Modern History: The Liberation of Bangladesh

Background:

During the partition of India, Pakistan gained independence on 14th August, 1947. Pakistan was created out of Muslim majority regions in the West and the East of the Indian nation. The western zone was officially called West Pakistan and the eastern zone (the now Bangladesh) was named East Pakistan. The capital of Pakistan was established in Karachi in West Pakistan and then moved to Islamabad in 1958.

In the entire period of 1947-71, East Pakistan was suppressed economically, politically and culturally by its western counterpart. While the populations of both the regions were nearly same, in 1950-1970 the overall government spending on East Pakistan was only 34% of what was spent on West Pakistan. Moreover it was felt that much of the income generated by the east was primarily diverted towards fighting wars in Kashmir. The political power also resided with West Pakistan with all national governments and major military leadership coming from there. Due to the differences between the two states, a nascent separatist movement developed in East Pakistan. Any such movements were sharply limited, especially when martial law was in force between 1958 and 1962 (under General Ayub Khan) and between 1969 and 1972 (under General Yahya Khan).

The already tense situation was further aggravated by a tropical cyclone that struck East Pakistan in 1970. It was a particularly devastating year as the deadliest cyclone on record—the Bhola cyclone—struck Bangladesh claiming nearly half a million lives. The apathy of West Pakistan leadership and its failure in responding quickly was a further platform for the Awami League (the leading political party of East Pakistan), that capitalized on this tragedy. In 1970 the political tussle between East and West Pakistan reached its climax. In the national elections held that year the Awami League, led by Sheikh Mujibur Rehman, won a landslide victory winning 167 of 169 seats allotted for East Pakistan and hence a majority of the 313 total seats in the National Assembly. This gave Awami League the right to form the government in Islamabad. However, the leader of Pakistan People's Party, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, refused to allow Rahman to become the Prime Minister of Pakistan. On March 3rd 1971, the two leaders of the two wings along with the President General Yahya Khan met in Dhaka to decide the fate of the country. Talks failed. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman called for a nation-wide strike.

On 25th march, 1971 the Pakistani army, in order to suppress nationalist feelings in East Pakistan, launched a planned military pacification codenamed Operation Searchlight. The target of the operation was to take control of all major cities and eliminate all opposition political or military within one month. Before the beginning of the operation, all foreign journalists were systematically deported from East Pakistan. The operation began the 1971 Bangladesh atrocities. . The international media have published casualty figures which vary greatly, from 5,000–35,000 in Dhaka, and 200,000–3,000,000 for Bangladesh as a whole, and the atrocities have been referred to as acts of genocide.

Although the violence focused on the provincial capital, Dhaka, the process of ethnic elimination was also carried out all around Bangladesh. Residential halls of University of Dhaka were particularly targeted. The only Hindu residential hall—the Jagannath Hall—was destroyed by the Pakistani armed forces, and an estimated 600 to 700 of its residents were murdered. By midnight, Dhaka was literally burning, especially the Hindu dominated eastern part of the city. By midnight, Dhaka was literally burning, especially the Hindu dominated eastern part of the city.

On March 26, 1971, M. A. Hannan, an Awami League leader from Chittagong, is said to have made the first announcement of the declaration of independence over radio,

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman signed an official declaration that read:

Today Bangladesh is a sovereign and independent country. On Thursday night West Pakistani armed forces suddenly attacked the police barracks at Razarbagh and the EPR headquarters at Pilkhana in Dhaka. Many innocent and unarmed have been killed in Dhaka city and other places of Bangladesh. Violent clashes between EPR and Police on the one hand and the armed forces of Pakistan on the other are going on. The Bengalis are fighting the enemy with great courage for an independent Bangladesh. May God aid us in our fight for freedom. Joy Bangla.

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

25 March 1971

March 26, 1971 is hence considered the official Independence Day of Bangladesh and the name Bangladesh was in effect thereafter.

The Path to War:

As the spirit of independence set in, the resistance to the occupying forces from West Pakistan increased. Mukti Bahini, the underground resistance organization, which had been fighting for independence of Bangladesh for a long time became increasingly active. The Pakistani military sought to quell them, but increasing numbers of Bengali soldiers defected to the underground "Bangladesh army". These Bengali units slowly merged into the Mukti Bahini and bolstered their weaponry with supplies from India. On 17 April 1971, a provisional government was formed in Meherpur district in western Bangladesh bordering India with Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who was in prison in Pakistan, as President, Syed Nazrul Islam as Acting President, Tajuddin Ahmed as Prime Minister, and General Muhammad Ataul Ghani Osmani as Commander-in-Chief, Bangladesh Forces.

