Southern States - Andhra Pradesh   

Advani may attend commemoration of Hyderabad freedom struggle

By Our Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD Aug. 23. The Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, is likely to attend the celebration of Hyderabad freedom movement at Parkal in Warangal district on September 17.

He will inaugurate a huge dome-shaped structure constructed in the memory of martyrs of the freedom struggle which ended in the liberation of the erstwhile Hyderabad State from the rule of the Nizams on that day in 1948.

The building was taken up on a Government land with funds of a voluntary organisation to perpetuate the memory of those killed in firing by the Razakars in what was believed to be a scene reminiscent of the infamous Jalianwalabagh massacre by the British army. A large number of idols depicting action scenes which are sculpted out of imagination are installed around the building.

The Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Ch. Vidyasagar Rao, who has for sometime demanded celebration of September 17 as independence day officially in parts of Telangana which were with the Hyderabad State, told newsmen here on Saturday that efforts were on to synchronise a programme of Mr. Advani in Vizag with the building inauguration at Parkal so as to have his presence. The visit was tentatively cleared but a final word was awaited. Mr. Advani will visit Vizag at the invitation of MP, Yarlagada Laxmiprasad, for the inauguration of Hindi Bhasha Bhavan, considered biggest in the country for promotion of the language.

The Union Minister reiterated his demand for official programmes conducted by the State Government for celebration of Hyderabad Liberation Day on a par with the Independence Day. They must be held with a Government holiday. He said the celebrations were permitted by Karnataka and Maharashtra Governments in pockets of the States which formed part of Hyderabad State.

Mr. Rao also said the State Government had been approached for the installation of a statue of Komuram Bheem, a Gond leader who fell to the bullets of the Razakars while fighting them valiantly in the forests of Adilabad, in the State capital.

Stating that the BJP would lead a movement for official recognition to the Hyderabad Liberation Day celebrations, Mr. Rao said the focus would be on making the party cadre forge ahead imbibing the spirit of that struggle. The activists would hoist national flags in all districts on September 17.

Mr. Rao added that a grave mistake was committed by earlier State Governments in not celebrating the day. The real independence to Telangana districts was attained only on that day. The independence struggle in Telangana was much older than the national freedom struggle.

He appealed to the Government to document information on participants in Hyderabad struggle and publish a booklet to preserve its glorious history.

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