|
RAZAKAR
MOVEMENT
The Nizam was very anxious to become independent
and it had been Nizam's ambition to secure Dominion Status for his
State. He tried to achieve this ambitious desire with the help of
Khasim Razvi of the Ittehadul Muslimeen and its storm troopers, the
Razakars.
The Hindus of the Hyderabad
State accounted for 93 per cent of its population. They launched the "Join
India" movement with the cooperation of a few patriotic Muslims for the
integration of the State with the rest of the country. The State Congress
leaders, led by Swami Ramanand Tirtha, whole-heartedly supported the
movement. The Nizam banned the State Congress. Its leaders are forced to
conduct their activities from places like Vijayawada and Bombay. The
Communists on their part organized village defense squads to protect
people from the attacks of the Nizam Police and
Razakars.
The negotiations between the
Nizam's Dominions and the Indian Union proved abortive. The Nizam
Government did not agree to the accession to the Indian Union. The
activities of the Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen and the Razakars within the
Dominions were posing a serious threat to peace and harmony. The growing
violence by the Razakars seriously jeopardized law and order.
The Government of India tried to
persuade the Nizam to sign the Instrument of accession with India. After
tortuous negotiations, the Nizam finally entered into a "Stand Still
Agreement" on November 29, 1947, with India for one year to maintain
status quo.
This agreement provided the
Nizam to gain time to procure military hardware from different parts of
the world and smuggle them into Hyderabad. In the meanwhile the Nizam sent
a delegation to the United Nations organization to refer the Hyderabad
case to the Security Council.
With
the growing violence by the Razakars and the Nizam's attempts to get
himself independent, the Government of India decided to curb these
tendencies by launching a `Police Action' against the Nizam. The
Indian Army, led by Major-General J.N.Chaudhuri entered the State
from five directions and the military action was a brilliant
success. On 18th September 1948, Nizam's forces surrendered to the
Indian army and Mir Laik Ali, the Prime Minister of the Nizam, and
Khasim Razvi were arrested. On September 23, the Nizam withdrew his
complaint in the Security Council. The merger of Hyderabad Dominions
into the Indian Union was announced. Major-General J.N.Chaudhuri
took over as Military Governor of Hyderabad and stayed in that
position till the end of 1949. In January 1950, M.K.Vellodi, a
Senior Civil Servant was made the Chief Minister of the State and
the Nizam was designated "Raj Pramukh". After the 1952 General
Elections, the first popular ministry headed by B.Rama Krishna Rao
took charge of the
State. |