As the civil war escalated and the resistance to occupation grew, so did the repression by the Pakistan army. Right from the start of Operation Searchlight and all through the Bangladesh Liberation War, there were numerous human rights abuses in Bangladesh carried out by the Pakistan Army. Bangladeshi authorities claim that as many as 3 million people were killed, with 300,000 to 500,000 being a figure quoted by news outlets such as the BBC for the estimated death toll as counted by independent researchers. The Hindu minority (forming around 15% of the population) suffered the most. According to Time magazine report on 2 August 1971, "The Hindus, who account for three-fourths of the refugees and a majority of the dead, have borne the brunt of the Pakistani military hatred." The reprisals and the civil war led to a sea of refugees, estimated to be around 10 million, flooding into the eastern provinces of India. Sympathetic to the Bangladeshi independence cause and facing a mounting humanitarian and economic crisis, India started actively aiding and organising the Bangladeshi resistance through Mukti Bahini. Most of Mukti Bahini’s training camps were situated near the border area in India and were operated with active support from India. Three brigades (11 Battalions) were raised for conventional warfare; a large guerrilla force (estimated at 100,000) was trained. A large part of the training and arms and ammunition was provided by the Indian army. Three brigades (8 infantry battalions and 3 artillery batteries) were put into action between July – September. After receiving sufficient training, guerrilla operations picked up after August. Targets of economic and military importance were attacked in Dhaka and other major cities. A major success was Operation Jackpot, in which naval commandos mined and blew up berthed ships in Chittagong on 16th August 1971. The Pakistani army’s retaliation was also swift and brutal and thousands of civilians were killed.

Between October-December, the attacks by Bangladeshi conventional army as well as the guerrilla attacks intensified as did Pakistani reprisals on civilian populations. 90 out of 370 BOPs fell to Bengali forces. Pakistani forces were reinforced by eight battalions from West Pakistan. The Bangladeshi army managed to temporarily capture airstrips at Lalmonirhat and Shalutikar. Both were used to fly in in supplies and arms from India. Pakistan sent another 5 battalions from West Pakistan as reinforcements.

The War:

 Pakistan had grown increasingly weary of India’s involvement in what it considered its internal civil unrest. Moreover jingoism and anti India sentiments had increased incessantly in Pakistan fuelled by the ruling party and the military. On 3rd December 1971, he Pakistan Air Force (PAF) launched a pre-emptive strike on Indian Air Force bases. The attack was based on the Israeli Air Force's Operation Focus during the Six-Day War, and intended to neutralize the Indian Air Force planes on the ground. This marked the official start of the Indo-Pakistani War. Mrs Indira Gandhi then ordered the immediate mobilization of troops and launched a full scale invasion. This involved Indian forces in a massive coordinated air, sea, and land assault on both the western and eastern borders. Indian Air Force started flying sorties against Pakistan from midnight of 3rd December. The Indian objective was to prevent Pakistani invasion on the western front while making rapid advances on the eastern front and liberating Bangladesh.

INS Vikrant

The Indian navy under the command of Vice Admiral S.N. Kohli, successfully attacked Karachi's port in Operation Trident on the night of 4–5 December. The operation sank Pakistani destroyer PNS Khyber and a minesweeper PNS Muhafiz and PNS Shah Jahan was badly damaged. 720 Pakistani sailors were killed or wounded, and Pakistan lost reserve fuel and many commercial ships, thus crippling the Pakistan Navy's further involvement in the conflict. After Operation Trident, the Indian navy launched Operation Python when it re-attacked Karanchi port on 8-9 December and further destro reserve fuel tanks and the sank three Pakistani merchant ships. On the eastern front, the Indian Eastern Naval Command under Vice Admiral Krishnan, completely isolated East Pakistan through a naval blockade in the Bay of Bengal. This trapped the Eastern Pakistani Navy and eight foreign merchant ships in their ports. From 4th December onwards, the aircraft carrier INS Vikrant was deployed, and its Sea Hawk fighter-bombers attacked many coastal towns in East Pakistan including Chittagong and Cox's Bazaar. Pakistan countered the threat by sending the submarine PNS Ghazi, which sank en route under mysterious circumstances off Vishakapatnam's coast.

