Hyderabad: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief on Monday slammed Home Minister Amit Shah and accused him of “lying like India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.” The remarks came shortly after Union home minister Amit said that the Hyderabad Police Action was designed and implemented by the then home minister Sardar Vallabhai Patel, without shedding a drop of blood.
Owaisi cites Sunderlal Report
Speaking during the ‘National Integration Day’ celebrations after taking out a bike rally, Owaisi cited the Sunderlal Report on the atrocities and lives lost during the merger of the Hyderabad state into the Union of India. “Amit Shah lied in his speech today just like Nehru did on All India Radio on 18 September 1948. Sunderlal’s report proves Amit Shah’s and Nehru’s statements were nothing but lies,” he said.
Hyderabad could have been integrated with ease and without bloodshed, he said. “But so many were killed due to the bad decisions of the rulers of the time. This is not my assessment, but Qazi Abdul Gaffar and Pandit Sunderlal’s report,” he added.
Khazi Abdul Ghaffar, Yunus Saleem and Sunderlal had opposed the actions of Qasim Razvi’s MIM and had expressed their concerns to Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad stating that “the blood of the innocent had been shed in the name of police action in the state.” Ghaffar and Sunderlal were sent to the erstwhile Hyderabad to assess the situation on the ground.
“Sunderlal, in his report, stated that if the Razakars killed one Hindu, a hundred Muslims were killed in retaliation. Bodies of women with little children latched onto them were retrieved from wells,” Owaisi said.
Sunderlal Report stated that over 20,000 Muslims were killed. The erstwhile home minister Sardar Vallabhai Patel, however, refused to accept the report. “If BJP says it’s a lie, then answer this: Didn’t Indira Gandhi say in Lok Sabha that releasing the report to the people would not be in the national interest?” Owaisi said.
Owaisi also slammed the opposition parties, who he claimed likened him to the Razakars or the Nizams, and raised questions over the AIMIM celebrating National Integration Day. “You know that Hyderabad used to be a princely state under the Nizams. If you read the history, you will see that there is no mention of the RSS in its freedom struggle. RSS was not visible and the BJP is a more recent phenomenon,” retorted Owaisi.
‘Muslims fought for independence’
“I want to tell you that if I was born during the Nizam’s rule, I would feel suffocated because it was a feudal system. You cannot openly talk in front of a king or ruler. The country was freed and we got our right to speak our minds,” added Owaisi.
Citing the contribution of Muslims in the freedom struggle, Owaisi recalled that the Imam of the Makkah Masjid was the first one to be sent to Kala Paani for opposing the Nizams’ and British rule.
“Before the war of 1957, following Friday prayers and sermons at the Makkah Masjid, Maulvi Alauddin walked from the Makkah Masjid near Charminar to Sultan Bazar near Koti Women’s College to wage war and declared a revolt against the British and Nizam reigns,” said Owaisi. “His aim was to free the country from their rule. Our ancestors had imagined an Independent India and raised their voices against the British and the feudal system.”
Turrebaaz Khan, who also revolted, escaped the British. However, he was later apprehended near Toopran, arrested, and shot dead. His body was hung for over 10 days in Sultan Bazaar. “He sacrificed himself for the freedom of the country,” said Owaisi.
‘Nizams’ contribution can’t be dismissed’
Owaisi also mentioned the contributions of Abid Hasan who walked alongside Subhas Chandra Bose and coined the slogan Jai Hind. Owaisi said that although a lot of blood was shed due to the decisions of the last Nizam, his contributions to the city of Hyderabad cannot be dismissed.
“Nobody can deny Nizam’s contribution to the city, including the old Begumpet Airport, Gandipet, Himayat Sagar, and even temples including the Khammam temple. Arts College, NIMS, Osmania Hospital, High Court, Patthergati,” said Owaisi, listing the heritage structures of Hyderabad, that are its essence.
“Despite all of Nizam’s contributions, we did not have the freedom, justice and fraternity under their rule. Only a few had money and power and the rest lived in poverty including several Hindus and Muslims,” he added.
‘Razakars went to Pakistan’
Launching a scathing attack on the Congress and the BJP for likening the AIMIM to the Qasim Razvi-led Razakars and MIM, he stated that the AIMIM was formed by Abdul Wahid Owaisi. “They weren’t the same. You say that we are Razakars? Razakars went to Pakistan and the Wafadaar (loyalists) are standing here right in front of you, fighting for their rights.”
“They are lynched to death but do not leave their land. Razakars have left. Godse and Savarkar’s children have to be driven out of the country,” he stated.
‘Atrocities on minorities’
Speaking on the atrocities against minorities across the country, Owaisi condemned the demolitions of homes and shops after violence broke out in Nuh Haryana without any notice and due process. “Several have been left without a roof over their head. And are left to live on the roads with their family.”
Expressing grief over the killing of three Muslim men by a Railway Protection Force constable on the Jaipur Express in August, he stated that no one had the courage to stop him when he was asking names and gunning people down. “They were all sitting back in peace because they did not wear a beard. This is discrimination. The Prime Minister to date has not said a word on it,” he said.
The Telangana government allotted the widow of the deceased a 2BHK flat and a government job after AIMIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi brought up the issue in the Telangana Assembly. “Those from Rajasthan and Bihar were also killed why didn’t the government bat an eyelid?” questioned Owaisi.
He also questioned the silence of the Rajasthan government and accused them of discriminating against Junid and Nasir whose bodies were found charred in a Bolero in Rajasthan’s Mewat after they were accused of transporting cattle and abducted in February.
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