Hyderabad Integration Day: Whose legacy is it? 

A most powerful Marxist quote, quite relevant in case of many struggles, says “social conditions determine social consciousness”.

It tells us that if you put a population under conditions of extreme inequality and injustice for sufficient time, they will eventually rebel. Social consciousness may also propel people towards a common goal.

Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav commemorating 75 years of Independence undoubtedly reflects such social consciousness and proudly remembers the sacrifices of thousands of people to achieve the common goal of freedom from the British Raj.

People’s struggles, including those of democrats, leftists, communists, workers, and peasants have a prominent place in this saga. 

The Telangana Armed Struggle by peasants also belongs to this facet. It is highly appreciated by the Telangana people today that the Liberation struggle against the Nizam and the merger of Hyderabad into the Indian Union, called “Liberation Day” and “Integration Day”, found its due place this year with the Central and State governments officially conducting various activities to commemorate it. 

Inclusive India

The emergence of the concept of an inclusive India was a product of a continuous battle between three schools of thought and visions that emerged during the course of the Independence struggle.

The mainstream Congress vision had envisioned that Independent India could be a secular, democratic Republic. 

Communists and socialist forces, while agreeing with this, went further to say that such a secular democratic structure would be untenable if Independent India pursues the path of capitalist development.

The Communists and the socialist forces, thus, envisioned that the political freedom that we achieve must be extended to the socio-economic freedom of every Indian – possible only under socialism.

This was also their objective during the Telangana Armed Struggle. 

The third school of thought argued that the character of Independent India should be determined by the religious affiliations of its people.

This vision had a twin expression – the Muslim League championing an ‘Islamic State' and the RSS championing its ‘Hindu Rashtra’. 

The former succeeded with the unfortunate partition of the country, engineered, aided and abetted by the British, with all its consequences that continue to fester tensions till date.

The latter, having failed to achieve their objective at the time of Independence, continued with their efforts shedding their original Swadeshi concept and adopting a rigorous private monopoly capitalist mode of development to transform modern India into ‘Hindu Rashtra’.

Today’s ideological battles, including that regarding the character of Telangana liberation or merger, and the political conflicts in different parts of the country are in a way the continuation of this battle between these three schools of thought and their development visions.

Andhra Mahasabha: Banner of Telangana Armed Struggle

Before Indian independence, Hyderabad was a princely state within the territory of British India.

In one of the most feudal systems in the world, the rights and duties of the Nizam, his family and the other elites were very clearly defined and protected.

The Nizam’s feudal system of ruling his State rested on a well-knit network of Police Patel (law and order), Mali Patel (Revenue) and Patwari (land record and collection) at the village level.

At the upper level, there were Girdawars and Tahsildars (Revenue Inspector) and Talukdar (Collector). Important to note is the fact, that Police Patel, Mali Patel and Patwari posts were hereditary.

The nature of land ownership was extremely exploitative. 

Forty per cent of the land was either directly owned by the Nizam or given by the Nizam to elites in the form of jagirs (special tenures).

The remaining 60% was under the government land revenue system, which relied on powerful landlords who collected up to 50% crop rent from kauludarlu and gave no legal rights or security from eviction to the people actually cultivating the land.

The vetti (forced labour) system consisted of different duties performed by lower castes at the will of the landlord. Another practice was the prevalence of keeping girls as ‘slaves’, used by landlords as concubines.

Against this background, formed in 1928, Andhra Mahasabha was organised under the leadership of Madapati Hanumantha Rao, Suravaram Pratapa Reddy and others. 

It used to pass resolutions demanding certain reforms in the administrative structure, seeking civil liberties.

It is this background and the continued resistance of the oppressed which culminated in the historic Telangana Armed Struggle against the Nizam.

It was the Communist Party of India which organised this peasant-led armed rebellion against the cruel rule of Nizam landlords under the banner of Andhra Mahasabha.

Few among the well-known individuals at the forefront of the movement were Ravi Narayana Reddy (President of Andhra Mahasabha in 1947), Makhd-oom Mohiuddin, Hassan Nasir, Bhimreddy Narasimha Reddy, Mallu Venkata Narasimha Reddy, Mallu Swarajyam, Arutla Ramchandra Reddy, his wife Arutla Kamala Devi, Raj Bahadur Gaur, Baddam Yella Reddy, Anabheri Prabhakar, Chennamaneni Rajeswara Rao and others.

