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The '''Razakars''' were the paramilitary volunteer force of the Muslim nationalist [[Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen]] (MIM) party in the [[Hyderabad State]] under the [[British Raj]]. Formed in 1938 by the MIM leader [[Bahadur Yar Jung]],{{sfnp|Benichou, From Autocracy to Integration|2000|p=99}}
The '''Razakars''' were the private militia of [[Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen]] (MIM) party in the [[Hyderabad State]] under the [[British Raj]].<ref name="DC">{{cite web |author1=SYED INAM UR RAHMAN GHAYUR |title=Truth behind the Razakars |url=https://www.deccanchronicle.com/opinion/op-ed/170919/truth-behind-the-razakars.html |publisher=DECCAN CHRONICLE |access-date=6 July 2022 |date=17 Sep 2019}}</ref> Formed in 1938 by the MIM leader [[Bahadur Yar Jung]],{{sfnp|Benichou, From Autocracy to Integration|2000|p=99}}
they expanded considerably during the leadership of [[Qasim Razvi]] around the time of Indian independence. Qasim Razvi believed that "Azad Hyderabad" was a muslim empire and in the [[Asaf Jahi dynasty|Asfjahi]] reign every muslim was a ruler. To protect Nizam government was god's command and so to get into the Razakar army and oppose the Hindus was every muslim's sacred duty.<ref name="TPSL">{{cite book |author1=Puccalapalli Sundarayya |title=Telangana People's Struggle and Its Lessons |date=2006 |publisher=Cambridge University Press India Pvt. Limited |isbn=9788175969582 |page=44 |edition=First Published 1972}}</ref> They were deployed in the cause of maintaining Muslim rule in Hyderabad and resisting integration into India. Described as "enthusiastic" and "undisciplined", they targeted Hindus as well as Muslims whose loyalty was in question. They also fought communists who were launching a revolution in the state.{{sfnp|Sherman, The integration of the princely state of Hyderabad|2007|pp=6–7}} The Razakar violence was seen in entire province ruled by Nizam, part of which are in present day [[Karnataka]] and [[Maharashtra]].<ref>{{cite book |author1=Claude Emerson Welch |title=Anatomy of Rebellion |date=1980 |publisher=State University Press of New York |isbn=0873954416 |page=184}}</ref>
they expanded considerably during the leadership of [[Qasim Razvi]] around the time of Indian independence. Qasim Razvi believed that "Azad Hyderabad" was a muslim empire and in the [[Asaf Jahi dynasty|Asfjahi]] reign every muslim was a ruler. To protect Nizam government was god's command and so to get into the Razakar army and oppose the Hindus was every muslim's sacred duty.<ref name="TPSL">{{cite book |author1=Puccalapalli Sundarayya |title=Telangana People's Struggle and Its Lessons |date=2006 |publisher=Cambridge University Press India Pvt. Limited |isbn=9788175969582 |page=44 |edition=First Published 1972}}</ref> They were deployed in the cause of maintaining Muslim rule in Hyderabad and resisting integration into India. Described as "enthusiastic" and "undisciplined", they targeted Hindus as well as Muslims whose loyalty was in question. They also fought communists who were launching a revolution in the state.{{sfnp|Sherman, The integration of the princely state of Hyderabad|2007|pp=6–7}} The Razakar violence was seen in entire province ruled by Nizam, part of which are in present day [[Karnataka]] and [[Maharashtra]].<ref>{{cite book |author1=Claude Emerson Welch |title=Anatomy of Rebellion |date=1980 |publisher=State University Press of New York |isbn=0873954416 |page=184}}</ref>


Revision as of 10:33, 6 July 2022

Not to be confused with Razakars (Pakistan).

Razakars
Formation1938
FounderBahadur Yar Jung
Dissolved1948
TypeParamilitary volunteer force
PurposeSupport of the Nizam, Sir Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII, resisting the integration of Hyderabad State into India
HeadquartersHyderabad
Region served
Hyderabad State
LeaderBahadur Yar Jung
Qasim Razvi
AffiliationsMajlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen

The Razakars were the private militia of Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) party in the Hyderabad State under the British Raj.[1] Formed in 1938 by the MIM leader Bahadur Yar Jung,[2] they expanded considerably during the leadership of Qasim Razvi around the time of Indian independence. Qasim Razvi believed that "Azad Hyderabad" was a muslim empire and in the Asfjahi reign every muslim was a ruler. To protect Nizam government was god's command and so to get into the Razakar army and oppose the Hindus was every muslim's sacred duty.[3] They were deployed in the cause of maintaining Muslim rule in Hyderabad and resisting integration into India. Described as "enthusiastic" and "undisciplined", they targeted Hindus as well as Muslims whose loyalty was in question. They also fought communists who were launching a revolution in the state.[4] The Razakar violence was seen in entire province ruled by Nizam, part of which are in present day Karnataka and Maharashtra.[5]

