Amit Shah to kick off Union govt’s ‘Hyderabad Liberation Day’ celebrations on Sept 17

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will inaugurate the ‘Hyderabad Liberation Day’ celebrations in Telangana on September 17, kicking off the year-long event planned by the BJP-led Union government to mark the 75th anniversary of the annexation of erstwhile Nizam-ruled Hyderabad to India. Union Minister for Culture G Kishan Reddy has said that Shah will be the chief guest at the event scheduled to be held on the Secunderabad Parade Grounds, which falls under the jurisdiction of Defence authorities. Shah is also expected to attend a meeting with the BJP’s district presidents and state-level leaders on the same day.

A day after the Union government announced its decision to celebrate the ‘Liberation Day’, the Telangana government led by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had countered the same by declaring that the state will be celebrating the same day as ‘Telangana National Integration Day’. The state government has also planned this celebration of ‘integration’ as a year-long affair, starting with three-day inaugural events across the state.

Meanwhile, Kishan Reddy on Saturday, September 3, wrote letters to chief ministers K Chandrasekhar Rao of Telangana, Basavaraj Bommai of Karnataka and Eknath Shinde of Maharashtra, inviting them to take part in the Union government’s programme. The chief ministers of Karnataka and Maharashtra have also been invited, as parts of both these states had also been under the Nizam rule before the annexation. The erstwhile princely state of Hyderabad, which was under the Nizam's rule, was annexed into the Union of India following a military action codenamed ‘Operation Polo’, which culminated on September 17, 1948. 

“I am happy to inform you that the Government of India, after careful consideration of the various aspects, decided to celebrate 75 years of Hyderabad State Liberation. The Government of India has approved the year-long commemoration of 'Hyderabad State Liberation' from Sep 17, 2022, to Sep 17, 2023 (sic),” Kishan Reddy wrote in the letter. Besides extending an invitation to the state chief ministers, he also requested them to organise appropriate programmes in their respective states as well throughout the year, and share these plans with the Government of India.

Later in a tweet, Kishan Reddy said that the inaugural programme will be held “under the aegis of the Ministry of Culture”, and “will showcase the lives and sacrifices of people who fought against the atrocities of Nizam and the Razakars”. The celebrations will be a fitting tribute to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and all others who sacrificed and contributed during the liberation struggle, the Secunderabad MP added, while sharing an archival image of Mir Osman Ali Khan, the last Nizam, with Patel.

Despite being a party that has played no role in the historical events that led to the annexation of Hyderabad state to India, the BJP has long been demanding the official commemoration of September 17 as ‘Hyderabad Liberation Day’. The party’s latest and aggressive push for the same comes at a time when the state Assembly elections are just a year away, with many seeing it as the latest tool in its arsenal to gain ground in Telangana.

Earlier, when a public fallout had taken place between the TRS and the BJP on the occasion of ‘Vijay Sankalp Sabha’ in July, Amit Shah had said that their party will officially celebrate September 17 as ‘Hyderabad Liberation Day’ after they come to power in the state. He had alleged that the chief minister, popularly referred to as KCR, was not recognising the date as such due to the fear of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi.