Hyderabad: A poster-launch event of the movie ‘Razakar – The Silent Genocide of Hyderabad’ was held in the city on Saturday. The event saw the presence of senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders like former Telangana chief and Karimnagar MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar, former MP AP Jithendar Reddy, and former Maharashtra governor C Vidyasagar Rao.
The movie, written and directed by Yata Satyanarayana, is produced by BJP leader Guduru Narayana Rao under the banner of ‘Samarveer creations’. The promises to depict the ‘untold story of Razakar atrocities’ in the princely state of Hyderabad.
The makers are planning to release the movie in Telugu, Hindi, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam. Speaking at the event, the director said that the movie was not a history of religious conflict. “It is not made to sow discontent among anybody,” he added, further quoting names of important Muslim figures like Sheikh Bandagi, Makdoom Moinuddin, and journalist Shoebullah Khan, who also fought against the establishment during the period.
Hailing the makers of the movie, Bandi Sanjay said that he wanted the producer to make ‘Patha Basthi Files’ (Old City is called Patha Basthi in Telugu). “After taking inspiration from ‘The Kashmir Files’ movie, the director-producer duo came up with a movie on the Razakars.”
While makers of the film stated that the Nizams were responsible for several atrocities, Bandi added: “Some show the Charminar, the Osmania Hospital, and the Osmania University and call the Nizam-Razakar rule a golden period. They are trying to portray that demon (the last Nizam) as a good civilized person. They don’t show real history because of vote bank politics.” He said, ‘pseudo-secular’ people don’t want it to upset certain communities.
Notably, the Charminar was built by Sultan Mohammed Quli Qutb Shah of the Qutb Shahi dynasty in 1591, the Osmania Hospital (built in 1919), and the Osmania University (built in 1918) were established by the Asaf Jahi dynasty rulers. The Qutb Shahis have nothing to do with the Razakars.
The BJP’s attempt to promote September 17 as the ‘Telangana Liberation Day’ was also mentioned several times throughout the event.
Who were Razakars?
The Razakars were the paramilitary volunteer force of the nationalist party in the Hyderabad state under Nizam’s rule. Formed in 1938 by the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen leader Bahadur Yar Jung they expanded considerably during the leadership of Qasim Razvi around the time of India’s independence.
They were deployed for the cause of maintaining Muslim rule in Hyderabad and resisting against integration with India. They targeted Hindus as well as Muslims, whose loyalty to the state was in question. They also fought communists, who tried to spark the red revolution in the state.
After movies like ‘The Kashmir Files’ and ‘The Kerala Story’, which were criticised for demonising the Muslim community, this movie is seen as yet another attempt in a similar direction.
