Hyderabad: Vice President C P Radhakrishnan will be the chief guest of the “Hyderabad Liberation Day” celebrations to be organised here by the Centre on September 17.
Union Coal and Mines Minister G Kishan Reddy, who inspected the arrangements for the event at Parade Grounds here on Tuesday, said Union Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat would also participate in the event.
The erstwhile princely state of Hyderabad under Nizam rule merged with the Indian Union on September 17, 1948.
Speaking to reporters after the inspection, Reddy said the celebration is not a political event but a matter of self-respect for four crore Telangana people and a homage to those who laid down their lives in the fight against Nizam rule.
Slamming the previous BRS regime and the incumbent Congress government for not celebrating the day officially, he alleged that the two parties are at the beck and call of AIMIM.
Though the BJP has been demanding an official celebration of the day for a long time, the governments led by BRS or Congress are not coming forward, he said.
That’s why the Centre decided to organise the day in Hyderabad, he said.
“This year, the fifth time, we are organising. Vice President Radhakrishnan would be the chief guest. Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and other leaders would participate,” he said.
The event would feature a parade by personnel of paramilitary forces and Telangana cultural artistes. A special dance performance by 1,000 artistes is being introduced this year, Reddy said.
The atrocities of Nizam rule and the bravery of the Indian Army in 1948 would be showcased in an exhibition, he said.
September 17 is very special for Telangana as the region got freedom on that day in 1948. Also, September 17 is the birthday of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Vishwa Karma Jayanti, he said.
Hailing the leadership of PM Modi, Reddy said the birthday is being celebrated for one month from September 17 by the Centre, BJP and NDA allies.
Modi’s leadership – as Gujarat chief minister for 13 years and as prime minister for the last 12 years – is unprecedented, he added.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah was the chief guest of the similar celebration here in 2023.
September 17, 1948 is interpreted differently by different parties in Telangana.
Asserting that September 17 marks the liberation of the erstwhile Hyderabad State from the tyrannical rule of Nizam, the BJP has been demanding for the last two decades that the day be celebrated officially by the state government.
BJP leaders allege that successive governments in undivided Andhra Pradesh and after the formation of Telangana refused to officially celebrate September 17 due to appeasement and vote bank politics.
While the BJP calls it a ‘liberation day’, the previous BRS regime celebrated the day as ‘National Integration Day’.
The incumbent Congress government celebrates the day as ‘Telangana Praja Palana Dinotsavam (celebration of people’s governance)”.
Follow on Twitter | Edited by Sameer Khan | | 