As part of this historic rebellion from 1946 to 1951, lakhs of people in Telangana resisted the feudal brutal exploitation of Nizam and his Razakars as well as jagirdars, deshmukhs and deshpandeys etc.

About 60,000 people left their homes and joined the movement.

They waged an armed struggle against the Nizam and his Razakars liberating thousands of villages. According to the official records, 35,000 people were arrested in Hyderabad state and put to inhuman torture.

In spite of this upsurge, the Nizam continued his brutal oppression and was not ready to recognise India’s Independence in 1947.

As part of this historic struggle to liberate Hyderabad, 4,500 people sacrificed their lives.

Peasants’ rebellion

On September 13, 1948, in a ‘police action’ aimed at countering the violence in Hyderabad, the Indian Army marched into the State.

Within a week, the Nizam, the Razakar squads and the police surrendered. Following the capture of the Razakars, a military administration was set up under General JN Chaudhuri, and a military offensive was directed at the peasant rebels in the Telangana region.

In the next three years, in more than 2,000 villages, about 3,00,000 of people were tortured, about 50,000 were arrested and kept in detention camps for a few days to a few months.

More than 5,000 were imprisoned for years.

The Indian Army’s presence transformed the struggle, as it was no more a liberation struggle against the Nizam, but rather against the army of the newly-formed Indian Government.

In an effort to co-opt peasant support, the military administration issued the Jagir Abolition Regulation (August 1949) and set up an Agrarian Enquiry Committee to recommend comprehensive land reform legislation.

It was clear, though, whose side the state was on. Within two weeks, the landlords started returning and regaining their lost land. General JN Chaudhuri, the military governor made a statement from Hyderabad, calling all communists to surrender within a week, failing which they would be exterminated.

A debate ensued within the Communist Party. Certain sections, predominantly led by Ravi Narayana Reddy, felt that giving up arms was essential as India was now Independent and the Nizam’s rule had come to an end.

He argued that the core feudal system in rural Telangana had been severely damaged by overthrowing Nizam’s state.

Other sections were sceptical, as they felt that giving up arms appear as a betrayal of the people.

However, due to severe military repression leading to a huge loss of life, the movement weakened leading to the CPI formally declaring the struggle as withdrawn on October 21, 1951.

Political legacy and the way forward

The uniqueness of Hyderabad Liberation Day of September 17 has to be, therefore, seen in a larger context today should we make an attempt to objectively understand the causality effect underlying it.

Seventy-one years after Telangana joined the Indian Union after the historic Telangana Armed Struggle and Nizam’s forced accession, the occasion has turned the erstwhile princely state into a testing ground for the Bharatiya Janata Party’s polarised political agenda. 

History establishes that neither the Arya Samaj, Hindu Mahasabha nor the RSS, from which the BJP claims to inherit its legacy, played any role in the struggle against Nizam’s feudal rule.

What they did was to create religious animosity among people and break their unity, in Hyderabad State, which was until “a couple of decades back, an ideal place as far as relations between the various communities are concerned”.

This was documented by none other than the Sunderlal Committee, appointed by the Indian government to inquire into the ‘massacre of Muslims’.

Over the past 75 years, this region never had a strong affiliation with any religion despite being a Nizam state in the past.

The BJP thus has no history in the state to showcase, and this predicament is forcing it to hunt for an issue to soft-land the Hindu-Muslim polarisation agenda in the State.

The idea is to portray Telangana as the land of Hindus who fought against the Nizam, and Sardar Patel, the first Home Minister of India, would be reintroduced in the state as the true liberator of Telangana.

This absolute distortion of history lies in the fact to portray the Telangana peasants’ movement against the Nizam as an anti-Muslim struggle and the merger of Hyderabad princely state with the Indian union as ‘liberation’!

