Hyderabad Merger With India Still a Political Issue, Even After 75 Years

As a political battle over whether it should be referred to as “liberation” or “integration” rages ahead of the upcoming Telangana assembly elections, this Sunday will mark the 75th anniversary of the annexation of the former Hyderabad state, which included the entirety of Telangana and bordering portions of Karnataka and Maharashtra.

Despite being physically a part of India, the Asaf Jahi kings oversaw the princely state of Hyderabad. On September 17, 1948, more than a year after India gained independence from the British, it joined the Indian Union as a result of an Indian military force’s “police action” against the 7th Nizam of Hyderabad, Mir Osman Ali Khan, who steadfastly refused to unite his powerful Hyderabad state with Indian rule. This operation was code-named Operation Polo.

The territory was allegedly freed from the control of the Nizam, a Muslim ruler whom Hindu hardliners accuse of trying to build an Islamic state within India with the assistance of Pakistan and even by relocating the United Nations. They refer to this day as “Telangana Liberation Day.”

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led NDA government at the Centre declared the celebration of “liberation day” with a massive parade and public rally at Secunderabad parade grounds last year for the first time in 2022. Amit Shah, the union minister of the interior, was present at the gathering and observed the formal march.

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Shah will be speaking at the gathering this year to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Telangana’s liberation at the Secunderabad parade grounds.