Hyderabad: Communist Party of India (CPI) leader Thakellapalli Srinivasa Rao criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) governments, accusing them of hypocrisy regarding ‘Telangana Liberation Day’, which the BJP-run Centre has decided to observe to mark the annexation of the erstwhile Hyderabad state to India on September 17, 1948.
At a rally organised by the CPI in Bhupalapalli on Sunday, September 15, Srinivasa Rao criticised the BJP for its lack of involvement in the historical fight against the Nizam’s rule and state appointed Jagirdars, who peasants revolted against. This event was part of the CPI’s ‘Amarula Tufan’ series, which aims to honors the legacy of the armed struggle against the Nizam.
Addressing a rally, Srinivasa Rao said that the BJP had no role in the fight against Nizam’s rule in the past. He challenged the BJP’s claim of commemorating September 17 as ‘Telangana Liberation Day’, asserting that the actual date of liberation is September 15. He argued that the BJP’s involvement in the historical struggle against the Nizam’s rule was minimal, and accused the party of attempting to mislead the public with its chosen observance date.
Srinivasa Rao also criticised the previous BRS government for its lack of official recognition of ‘Telangana Liberation Day’ and for failing to include the history of the armed struggle in educational curricula. He argued that the BRS government’s actions undermine the significance of the struggle and do a disservice to the memory of the freedom fighters.
Promising reforms if elected, Srinivasarao vowed that the CPI would officially mark the incident install statues of the armed struggle’s heroes on Tank Bund, and ensure that the history of the struggle is included in school textbooks.
Telangana, CPI, the Nizam and his independence bid
Though the British formally left India in 1947, it, however, gave princely states and their monarchs the option to join India or Pakistan or to stay independent. Osman Ali Khan was one of the handful of kings, like Hari Singh of Jammu and Kashmir, who wanted to stay independent. After all, he was the king of the largest princely state, Hyderabad, which comprised 16 districts in 1948 (8 in Telangana, 5 in Maharashtra and 3 in Karnataka).
It may be noted that Osman Ali Khan was also one of the richest men in the world, and was the king of a relatively peaceful state. However, the underbelly of it, especially in Telangana’s districts, was that of extreme oppression by state-appointed Jagirdars (landlords), whose main task was to collect revenue (taxes and rent) from farmers and give it to the state. The landlords were anything but benevolent.
It was essentially an uprising against feudal landlords by peasants in Telangana. The Telangana Armed Rebellion, which continued till 1951, is one reason that the army had stayed back in Telangana after the Hyderabad state was annexed to India o September 17, 1948 through Operation Polo (military offensive). The then Indian government headed by former PM Jawaharlal Nehru, were wary of the communists, who refused to lay down their arms.
That resulted in the army going after the communists, due to which over 4000 CPI cadres were sent to jail until 1951. However, the matter was resolved after the CPI decided to call off the struggle on October 21, 1951 (Telangana People’s Struggle and its lesson: P. Sundarayya) and contested the first general elections.
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