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Shah, KCR trade barbs on Hyderabad merger celebrations
While the BJP sought to project the event as the Golden Jubilee of Hyderabad Liberation Day, the TRS described it as the Golden Jubilee celebrations of Telangana National Integration Day. The Congress held celebrations in the name of Telangana Integration Day.
Union home minister Amit Shah on Saturday said it was unfortunate that the “Hyderabad Liberation Day” had not been celebrated so far in Telangana because of “vote bank politics” despite some leaders promising to do so, a remark that was seen as a dig at the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi in the state.
Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao later blamed “disruptive forces” for distorting the occasion of September 17 to fulfil their “narrow and selfish political interests”. The accused Shah of trying to “divide and bully”. While the Centre celebrated the “Hyderabad Liberation Day’, the state government opted for the nomenclature “Telangana Jateeya Samaikyata Dinotsavam” (Telangana National Integration Day).
Earlier in the day, Shah said he would like to congratulate Prime Minister Narendra Modi for deciding to commemorate the day.
“When there was a demand in the region that Hyderabad Liberation Day be celebrated with government endorsement, it is unfortunate that, 75 years are over, but those who were in government here could not dare celebrate Hyderabad Liberation Day due to vote bank politics,” Shah said.
The celebrations were to mark the annexing of the erstwhile Nizam-ruled Hyderabad state to the Union of India.
As erstwhile Hyderabad state comprising Telangana and adjoining parts of Karnataka and Maharashtra entered 75th year of its merger with India on Saturday, political parties in Telangana, including the TRS, BJP and the Congress celebrated the event in their own ways, ostensibly to gain political mileage in next year’s assembly elections.
While the BJP sought to project the event as the Golden Jubilee of Hyderabad Liberation Day, the TRS described it as the Golden Jubilee celebrations of Telangana National Integration Day. The Congress held celebrations in the name of Telangana Integration Day.
The Union government held celebrations of the golden jubilee of Telangana liberation day at Secunderabad Parade Grounds.
“If not for Sardar Patel, it would have taken many more years for Hyderabad to get liberated. Patel had taken the bold decision to order a police action, as it was the only way to liberate the people of Hyderabad from the clutches of the Razakars and fulfil the dream of Akhand Bharat,” Shah said.
He found fault with the previous rulers of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana for turning a blind eye to the celebration of Hyderabad Liberation Day on September 17 every year. “The people of this part of the country, who got the independence 13 months later, have desired to celebrate the event officially, but the previous governments had no guts to do so, as they were interested in playing vote bank politics,” he said.
Shah recalled that those who were in the Opposition in the past and those who fought for separate Telangana had promised during the elections and agitation they would celebrate the Hyderabad liberation day once they come to power. But they conveniently forgot it due to the fear of Razakars, he said. The Razakars were a paramilitary volunteer force of Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen party in the Hyderabad state.
“They are still afraid of celebrating it as a liberation day, as they are scared of Razakars. I want to tell them, remove fear from your heart, and Razakars cannot take decisions for this country as it got independence 75 years ago.”
At a separate event held at Public Gardens, chief minister Rao called upon the people of the state to be wary of the conspiracies of communal forces to distort the history, disturb communal harmony and damage the culture of Telangana for petty politics.
“After the merger of Hyderabad with India, Telangana remained a separate entity till 1956, when it was merged with Andhra, much against the wishes of the people. After a prolonged struggle, we could get back the Telangana state in 2014 and it emerged as a front runner in many sectors.”
