjun Kharge, who was born in Hyderabad State when some parts of present Karnataka were part of the Hyderabad State. Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and several Congress Chief Ministers will also be on the dais making it a massive show.
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The BRS had changed its stance by dropping Liberation Day from its dictionary arguing that it’s not fair to hurt any community using the word Liberation which carries a little negative connotation in the present era. In fact, Municipal Minister K.T. Rama Rao coined a new word ‘Independence Day’ questioning if India celebrated August 15 as Liberation Day. In his opinion, if India celebrates Independence Day on August 15 why can’t the same be attributed to September 17? In fact, the BRS party now says the actual liberation day for Telangana is June 2 when it was formed after the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.
The Communist parties, which actually led the fight against the feudal lords patronised by the Nizam and the atrocities of the Razakars, the militia group owing allegiance to the last Nizam, Mir Osman Ali Khan, claim themselves as the true warriors against the Nizam’s ‘tyranny’. The party’s demand for celebration of September 17 as the Liberation Day officially was ignored by the previous governments.
In the changed circumstances, the left parties seem to have softened their stand on the issue apparently not to reopen the healed wounds and rub salt into them again. There is hardly any voice from the left parties on this issue that gains traction every year in the month of September.
