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Yunus Lasania

@YunusLasania

Sep 17

In 1948, the erstwhile state of Hyderabad was one of the largest under British India. It comprised of 16 districts: entire Telangana (8 dists), 5 dists of Maharashtra (Marathwada) and 3 in Karnataka. It was a multi-lingual state with about 1.6 crore people.

The Hyderabad state's last Nizam was Osman Ali Khan, who was one of the world's richest men. Trouble began after Indian independence. When the British left India in 1947, they however gave monarchs of princely states the option to join India, Pakistan, or to stay independent.

Osman Ali Khan was one of the handful of kings, like Hari Singh of Jammu and Kashmir, who wanted to stay independent. It may be noted that he was also one of the richest men in the world, and was the king of a relatively peaceful state.

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Yunus Lasania

@YunusLasania

Sep 16

#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.

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Yunus Lasania

@YunusLasania

Sep 11

'#Hyderabad Liberation Day' THREAD:
Remembering Makhdoom Mohiuddin, communist legend and (one of the) leaders(s) of the anti-Nizam/anti-feudal #Telangana Armed Struggle (1946-51)

Saw CPI workers paying tributes to one of our most progressive figures. Here's more about his life

The irony of the BJP’s 'Liberation day' observance is that it was literally a non-player in 1948. Its ideological parent,the RSS, was barely present. In Telangana, it was the Communist Party of India which had taken over most of the rural areas. People like Makhdoom headed it.

Some background: After the British formally left India in 1947, it gave monarchs of princely states the option to join India/Pakistan or to stay independent.
Osman Ali Khan was one of the handful of kings, like Hari Singh of Jammu and Kashmir, who wanted to stay independent

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Yunus Lasania

@YunusLasania

Jun 4

THREAD: Today is the 114th birth anniversary of Ravi Narayan Reddy, a communist leader from Telangana who was the 1st person to ENTER Parliament. He had won the Nalgonda LS seat by a margin higher than even Nehru's

A icon of the leader of the Telangana Armed Struggle, (1/N):

The first Lok Sabha was constituted on the April 17, 1952 ,after India’s first General Election. Ravi Narayan Reddy won from the Nalgonda Lok Sabha seat with an even bigger majority than Nehru (309,162 vs 233,571).

This was in the Hyd state, which all of Telangana was part of.

One of the tallest leaders of the Telangana Armed Struggle (1946-51) and twice Parliamentarian and State Legislator, Ravi Narayan Reddy was born on the June 4, 1908, in Bollepalli, Nalgonda district, which was then part of the Nizam’s Hyderabad state.

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Yunus Lasania

@YunusLasania

Jun 2

THREAD on #Telangana and the history of its formation as a separate state. The States Reorganisation Committee recommended against its merger with the Andhra areas, so why did it happen?

The answer lies in the erstwhile state of Hyderabad that Telangana was part of
(1/n)

Telangana & AP were both part of the Nizam/Asaf Jahi state, but the Andhra areas were eventually ceded to the British in the 19th century.
Hyderabad state was annexed to India in 1948. At the time, it comprised of 16 districts.8 in Telangana, 5 in Maharashtra and 3 in Karnataka.

Population of Hyderabad population: 18.7 million.
Language breakup: 47.8% Telugu, 24.3% Marathi, 11.6% Urdu, 10.5% Kannada and 5.8% others.
In 1947, Hyderabad's last Nizam Osman Ali Khan refused to join India or Pak. He wanted to stay independent. But it wasn't going to work.

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Yunus Lasania

@YunusLasania

Sep 17, 2021

THREAD:
Today, 17 Sep marks 72 years since the erstwhile state of Hyderabad, ruled by its last Nizam, was merged with India through 'Operation Polo', a military takeover.
A communist-led peasant rebellion in Telangana preceded it.
Here's the whole story/sequence of events.

In its last stages, the Hyderabad state comprised 16 districts, half were in #Telangana , 5 in Maharashtra and 3 in Karnataka. The last Nizam, Osman Ali Khan, was one of the richest men in the world. It was a multilingual state, with 84% Hindus, and about 50% Telugu people.

What a people don't realise is that the entire state was pretty much run on tax collections, often forced, from peasant farmers by state-appointed landlords or Jagirdars.

Osman Ali Khan and Hyderabad's (city/state) was in fact the biggest landlord, owning about 10% of the state

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