Amit Shah: Unfortunate Hyderabad’s liberation not celebrated earlier

New Delhi, September 17

Indirectly hitting out at Telangana’s ruling party TRS, Union Home Minister Amit Shah today said it was “unfortunate” that the “Hyderabad Liberation Day” has officially not been celebrated all these years in the state due to “vote bank politics” despite promises made in this regard by some political leaders.

Speaking at an official event in Telangana’s capital to celebrate “Hyderabad Liberation Day” to mark the occasion of the erstwhile Nizam’s rule in Hyderabad merging with the Union of India on September 17, 1948, the Union Home Minister also thanked and congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi for deciding to commemorate the day.

“…there was a demand in the region that Hyderabad Liberation Day be celebrated with government endorsement. It is unfortunate that 75 years are over but those who were in government here could not dare to celebrate Hyderabad Liberation Day due to vote bank politics,” Shah said. In an apparent reference to Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, Shah said many people had promised during elections and agitations to commemorate the day but went back on those after coming to power.

Shah said he is not surprised but happy that everybody now celebrates the day after Modi took the decision. “They celebrate the day. But it is not called ‘Hyderabad Liberation Day’. There is still fear in the mind. I would like to tell them to remove that fear,” he said, adding that ‘Razakars’ cannot make decisions in this country. It has been 75 years since this country got independence.

Shah gave credit to the country’s first Home Minister, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, for the liberation of Hyderabad. “If not for Sardar Patel, it would have probably taken many more years for Hyderabad to get liberated. He knew that as long as Nizam’s Razakars are defeated, the dream of Akhand Bharat will not be fulfilled,” he said.

Paying tributes to leaders like Komram Bheem, Ramji Gond, Swami Ramanand Tirtha, former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao and M Chenna Reddy, Shah said the intention to celebrate ‘Hyderabad Liberation Day’ is to take the story of the struggle for liberation to the young generation, adding that research should be carried out in universities on the liberation struggle.