Dr Ramesh Chennamaneni, MLA, Telangana

A most powerful Marxist quote, quite relevant in case of many struggles, says “social conditions determine social consciousness”. It tells us that if you put a population under conditions of extreme inequality and injustice for sufficient time, they will eventually rebel. Social consciousness may also propel people towards a common goal. Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav commemorating 75 years of Independence undoubtedly reflects such social consciousness and proudly remembers the sacrifices of thousands of people to achieve the common goal of freedom from the British Raj. People’s struggles, including those of democrats, leftists, communists, workers, and peasants have a prominent place in this saga.  The Telangana Armed Struggle by peasants also belongs to this facet. It is highly appreciated by the Telangana people today that the Liberation struggle against the Nizam and the merger of Hyderabad into the Indian Union, called “Liberation Day” and “Integration Day”, found its due place this year with the Central and State governments officially conducting various activities to commemorate it.  Inclusive India The emergence of the concept of an inclusive India was a product of a continuous battle between three schools of thought and visions that emerged during the course of the Independence struggle. The mainstream Congress vision had envisioned that Independent India could be a secular, democratic Republic.  Communists and socialist forces, while agreeing with this, went further to say that such a secular democratic structure would be untenable if Independent India pursues the path of capitalist development. The Communists and the socialist forces, thus, envisioned that the political freedom that we achieve must be extended to the socio-economic freedom of every Indian – possible only under socialism. This was also their objective during the Telangana Armed Struggle.  The third school of thought argued that the character of Independent India should be determined by the religious affiliations of its people. This vision had a twin expression – the Muslim League championing an ‘Islamic State' and the RSS championing its ‘Hindu Rashtra’.  The former succeeded with the unfortunate partition of the country, engineered, aided and abetted by the British, with all its consequences that continue to fester tensions till date. The latter, having failed to achieve their objective at the time of Independence, continued with their efforts shedding their original Swadeshi concept and adopting a rigorous private monopoly capitalist mode of development to transform modern India into ‘Hindu Rashtra’. Today’s ideological battles, including that regarding the character of Telangana liberation or merger, and the political conflicts in different parts of the country are in a way the continuation of this battle between these three schools of thought and their development visions. Andhra Mahasabha: Banner of Telangana Armed Struggle Before Indian independence, Hyderabad was a princely state within the territory of British India. In one of the most feudal systems in the world, the rights and duties of the Nizam, his family and the other elites were very clearly defined and protected. The Nizam’s feudal system of ruling his State rested on a well-knit network of Police Patel (law and order), Mali Patel (Revenue) and Patwari (land record and collection) at the village level. At the upper level, there were Girdawars and Tahsildars (Revenue Inspector) and Talukdar (Collector). Important to note is the fact, that Police Patel, Mali Patel and Patwari posts were hereditary. The nature of land ownership was extremely exploitative.  Forty per cent of the land was either directly owned by the Nizam or given by the Nizam to elites in the form of jagirs (special tenures). The remaining 60% was under the government land revenue system, which relied on powerful landlords who collected up to 50% crop rent from kauludarlu and gave no legal rights or security from eviction to the people actually cultivating the land. The vetti (forced labour) system consisted of different duties performed by lower castes at the will of the landlord. Another practice was the prevalence of keeping girls as ‘slaves’, used by landlords as concubines. Against this background, formed in 1928, Andhra Mahasabha was organised under the leadership of Madapati Hanumantha Rao, Suravaram Pratapa Reddy and others.  