Hyderabad: Telangana BJP president N Ramchander Rao on Sunday, September 13, demanded that the state government include “Hyderabad Liberation Day” on September 17 in textbooks.
The erstwhile princely state of Hyderabad under Nizam rule merged with the Indian Union on September 17, 1948. Commemorating the launch of Operation Polo, the Indian military action that led to the integration of Hyderabad State with the Indian Union, on September 13, 1948, the BJP paid tribute to the martyrs who sacrificed their lives.
Speaking on the occasion, Rao said that on this day, the country’s first Deputy Prime Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel launched Operation Polo, which paved the way for Telangana’s liberation from the “tyrannical” Nizam regime and its complete integration with India.
However, it is worth noting that the operation led to the integration of Hyderabad State, which included present-day Telangana as well as parts of Maharashtra and Karnataka, with the Indian Union, rather than Telangana alone.
“BJP demands that September 17 be included in textbooks to make (students) realise the value of Vande Mataram and the freedom movement,” the BJP leader said.
Clubbing both the BRS and the Congress together, Rao said, “It is a disgrace that the state government is not officially observing September 17 due to vote-bank politics. Rather than honouring the heroes who fought for Hyderabad’s liberation and sacrificed their lives, it seems the primary concern is merely appeasing the vote banks of Congress and BRS.”
With PTI inputs
| 
