Call it National Integration Day: Owaisi on Centre's decision to celebrate Hyderabad Liberation Day

Hyderabad, Sep 03: Hours after the Centre announced that it would celebrate 'Hyderabad Liberation Day' on September 17, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday said he has written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah asking him to use the phrase 'National Integration Day' rather than mere "liberation".

Recalling Hyderabad's revolutionary fighters Turrebaz Khan and Maulvi Alauddin's sacrifices against British rulers, Owaisi said the common Hindus and Muslims of erstwhile Hyderabad state were advocates of united India under a democratic secular and republican government.

"It must be noted that the accession and merger of various princely states were not only about liberating the territories from autocratic rulers. More importantly, the nationalist movement rightly saw the people of these territories as an integral part of independent India. Therefore, the phrase 'National Integration Day' may be more apposite, rather than mere liberation," the Hyderabad MP said in the letter.

The struggles of the people of the erstwhile Hyderabad state against colonialism, feudalism and autocracy are a symbol of national integration rather than merely a case of "liberation" of a piece of land, he added.

As part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, the Centre said it will be commemorating 'Hyderabad Liberation Day' on September 17 with year-long celebrations. Union Minister for Culture G Kishan Reddy wrote to the chief ministers of Telangana, Maharashtra and Karnataka inviting them for the September 17 celebrations.

The programme will showcase the lives and sacrifices of people who fought against the atrocities of the Nizam and the Razakars, Reddy said. The celebrations will be a fitting tribute to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and all others who contributed during the liberation struggle, he further said.

In a separate letter to Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, the Hyderabad MP said the state government needs to mark September 17 as 'National Integration Day'. "This day must be a celebration of the struggles of people of erstwhile Hyderabad against both British colonialism as well as the feudal autocratic rule of Nizams," he said.

According to him such celebrations must be a recognition that the people of these lands had long struggled against (indirect) British rule.