Hyderabad Liberation Day

Why in news?

• The Ministry of Culture will organize the inaugural programme of the year-long commemoration of the Hyderabad Liberation Day on 17th September 2022.

More about the news:

• The date assumes significance as it was on 17 September 1948 that the erstwhile Hyderabad State under Nizam rule merged with the Indian Union.

History of Liberation of Hyderabad:

• India had several princely states. When the British left India in 1947, they gave the princely states the option of joining India or Pakistan or remaining independent.
• Out of the 565 princely states that existed at the time, 562 decided to join India.
• However, neither did Hyderabad, Junagadh, nor Kashmir, three princely states, integrate into India or demonstrate any interest in doing so.
• The state of Hyderabad was under the Nizam which included the whole of current-day Telangana, the Marathwada region in Maharashtra and several regions of Karnataka.
• Proclamation of Hyderabad as a sovereign state
  • The Nizam of Hyderabad hoped to retain his sovereignty and opposed the idea of merging with India after Independence.
  • Osman Ali Khan Asaf Jah VII, the last Nizam of the princely state of Hyderabad proclaimed Hyderabad as a sovereign state and this added to the tension and led to communal clashes.
• India’s response:
  • The Indian government did not want Hyderabad to remain free fearing that it would lead to the country’s balkanization.
  • The then Home Minister Sardar Patel referred to the concept of an independent Hyderabad as “an ulcer in the heart of India which needed to be removed surgically.”
  • Hence, India decided to annex Hyderabad and named the operation “Operation Polo”.
  • On September 13, 1948, Indian forces attacked Hyderabad. In a five-day battle, the Indian Army took Hyderabad and fully integrated it into Indian territory by decisively defeating Nizam.

PRACTICE QUESTION:

Which of the following princely states was not part of Indian Union on 15^th August 1947?

1. Travancore

2. Hyderabad

3. Junagadh

4. Kashmir

5. Bhopal

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

(a) 1,2 and 3 only

(b) 2,3 and 4 only

(c) 1 and 4 only

(d) 1,2,3,4 and 5

Answer