Centre to celebrate 17 September as Hyderabad Liberation Day

New Delhi: As part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, the Centre has said it will be commemorating ‘Hyderabad Liberation Day’ on 17 September with year-long celebrations.

The date assumes significance as it was on 17 September that the erstwhile Hyderabad State under Nizam rule merged with the Indian Union in 1948.

Union Minister for Culture G Kishan Reddy wrote to the chief ministers of Telangana, Maharashtra and Karnataka inviting them for the 17 September celebrations. The programme will showcase the lives and sacrifices of people who fought against the atrocities of the Nizam and the Razakars, Reddy said.

The celebrations will be a fitting tribute to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and all others who contributed during the liberation struggle, he further said.

In a separate letter to Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, the Hyderabad MP said the state government needs to mark 17 September as ‘Hyderabad Liberation Day’.

“This day must be a celebration of the struggles of people of erstwhile Hyderabad against both British colonialism as well as the feudal autocratic rule of Nizams,” he said. According to him such celebrations must be a recognition that the people of these lands had long struggled against (indirect) British rule.

“The inaugural programme of this commemoration is scheduled to be organised at Parade grounds in Hyderabad on 17 September, 2022. The Hon’ble Union Home Minister has kindly consented to grace the occasion as chief guest,” Reddy’s letter read.

Hyderabad was under the Nizam’s rule and the police had launched ‘Operation Polo’ for its liberation that ended on 17 September, 1948.

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However, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao’s office said on Saturday that the day will be celebrated as ‘Telangana National Integration Day’. According to the CMO statement, ‘Telangana National Integration Day’ will be celebrated from 16-18 September.

ఈ నేపథ్యంలో సెప్టెంబర్ 17ను ‘తెలంగాణ జాతీయ సమైక్యతా దినం’గా పాటిస్తూ మూడు రోజులపాటు (16, 17, 18 సెప్టెంబర్, 2022) రాష్ట్ర వ్యాప్తంగా ‘తెలంగాణ జాతీయ సమైక్యతా వజ్రోత్సవాల’ ప్రారంభ వేడుకలను, 2023 సెప్టెంబర్ 16, 17, 18 తేదీలలో ముగింపు వేడుకలు ఘనంగా నిర్వహించాలని నిర్ణయించింది.

— Telangana CMO (@TelanganaCMO) September 3, 2022

The announcement was made shortly after All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday wrote to the Union home minister asking him to use the phrase 'National Integration Day' rather than mere "liberation".

Recalling Hyderabad's revolutionary fighters Turrebaz Khan and Maulvi Alauddin's sacrifices against British rulers, Owaisi said the common Hindus and Muslims of erstwhile Hyderabad state were advocates of united India under a democratic secular and republican government.

"It must be noted that the accession and merger of various princely states were not only about liberating the territories from autocratic rulers. More importantly, the nationalist movement rightly saw the people of these territories as an integral part of independent India.

Therefore, the phrase 'National Integration Day' may be more apposite, rather than mere liberation," the Hyderabad MP said in the letter.

The struggles of the people of the 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 added.

It is with an eye on the upcoming Assembly polls that the Centre has decided to organise this year-long celebration to mark the 75 years of Hyderabad's independence. Earlier, the BJP had organised a national executive meeting in Hyderabad which was attended by the representatives of all the parties in the country that was later followed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally.

With input from agencies

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