Last Updated:
The Razakars, a powerful militia of Hyderabad’s powerful Muslim party, started terrorising Hindu villagers, on the order of Nizam, who refused to become part of Indian Union after Independence. During the violence, the Razakars set fire to hundreds of houses, including Kharge’s. His mother and…Read More
Yogi Adityanath has criticised Mallikarjun Kharge for staying silent on the Razakar violence as he fears losing Muslim votes. (Image: ANI/X)
In the run-up to the Maharashtra assembly elections, the bitter battle between Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has raked up a tragic incident involving Kharge’s childhood.
At a rally in Maharashtra, Adityanath responded to Kharge’s ‘batenge toh katenge’ (will die if divided) slogan by stressing that he is a ‘Yogi’ and for him nation comes first. But for Kharge, “the politics of appeasement comes first”, Adityanath added.
The UP CM also said Kharge purposely keeps mum on his childhood tragedy in which his mother and sister were killed in an attack by Razakars as he fears losing Muslim votes. He accused the Congress veteran of suppressing painful personal memories for political expediency.
What Was The 1948 Hyderabad Massacre?
After the Partition of India in 1947, about 50,000 people died in communal riots, mainly along the borders with Pakistan. But a year later, a massacre took place in central India in Hyderabad between September and October 1948 in which tends of thousands of people were slaughtered.
Hyderabad, which was one of the 500 princely states that enjoyed autonomy under the British rule, refused to become part of India under Nizam after the Independence. The Nizam’s refusal to surrender sovereignty to democratic India upset many in New Delhi.
As members of powerful Razakar militia, the armed wing of Majlis-e-Itihadul Muslimeen (the pre-cursor to today’s AIMIM), started terrorising Hindu villagers, the Indian Army invaded Hyderabad in 1948 under Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s rule.
The Nizam forces were defeated in just a few days without any significant loss of civilian lives. But word went out in New Delhi that arson, looting and mass murder and rape followed the invasion.
Nehru sent a small team to Hyderabad to investigate the matter. But the report compiled by Congressman Pandit Sunderlal was never published.
How Kharge Lost His Family Members In Razakar Violence
Kharge was born on July 21, 1942 to a poor Dalit family in Varavatti village of Bhalki taluka in Bidar district. His father’s name was Mapanna and mother’s name was Saibavva.
Kharge was just six years old when he lost his mother and sister to the riots by Razakars in Bidar, which now falls in Hyderabad Karnataka. Bhalki, like several other villages up to Maharashtra, was under siege of the Razakars.
The Razakars, headed by Kasim Razvi, was sanctioned by the Nizam of Hyderabad to crack down a civil uprising that was in favour of joining the Indian Union.
After getting the nod from the Nizam, the Razakars started an ethnic genocide of Hindus in rural Telangana.
In an interview, Kharge narrated the incident that made him teary-eyed. Kharge said when he was playing near his house and his father was working in the agricultural field, the Razakars set fire to their tin shed house. While Kharge had a narrow escape, his mother and sister died in the fire.
Priyank Kharge, the son of Mallikarjun Kharge, had said in an interview to CNN-News18 that his grandfather was working in the fields when a neighbour rushed to tell him that the Razakars had set their house on fire. “The Razakars were attacking every village in sight. They were a four lakh-strong army and were acting on their own as they did not have a leader. My grandfather rushed home, but could only save my father, who was within his arm’s reach. It was too late to save my grandmother and aunt who died in the tragedy.”
Priyank further said his father and grandfather hid themselves in a dense shrubbery fearing for their lives. They then proceeded to meet their grandfather’s brother serving in the Army in Pune. However, he had gone to Gulbarga (Kalaburagi today).
Kharge Silence On Personal Loss Criticised
Yogi Adityanath has criticised Kharge for staying silent on his childhood tragedy in order to save Muslim votes. “Kharge’s village was under the Nizam of Hyderabad. Before the Independence of the country, the British felt that they would not be able to stand against the revolutionaries of India for long, so they decided on the roadmap for the partition of India. They were already working to encourage the Muslim League in the country. At that time, the Congress leadership had also surrendered before the Muslim League. This was the reason that the Muslim League was ruthlessly killing Hindus, but the Congress leadership remained silent due to its greed for power,” Adityanath said at an election rally in Amravati.
Recalling BR Ambedkar’s appeal to all Scheduled Castes, Tribals and Hindus of Hyderabad State to come to Maharashtra as they were not safe there, Adityanath said, as quoted by Deccan Herald, “At that time, the Warwatti village under Hyderabad State was also burnt. This was Kharge’s village. Kharge’s mother, aunt and sister were burnt by Nizam’s Razakars, but Kharge does not want to tell the truth. He feels that if he blames Nizam, he will lose Muslim votes. Congress is distorting history. Nizam’s Razakars brutally massacred Hindus in Hyderabad State. Kharge does not want to accept that truth. He has forgotten his family’s sacrifice for the sake of vote bank.”
Meanwhile, Kharge after launching the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi ‘s (MVA) manifesto said at a press conference slammed the BJP for equating a “red book” of the Constitution with “urban Naxalism”. He said his party’s demand for a caste census is not to divide people, but to understand how various communities are placed at present so that they can get more benefits.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis recently alleged that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was trying to seek support from “urban Naxals and anarchists” by holding a “red book” in his hand.
Discover more from Divya Bharat 🇮🇳
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.