Parties observe Hyderabad merger, liberation anniv
Congress says BJP did not participate in struggle against Nizam’s rule
The TRS, Congress, BJP, Telugu Desam, CPI and CPM, among other parties, marked the 72nd anniversary of Hyderabad’s merger with the Indian Union on Thursday by hoisting the National Flag and paying tributes to freedom fighters. Each party staked its own claim on the day.
While the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), the Opposition Congress and other parties celebrated the occasion as Hyderabad Merger Day, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) commemorated it as Hyderabad Liberation Day.
TRS working president K.T. Rama Rao hoisted the National Flag at Telangana Bhavan. He garlanded the statues of Telugu Talli and Telangana ideologue Professor A. Jayashankar.
TPCC chief Uttam Kumar Reddy unfurled the Tricolour at Gandhi Bhavan. Addressing the gathering, he alleged that the BJP, TRS and MIM were trying to distort and communalise the history of Hyderabad’s merger with the Indian Union.
Only Congress and Communist parties had struggled for Hyderabad’s merger with Indian Union, said Reddy, stating that BJP or its predecessors did not participate in the struggle against the Nizam’s rule. He pointed out that the BJP did not even exist at the time.
But, today, BJP leaders were trying to communalise Hyderabad’s merger by calling it ‘Liberation’ and distorting history, he said.
Maintaining that the TRS and MIM were trying to communalise the history for political gains, the state Congress chief said “They are trying to make an issue out of Hyderabad Merger Day celebration while the fact is that the Congress has been celebrating the occasion since 1949 without any hue and cry.”
Hyderabad merged with India thanks to the efforts of then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and home minister Sardar Vallabhbhai
Patel, said Uttam Kumar Reddy, adding that it was the Congress which brought independence to the country, merged Hyderabad state with India and also created Telangana as a state.
Union minister of state for home affairs G. Kishan Reddy hoisted the National Flag at his residence in New Delhi to mark the occasion. He said the official celebration of Hyderabad
Liberation Day will be the real tribute to all those who laid down their lives for the independence of Hyderabad state. He said “Hyderabad Liberation Day is hugely important for the people of Telangana. It is also celebrated in Marathwada region and some areas of modern-day Karnataka, which were also part of the old Hyderabad state.”
Stating that it was only due to the efforts of the BJP that Hyderabad Liberation Day had become a mass movement, he alleged that the TRS would never celebrate it publicly under the influence of their ally, the AIMIM.
Dr K Laxman, former
president of BJP state wing, after hoisting the National Flag at the party office said the party would continue its fight till the state government accepts the demand to officially celebrate the day. “It was on this day that Telangana achieved real freedom and hence, it should be celebrated officially,” he added.
BJP MLC N. Ramachander Rao alleged that the TRS government was not celebrating the day officially due to pressure from the AIMIM. The TD, the CPI and the Telangana Jana Samiti (TJS) also celebrated Hyderabad merger day, with their leaders hoisting the Tricolour.
TRS WORKING president K.T. Rama Rao hoisted the National Flag at Telangana Bhavan. He garlanded the statues of Telugu Talli and Telangana ideologue Professor A. Jayashankar