Razakars often raided villages and looted innocent people. Their act of atrocities spread fear among the citizens of Hyderabad State. They were known to carry spears, jambias, swords, muzzleloaders and rifles with them whenever they made these raids.[3] Revenue officials of Nizam regim were known to bring along Razakars while collecting land revenues and taxes. Razakars often faced resistance from local people which resulted in harsh and inhumane acts of violence against people.[3] The newspapers and periodicals published frankly the day-to-day affairs of the Nizam government and the atrocities committed by the Razakars in the dominion.[6]

From the beginning of 1948 the Razakars had extended their activities largely from Hyderabad city to towns and rural areas murdering women, abducting Hindus, pillaging houses and fields, and looting non-muslim properties in a widespread reign of terror.[7] Razakars, often aided and abetted by Arab mercenaries in the Nizam's State Service and by armed soldiers of Hyderabad State Forces could indulge in hit-and-run tactics, making frequent forays into Indian territory along the border. In course of these incursions, they murdered several people besides damaging and destroying property. In July 1948, a party of Razakars helped by Hyderabad policemen, ambushed an Indian military convoy which was on its routine duty of exchanging patrols.[7]

During the period November 1947–August 1948, the Indian government made repeated demands to the Nizam of Hyderabad to disband the Razakars, which were all turned down. In the eventual police action launched by India, the Razakars formed the main resistance to the Indian Army.[8] The Nizam surrendered and agreed to disband the Razakars.[9] Qasim Razvi was initially jailed and then allowed to move to Pakistan where he was granted asylum.[10]

History

Qasim Razvi, the leader of Razakars
Razakars during Operation Polo

The Hyderabad State was a kingdom that was ruled by the Nizam. When India became independent in 1947, like all the other Princely states, the Hyderabad State was also given the choice of either joining India or Pakistan. The Nizam stated he wanted neither; he wanted to remain independent but conspired with Pakistan against India.[11] The Hyderabad state was geographically a part of India, hence Nizam finally entered into a standstill agreement with India[12] on 29 November 1947 to maintain the status quo.[13]

Hyderabad state had been steadily becoming more theocratic since the beginning of the 20th century. In 1926, Mahmud Nawaz Khan, a retired Hyderabad official, founded the Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (also known as MIM). The MIM became a powerful organization, with the principal focus to marginalize the political aspirations of moderate Muslims.[14]

MIM had its storm troopers in the Razakars who were headed by Qasim Razvi, a Muslim educated at Aligarh University who claimed Hyderabad was a Muslim state and that Muslim supremacy was based upon the right of conquest".[15] The Razakars demanded special powers from the Nizam, which they started to misuse and the Nizam had to abide by their dictates. The razakar hordes clamoured for war. In Hyderabad, they boasted that their legions would soon march on Delhi and plant the Asafia flag of the Nizam dynasty on the Red Fort.[7].

The Razakar militia brutally put down the armed revolts by Communist sympathizers and the peasantry and even eliminated Muslim activists such as journalist Shoebullah Khan who advocated merger with India.[16][17] The Razakars terrorised the Hindu population and its sympathizers, causing many to flee to safety into the jungles, uninhabited mud forts, or neighboring Indian provinces.[18][better source needed] The Hyderabad State Congress was banned and its leaders forced to flee to Bezawada or Bombay.[citation needed]

In the year 1948, Qasim Razvi in his public speeches and radio broadcast openly instigated Razakars and fellow muslims to kill the one and a half crore population of Hindus in the state of Hyderabad[12]. The then Home Minister, Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel called up Hyderabad PM Laik Ali on 16 April 1948 and said in plain words

You also know and I also know that Qasim Razvi has usurped the whole power in Hyderabad. He has also declared that if Hyderabad was attacked by India, one and a half crore Hindu population would be totally destroyed. If this is so, the future of Nizam and his dynasty will be at stake. I want to tell you this thing very plainly, so that you may remain in the dark. The problem of Hyderabad will have to be tackled like other states, we cannot agree that Hyderabad may remain as a separate independent state, within the boundaries of India and may destroy the Union of India for which we have shed our blood[19].

