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After Owaisi' plea, KCR govt says Sept 17 to be observed as 'Telangana National Integration Day'
According to the CMO statement, 'Telangana National Integration Day' will be celebrated from September 16-18.
The day to mark the merger of the erstwhile state of Hyderabad with the India Union will be celebrated as 'Telangana National Integration Day', chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao's office said on Saturday.
The announcement came after AIMIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi wrote to Rao (also known as KCR) and Union home minister Amit Shah, urging them to call the day 'National Integration Day' and not 'Hyderabad Liberation Day'. He also explained the rationale behind it.
According to the CMO statement, 'Telangana National Integration Day' will be celebrated from September 16-18.
The Centre earlier said it has decided to celebrate 75 years of liberation of Hyderabad from September 17 as ‘Hyderabad Liberation Day’. The date assumes significance as it was on September 17 that the erstwhile Hyderabad State under Nizam rule merged with the Indian Union in 1948.
Also read | ‘Hyderabad State Liberation’: Centre to commence year-long celebrations on Sept 17
In his letter, Owaisi said he had explained the rationale behind his plea to celebrate September 17 as 'National Integration Day' rather than 'Hyderabad Liberation Day'.
"The struggles of the people of erstwhile Hyderabad state against colonialism, feudalism and autocracy are a symbol of national integration rather than merely a case of "liberation" of a piece of land," he said in one of the letters.
Earlier in the day, Union culture minister G Kishan Reddy said the central government will hold year-long celebrations to mark Hyderabad’s liberation with Shah as chief guest at the inaugural event on September 17.
He said he has written to the chief ministers of Telangana, Karnataka and Maharashtra, inviting them at the inaugural programme at the Hyderabad Parade Grounds.
