Freedom cannot be bestowed, it must be achieved.
The freedom struggle of India and the freedom struggle of Hyderabad must be treated as two independent fights. While the former is known briefly by many and has many authentic books published but the latter doesn’t have many authentic books and documents at hand. Very few writers and publishing houses have documented this Liberation struggle. One such book which is a must-read is described below. This book “Liberation Struggle of Hyderabad-some unknown pages… ” is authored by Shri Acharaya Khanderao Kulkarni, originally in Hindi along with some traces of old Hyderabadi Urdu. This book was translated by Dr Rahul A Shastri for a larger and easier reach to the masses. Dr Rahul is a well-known academician, thinker and a gold medalist along with a PhD in economics. He is also the Joint Director of National Development Academy(NAD) and Samvit Kendra-center for cultural studies. Also, its foreword is written by Shri Vijay Kumar Sinha who was a close associate of Bhagat Singh and Chandrasekhar Azad.
Written in the most eloquent and lucid manner, this book tries to capture the exact feelings and aura of the struggle. It aptly describes the fiery and courageous struggles of common people like Shri Narayan Babu against the treacherous Nizam and his Razakar army. This book also has 12 anecdotes about the ways and means of how Hyderabad was liberated and also contains some heart-wrenching incidents like that of one at Bhairavunpalli. Bhairavunpalli was a peace-loving village until when the Razakar army demanded a bribe of Rs.1200 and favours of village women and thereby village elders refusing them. This started a friction point between both parties. For security and self-defence, the villagers of 8-10 villages built a watchtower and assigned themselves 24 hours clock security by guarding at the village borders. All by themselves. Just then the Razakar army tried a siege on the village. A long battle of 8 hours ensued in which 15 Razakars along with 4 villagers died. This was clearly a defeat kind moment for the Razakar army. This defeat enraged the Razakar commander Qasim Iqbal even more and he warned of a stronger and mightier repercussion. After a fortnight or so almost 1000 fully armed Razakars encircled the village by 4 AM and started firing indiscriminately. Before dawn, they killed, looted every house and captured every surviving villager. The captured villagers were made to stand in rows based on gender and age. Shooting games were played like seeing how many heads a bullet can pass through. Such were the atrocities and oppression faced by our ancestors. The cost of Hyderabad Liberation was absolutely blood. This book aptly captures the readers’ minds and makes them part of the incidents. Such is proficiency with which it is written and translated. Also, this book mentions many revolutionary heroes and their daring life-threatening incidents just for the freedom of you and me. This book is a must-read for anyone who wishes to know the oppression, atrocities and cost of Hyderabad Liberation. This book is available both in Telugu and English.