The Razakars began to attack trains in May 1948 which ran from Bombay Province to Madras Province via Hyderabad. Thousands of congressmen were jailed and many Hindus were killed. Nizam began to purchase huge number of arms from Pakistan.[12]

Annexation after Operation Polo

Main article: Indian annexation of Hyderabad

Finally, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the Indian Minister for Home Affairs, decided to undertake "police action" in Hyderabad State to force the King Nizam's hand. The Nizam sent a delegation to the United Nations to refer the Hyderabad State case to the UN Security Council. Operation Polo was launched and the Indian Army, led by Major General J. N. Chaudhuri, entered the state from five directions. The Razakars fought briefly against the overwhelming attack by Indian forces before surrendering on 18 September 1948. Mir Laik Ali, the prime minister of the Nizam, and Qasim Rizvi were arrested.

On 22 September 1948, the Nizam withdrew his complaint from the UN Security Council. The merger of Hyderabad into the Indian Union was announced. Major General Chaudhuri took over as military governor of Hyderabad and stayed in that position till the end of 1949. In January 1950, M. K. Vellodi, a senior civil servant was made the Chief Minister of the state and the Nizam was given the position of "Raj Pramukh" or "Governor".

The Pandit Sunderlal Committee Report estimated that between 27,000 and 40,000 lost their lives in the violence that ensued the operation.[20]

Disbandment

The Razakars were disbanded after the merger of Hyderabad with India and the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen was initially banned—though it was allowed to be rechartered as All India MIM (AIMIM) under new leadership in 1957. Qasim Rizvi was jailed and served in Indian prisons for almost a decade. After his release, he migrated to Pakistan.[10]

See also

Further reading

References

  1. ^ SYED INAM UR RAHMAN GHAYUR (17 September 2019). "Truth behind the Razakars". DECCAN CHRONICLE. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  2. ^ Benichou, From Autocracy to Integration (2000), p. 99.
  3. ^ a b c Puccalapalli Sundarayya (2006). Telangana People's Struggle and Its Lessons (First Published 1972 ed.). Cambridge University Press India Pvt. Limited. p. 44. ISBN 9788175969582.
  4. ^ Sherman, The integration of the princely state of Hyderabad (2007), pp. 6–7.
  5. ^ Claude Emerson Welch (1980). Anatomy of Rebellion. State University Press of New York. p. 184. ISBN 0873954416.
  6. ^ Dr. Venkat Rao Palati (2014). Role Of Freedom Fighters In Bidar District (1890 -1948) (First ed.). Solapur, Maharashtra: Laxmi Book Publication. p. 15. ISBN 9781312406230.
  7. ^ a b c Frank Moraes (27 January 2015). "22. Junagadh and Hyderabad". Jawaharlal Nehru - A Biography (First Published 1959 ed.). Mumbai: Jaico Publishing House. p. 394. ISBN 9788179926956.
  8. ^ Kamat, Border incidents, internal disorder (2007), p. 220: "A little over 800 people died on both sides during the operation, with the Razakars suffering the majority of the casualties."
  9. ^ Kamat, Border incidents, internal disorder (2007), p. 220.
  10. ^ a b "Hate speech not new for Owaisi clan". The Times of India. 10 January 2013.
  11. ^ Pervaiz I Cheema, Manuel Riemer. Pakistan's Defence Policy 1947-58 (First ed.). Palgrave Macmillan UK. p. 37. ISBN 9781349209422.
  12. ^ a b c R.C. Agarwal (2005). Constitutional Development and National Movement in India (13th ed.). S. Chand & Company. p. 374. ISBN 8121905656.
  13. ^ Srinath, Raghavan (2010). War and peace in modern India. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 75. ISBN 9780230242159. OCLC 664322508.
  14. ^ Kate, Marathwada under the Nizams 1987, p. 73.
  15. ^ Moraes, Frank, Jawaharlal Nehru, Mumbai: Jaico. 2007, p.390
  16. ^ Rao, P.R., History and Culture of Andhra Pradesh: From the Earliest Times to 1991, New Delhi: Sterling Publishers, 2012. p. 284
  17. ^ Remembering a legend, The Hindu, 22 August 2008; Aniket Alam, A one-man crusade, it was and still is[dead link], The Hindu, 6 January 2003.
  18. ^ Kate, Marathwada under the Nizams 1987, p. 84.
  19. ^ Mr Menon. The Story of the Integration of States. p. 354-355.
  20. ^ Thomson, Mike (24 September 2013). "India's hidden massacre". BBC. Retrieved 26 September 2013.

Bibliography

Further reading

External links

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