Mohammed Najeeb Shahzore
Kuwait: Exactly 70 years before the Indian Demonstration Act of 2016, on 12 January 1946, the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, Sir Archibald Wavell, promulgated the Ordinance on the High Denomination Banknotes (Demonstration), 1946. of Rs 500, Rs 1 000 and R 10 000, issued by the RBI, will cease to be a legal tender on 12 January 1946.
In the princely state of Hyderabad, Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan was in possession of high denomination letters which he subsequently handed over all the 500 and 1000 rupee notes worth $ 3 million when he was recalled from circulation. After independence, in April 1948, the Indian government repaid the amount to Nizam in 100 rupees, which would be adjusted today for inflation of $ 33.4 million or 242 million.
Internationally, the amount was considered staggering. One of the largest world newspapers reporting on the development was the New York Times on April 5, 1948. In 1954, the Government introduced new currency notes of Rs 1,000, 5,000 and 10,000.
India once again saw evidence of demonization in 1978, when the government of then-Prime Minister Morarji Desai announced that the currency was banned from taking Rs 1000, Rs 5000 and Rs 10,000 out of circulation.
Dr Mohammed Najeeb Shahzore is an Indian specialist physician in Kuwait with a keen interest in the history of Hyderabad.
Source: The Siasat Daily