Hyderabad: The Telangana government on Saturday declared that it will celebrate September 17 as “Telangana National Integration Day”, thereby marking the day when erstwhile Hyderabad State under Nizam rule merged with the Indian Union in 1948.
An official release issued after the State Cabinet meeting headed by Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) here said the government would also organize three-day celebrations beginning September 16. On September 17, CM KCR would hoist the national flag in a public garden and address the people while the Ministers and other public representatives would do the same at their respective centers, the release further said.
A massive rally would be taken out in the city following which KCR would address a public meeting. On September 18, freedom fighters of the State would be honored in all the district headquarters besides felicitating poets, artists, and other personalities. The Cabinet decided also to increase the number of beneficiaries under Dalit Bandhu Scheme from 100 to 500 in every Assembly constituency, it said.
Hours after the announcement done earlier by the center, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday said he has written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah asking him to use the phrase 'National Integration Day' rather than mere "liberation", which is what the Home Minister initially used in his statement. Recalling Hyderabad's revolutionary fighters Turrebaz Khan and Maulvi Alauddin's sacrifices against British rulers, Owaisi said the common Hindus and Muslims of erstwhile Hyderabad state were advocates of united India under a democratic secular and republican government.
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"It must be noted that the accession and merger of various princely states were not only about liberating the territories from autocratic rulers. More importantly, the nationalist movement rightly saw the people of these territories as an integral part of independent India. Therefore, the phrase 'National Integration Day' may be more apposite, rather than mere liberation," the Hyderabad MP said in the letter.
The struggles of the people of the erstwhile Hyderabad state against colonialism, feudalism, and autocracy are a symbol of national integration rather than merely a case of "liberation" of a piece of land, he added. As part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, the Centre said it will be commemorating 'Hyderabad Liberation Day' on September 17 with year-long celebrations. Union Minister for Culture G Kishan Reddy wrote to the chief ministers of Telangana, Maharashtra, and Karnataka inviting them to the September 17 celebrations.
The program will showcase the lives and sacrifices of people who fought against the atrocities of the Nizam and the Razakars, Reddy said. The celebrations will be a fitting tribute to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and all others who contributed during the liberation struggle, he further said.
In a separate letter to Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, the Hyderabad MP said the state government needs to mark September 17 as 'National Integration Day'. "This day must be a celebration of the struggles of people of erstwhile Hyderabad against both British colonialism as well as the feudal autocratic rule of Nizams," he said. According to him, such celebrations must be a recognition that the people of these lands had long struggled against (indirect) British rule. (With Agency Inputs)
