Thread by @YunusLasania

#Thread
THREAD on 'Hyderabad Liberation Day'& the Telangana (peasant)Armed rebellion
The centre is observing a year-long event to mark the annexation of the erstwhile #Hyderabad state to India on Sept 17 1948
The reality of it is more complex (1/n)
#HyderabadLiberationDay

The state of #Hyderabad was formally annexed on September 17, 1948, through a military offensive called Operation Polo, after negotiations between India and the Hyderabad state failed. The state's last Nizam was Osman Ali Khan, who decided to stay independent after #partition

At that time, communist-backed peasants were waging a full-scale armed rebellion against landlords in Telangana. It continued till 1951, until the CPI called it off. Osman Ali Khan, the world’s richest man then, was also monarch of the largest princely state under British India.

Osman Ali Khan was among a handful of monarchs who refused to join India or Pakistan after the British left. In fact, he was dependent on his colonial overlords in his independence bid. The peasant uprising against the landlords in Telangana was underway from 1946 itself.

The state had 16 districts, 8 of Telangana, five in Maharashtra (mostly Marathwada), & 3 in Karnataka. It was about 2,14,163 square kilometres in size, with a population of about 1.6 crore-47.8% spoke Telugu, 24.3% Marathi,11.6% Urdu, 10.5% Kannada and 5.8% spoke other languages.

The last Prime Minister was a man named Mir Laiq Ali, had signed the Standstill Agreement on November 29, 1948, for a period of one year, to negotiate terms. Negotiations, however, eventually failed.
The CPI-led armed struggle began in 1946 itself, thanks to feudal oppression

While history & popular culture mostly talk of Osman Ali Khan’s wealth and riches, the state had a dark underbelly, one defined by feudal oppression by the landed gentry against peasants and the downtrodden. Telangana was under the complete control of state-appointed Jagirdars,

The Nizam himself directly owned 10% of the state’s lands. 30% were private zamindari lands and 60% were under the Jagirdars. Telangana was rife with vetti-chakiri (bonded slave labour), and peasant oppression by landlords. The soil was also ripe for revolution.

However, the Hyderabad state was not insulated from communal politics (though it was largely peaceful). Much before the armed struggle, the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) was founded in Hyderabad in or around 1927 by Mahmud Nawaz Jung, a retired govt man (some books say 1929)

Originally founded as a social org, it soon became political and with a motive to maintain the state's Muslim hegemony. Bahadur Yar Jung,a Mehdavi and a powerful orator, took control. The aim was to ensure that Hyderabad stayed a Muslim-run state. Jung was also a friend of Jinnah

In or around 1930s, MIM's constitution changed to 'An-al-Malik' (we are the kings) - sovereignty now rested not the Nizam, but with Muslims. The ruler was just a representative, acc to the theory. This reportedly did not sit well with the Nizam, who in fact gave Jung his title

Bahadur Yar Jung died in 1944 very suddenly, reportedly of a heart attack, at a time when the MIM continued to hold sway over Hyd. Some believe he died of natural causes but rumours have always been around that he was poisoned to death, for challenging the Nizam’s authority.

His death would change the course of Hyderabad’s history. MIM changed heads for 2 years. In 1946, Qasim Razvi, a small-time lawyer from Latur in Osmanabad, took control of the MIM, giving the party a clear supremacist outlook. Razvi emerged as a parallel political power.

Razvi started the Razakar (volunteers) militia, which indulged in atrocities. His violence also had tacit state support, especially from the then Prime Minister Laiq Ali. Many from the militia simply went around pillaging villages, often targeting Hindus (pic)

Shoaibullah Khan, a pro-India scribe, was murdered by Razakars on Aug 22-23, 1948, at Kachiguda. He was the editor of Imroze, an Urdu daily.Before the murder, Razvi reportedly issued a warning for who took a pro-India stance. B Narsing Rao, a CPI student leader, witnessed it.

The Razakars were also involved in skirmishes with communists and peasants. A major incident that sparked the Telangana Armed Struggle was the revolt of Chakali Ailamma, a peasant, against her landlord Vishnur Ramchandra Reddy in Palakurthi, Warangal district in 1946.

The rebellion spread to other parts of #Telangana . In Sept 1947, a call for armed resistance was given in a joint statement by Ravi Narayan Reddy, Makhdoom Mohiuddin and Baddam Yella Reddy of the CPI, which took over most of rural areas by 1948. The party had was banned in 1946

The CPI’s leadership from both AP & Telangana joined hands for the peasant uprising, which witnessed landlords getting killed & thrown out. Of course,the local peasantry also had its own losses. One is the notorious massacre of Bairanpally in Warangal district in August 1948.

What many don’t understand is that the Armed Struggle continued well after Operation Polo, till 1951. The Indian Army, which took over the state, was also given the task to crush it. CPI even sent 4 members to Soviet Union to ask for help (which failed). The party also had issues

After the #Hyderabad state's annexation to India there was a bitter split in the CPI leadership. Those like Makhdoom Mohiuddin & Ravi Narayan Reddy felt that they should call-off the Armed Struggle and join the Indian Union. Others like Sundarayya decided to continue it.

All of the CPI's main leaders like Makhdoom, Ravi Narayan Reddy, Sundarayya, Ch. Rajeshwar Rao, Jawad Rizvi, etc were all underground as the Armed Struggle continued. Till it was called-off on Oct 1 1951, about 4400 of the CPI's cadre were jailed.

After Op Polo, the Hyd state had a military governor for 18 months, after which MK Vellodi was appointed CM. Osman Ali Khan was made Raj Pramukh (guv) later in 1950.
To know more in detail, read my latest article on Operation Polo for @thenewsminute
thenewsminute.com/article/there-…

If you're interested in learning more, here are bunch of stories I've written over the last 5 years for more reading:
siasat.com/sept-13-1948-o…

siasat.com/hyderabad-libe…

siasat.com/memoirs-of-lat…

livemint.com/Politics/wvaPf…

siasat.com/police-action-…

siasat.com/why-telangana-…

Also, just to be clear, the present AIMIM is not the same as the MIM pre-1948. Razvi was jailed and later in 1957 was allowed to leave for Pak. The party was revived and assimilated into the Indian polity a year after with the All India suffix.

Small typo. It should be Nov 29 1947. Apologies.