HYDERABAD: Seventy-four years after Hyderabad State merged with the Indian Union, the Central and State governments were seen locking horns on Saturday, September 17, celebrating the same day but under different names.
The ruling TRS’ Integration Day and BJP’s Liberation Day celebrations lent Hyderabad’s streets a riot of colour.
As expected, it wasn’t just the nomenclature that was in focus but the politically-loaded missiles CM K Chandrasekhar Rao and Union Home Minister Amit Shah unleashed against each other that kept the day’s momentum in full speed.
Shah exhorted people to remove the fear of Razakars (read AIMIM) from their minds, while addressing a public meeting in the city’s Parade Grounds.
Stating that 75 years after Independence, Razakars could no longer influence the decisions of the State, Shah stated: “Those who are ashamed of observing September 17 as Liberation Day will remain traitors...to the cause of Telangana, for which thousands laid down their lives.”
Attacking the TRS in veiled fashion, Shah regretted that some political parties lacked the spine to celebrate the occasion.
“Though they (referring to KCR) had promised during the Telangana movement to observe the day as Liberation Day, they took a U-turn after coming to power fearing the Razakars (MIM). I’m not surprised, but happy that after Modiji declared it an official event, everybody decided to join the celebrations,” Shah claimed.
On the other hand, KCR, who has been pushed against the wall to observe the occasion for the first time since the formation of Telangana, warned the state’s citizens against “disruptive and divisive forces” whose only aim was to create fissures in society.