Blast from the past:  Khasim Rizvi in a meeting with office-bearers of the original Majlis-e-Ittehadul-Momineen that he headed at the time of Police Action  Oridinary citizens watch the Indian Army march into the erstwhile Hyderabad State on September 13, 1948,  Mir Osman Ali Khan, Nizam VII on the Silver Jubilee of his ascension to the throne,  Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan welcomes Sardar Patel at the Begumpet airport after Police Action,  The Charminar wears a deserted look on September 17, 1948It used to pass resolutions demanding certain reforms in the administrative structure, seeking civil liberties. It is this background and the continued resistance of the oppressed which culminated in the historic Telangana Armed Struggle against the Nizam. It was the Communist Party of India which organised this peasant-led armed rebellion against the cruel rule of Nizam landlords under the banner of Andhra Mahasabha. Few among the well-known individuals at the forefront of the movement were Ravi Narayana Reddy (President of Andhra Mahasabha in 1947), Makhd-oom Mohiuddin, Hassan Nasir, Bhimreddy Narasimha Reddy, Mallu Venkata Narasimha Reddy, Mallu Swarajyam, Arutla Ramchandra Reddy, his wife Arutla Kamala Devi, Raj Bahadur Gaur, Baddam Yella Reddy, Anabheri Prabhakar, Chennamaneni Rajeswara Rao and others. As part of this historic rebellion from 1946 to 1951, lakhs of people in Telangana resisted the feudal brutal exploitation of Nizam and his Razakars as well as jagirdars, deshmukhs and deshpandeys etc. About 60,000 people left their homes and joined the movement. They waged an armed struggle against the Nizam and his Razakars liberating thousands of villages. According to the official records, 35,000 people were arrested in Hyderabad state and put to inhuman torture. In spite of this upsurge, the Nizam continued his brutal oppression and was not ready to recognise India’s Independence in 1947. As part of this historic struggle to liberate Hyderabad, 4,500 people sacrificed their lives. Peasants’ rebellion On September 13, 1948, in a ‘police action’ aimed at countering the violence in Hyderabad, the Indian Army marched into the State. Within a week, the Nizam, the Razakar squads and the police surrendered. Following the capture of the Razakars, a military administration was set up under General JN Chaudhuri, and a military offensive was directed at the peasant rebels in the Telangana region. In the next three years, in more than 2,000 villages, about 3,00,000 of people were tortured, about 50,000 were arrested and kept in detention camps for a few days to a few months. More than 5,000 were imprisoned for years. The Indian Army’s presence transformed the struggle, as it was no more a liberation struggle against the Nizam, but rather against the army of the newly-formed Indian Government. In an effort to co-opt peasant support, the military administration issued the Jagir Abolition Regulation (August 1949) and set up an Agrarian Enquiry Committee to recommend comprehensive land reform legislation. It was clear, though, whose side the state was on. Within two weeks, the landlords started returning and regaining their lost land. General JN Chaudhuri, the military governor made a statement from Hyderabad, calling all communists to surrender within a week, failing which they would be exterminated. A debate ensued within the Communist Party. Certain sections, predominantly led by Ravi Narayana Reddy, felt that giving up arms was essential as India was now Independent and the Nizam’s rule had come to an end. He argued that the core feudal system in rural Telangana had been severely damaged by overthrowing Nizam’s state. Other sections were sceptical, as they felt that giving up arms appear as a betrayal of the people. However, due to severe military repression leading to a huge loss of life, the movement weakened leading to the CPI formally declaring the struggle as withdrawn on October 21, 1951. Political legacy and the way forward The uniqueness of Hyderabad Liberation Day of September 17 has to be, therefore, seen in a larger context today should we make an attempt to objectively understand the causality effect underlying it. Seventy-one years after Telangana joined the Indian Union after the historic Telangana Armed Struggle and Nizam’s forced accession, the occasion has turned the erstwhile princely state into a testing ground for the Bharatiya Janata Party’s polarised political agenda.  History establishes that neither the Arya Samaj, Hindu Mahasabha nor the RSS, from which the BJP claims to inherit its legacy, played any role in the struggle against Nizam’s feudal rule. What they did was to create religious animosity among people and break their unity, in Hyderabad State, which was until “a couple of decades back, an ideal place as far as relations between the various communities are concerned”. This was documented by none other than the Sunderlal Committee, appointed by the Indian government to inquire into the ‘massacre of Muslims’. Over the past 75 years, this region never had a strong affiliation with any religion despite being a Nizam state in the past. The BJP thus has no history in the state to showcase, and this predicament is forcing it to hunt for an issue to soft-land the Hindu-Muslim polarisation agenda in the State. The idea is to portray Telangana as the land of Hindus who fought against the Nizam, and Sardar Patel, the first Home Minister of India, would be reintroduced in the state as the true liberator of Telangana. This absolute distortion of history lies in the fact to portray the Telangana peasants’ movement against the Nizam as an anti-Muslim struggle and the merger of Hyderabad princely state with the Indian union as ‘liberation’! Dr Ramesh Chennamaneni, MLA, Telangana