Hyderabad Liberation v/s Integration: Anti-BJP parties unite to criticise saffron camp celebration

While the union ministry of Tourism and Culture has organised a year-long ‘Hyderabad Liberation Day’ celebration from Hyderabad, the Telangana state government has organised a year-long ‘Telangana National Unity Diamond Jubilee’ celebration. In separate official events, Union Home Minister Amit Shah unfurled the Tricolour at Parade Grounds in Secunderabad while Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao hoisted the national flag at the Public Gardens in Hyderabad.

Speaking at the event, Shah took a swipe at the ruling dispensation saying that those who promised to celebrate Hyderabad’s liberation turned back after coming to power due to the fear of ‘Razakars’ and vote bank politics. He said he was happy that all others followed suit as soon as Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced his decision to commemorate Hyderabad’s liberation this year.

Telangana CM’s daughter and MLC Kalvakuntla Kavitha also took to Twitter Saturday and said, “while the Hon’ble Home Minister is here in Hyderabad today, I request him to talk about BJP and its leaders’ contribution to the: Independence movement, Hyderabad Integration movement, Telangana Movement. As the daughter of Telangana, I look forward to these answers.”

Further, she added, “the contribution of the BJP towards efforts to give people their rights for our country stands to be nothing. Harmony, togetherness, and the power of people – this is the foundation of Telangana and CM KCR and it takes a lot of courage to be him.”

Sharing a photo of the foundation stone plaque of Gandhi Bhavan, the Congress party’s headquarters in Telangana, laid by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in October 1950, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president Revanth Reddy wrote on Twitter, “Our foundation was laid by the great Sardar Patel…It is shameful that some people who have no history today are showcasing our history as their history.”

The official handle of Telangana Congress shared a photo of Sardar Patel and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru above that of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah and tweeted: “At the time of independence, the country had 584 independent states. Nehru, the first Prime Minister of New India, decided to unite those states in today’s India, and Sardar Patel as the then Home Minister completed the task with an initiation! This is history! #CongressKaSardar”. The photo shared read: “these are the heroes who merged all princely states and united the nation.. These are the evil people who are destroying the nation through communal hatred.”

Earlier on Friday, speaking at a public meeting after hoisting the national flag, All India Majlis e Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi had said, “People who did not even break a sweat for the independence movement are celebrating Liberation Day. We don’t want any certificates of loyalty from the BJP-RSS, it can be thrown in the dustbin.” Owaisi said the AIMIM of today was the successor of freedom fighters Turrebaaz Khan and Maulvi Alauddin and not Qasim Rizvi (the chief of Razakars).

BJP’s Telangana unit as well as TRS and Telangana Congress are celebrating the day across all the 119 constituencies and district headquarters in their own ways.