HYDERABAD: AIMIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday thanked Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao for accepting his recommendation to celebrate September 17 as ‘National Integration Day’ instead of ‘Telangana Liberation Day’. Taking to Twitter, Owaisi claimed that the State government had taken the decision within an hour of his making the proposal.
Earlier in the day, asserting that there was a vast difference between the phrases integration and liberation, Asaduddin wrote separate letters to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, suggesting that they celebrate September 17 as “National Integration Day” rather than mere “liberation”.
He said that the AIMIM will conduct a flag march on September 17, commemorating the accession of the Princely State of Hyderabad to the Indian Union. In his letters, Owaisi observed that the accession and merger of various princely States were not only about “liberating” the territories from autocratic rulers. The nationalist movement rightly saw the people of these territories as an integral part of Independent India, he said.
“Therefore, the phrase ‘National Integration Day’ may be the apposite (more appropriate), rather than mere ‘liberation’,” Owaisi said. He said that his party will be organising a Tricolour rally from Eidgah Mir Alam to Theegalkunta where they would hold a public meeting.
Stating that the Hindus and Muslims of erstwhile Hyderabad State were advocates of a united India under democratic, secular and republican government, Owaisi attached the Sunderlal Committee report for their perusal. Giving instances of people’s struggle against British rule, Owaisi mentioned the role of Maulvi Alauddin and Turrebaz Khan in the War of Independence in 1857, and journalist Shoebullah Khan’s contribution to the integration of the Union of India in 1948. Meanwhile, answering a question during the press conference, Owaisi claimed that AIMIM has never opposed celebrations commemorating September 17.