After the initial pre-emptive strike, PAF adopted a defensive stance in response to the Indian retaliation. In the east, the small air contingent of Pakistan Air Force No. 14 Sqn was destroyed, putting the Dhaka airfield out of commission and resulting in Indian air superiority in the east. India flew 1,978 sorties in the East and about 4,000 in the West, while PAF flew about 30 and 2,840. Pakistan lost 72 aircraft and about 65 IAF aircraft were lost. But the imbalance in air losses was explained by the IAF's considerably higher sortie rate, and its emphasis on ground-attack missions.

Mukti Bahini Training 

On ground, Pakistan attacked at several places along India's western border with Pakistan, but the Indian army successfully held their positions. The Indian Army quickly responded to the Pakistan Army's movements in the west and made some initial gains, including capturing around 5,500 square miles (14,000 km2) of Pakistan territory (land gained by India in Pakistani Kashmir, Pakistani Punjab and Sindh sectors was later ceded in the Simla Agreement of 1972, as a gesture of goodwill).  On the eastern front, The Indian Army, far superior in numbers and equipment to that of Pakistan, executed a three-pronged pincer movement on Dhaka launched from the Indian states of West Bengal, Assam, and Tripura. The Indian Army joined forces with the Mukti Bahini to form the Mitro Bahini ("Allied Forces"). The Indians quickly overran the country, selectively engaging or bypassing heavily defended strongholds. Pakistani forces were unable to effectively counter the Indian attack, as they had been deployed in small units around the border to counter guerrilla attacks by the Mukti Bahini. Unable to defend Dhaka, the Pakistanis surrendered on 16th December 1971.

On 16 December 1971, Lt. Gen A. A. K. Niazi, CO of Pakistan Army forces located in East Pakistan signed the Instrument of Surrender. Over 93,000 Pakistani troops surrendered to the Indian forces, making it the largest surrender since World War II.

During the war, the Pakistan Army and its local collaborators carried out a systematic execution of the leading Bengali intellectuals. A number of professors from Dhaka University were killed during the first few days of the war. However, the most extreme cases of targeted killing of intellectuals took place during the last few days of the war. Professors, journalists, doctors, artists, engineers, writers were rounded up by Pakistan Army and the Razakar militia in Dhaka, blindfolded, taken to torture cells in Mirpur, Mohammadpur, Nakhalpara, Rajarbagh and other locations in different sections of the city to be executed en masse, most notably at Rayerbazar and Mirpur.

The After-affects:

In Pakistan, the defeat and dismemberment of half the nation was a shocking loss to top military and layman alike. The myth of the Pakistan Army's might was shattered and the leadership stood exposed. Yahya Khan's dictatorship collapsed and gave way to Bhutto who took the opportunity to rise to power.

Bangladesh sought admission into the UN, Most members voting in its favour but China vetoed recognition, as Pakistan was its key ally. However the United States grudgingly recognized it. To ensure a smooth transition, in 1972 the Shimla Agreement was signed between India and Pakistan. The treaty was a watershed in the history of the South Asian region as it ensured that Bangladesh would be officially recognized by Pakistan and its principal allies in exchange for the return of the Pakistani POWs.

Role of Foreign Nations:

USA and China supported Pakistan both materially and politically. The then president of USA, Nixon and his Secretary of State Henry Kissinger feared that a weakened Pakistan would help Soviet expansion into south and south east Asia and would weaken the regional position of USA’s new ally, China. During the civil war and the Indo-Pakistan war, Nixon sent military supplies to Pakistan and routed them through Jordan and Iran and also encouraged China to increase its arms supplies to Pakistan. In recent years, Kissinger has come under fire for private comments he made to Nixon during the Bangladesh-Pakistan War in which he described  Indira Gandhi as a " bitch" and a "witch". He also said "The Indians are bastards," shortly before the war.

The Soviets, recognizing that the independence of Bangladesh would weaken both United States and China in south Asia, supported India and Mukti Bahini during the war. The support to India was penned in a treaty signed in August 1971. When Pakistan's defeat seemed certain, Nixon sent the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise to the Bay of Bengal, a move deemed by the Indians as a nuclear threat. Enterprise arrived on station on 11 December 1971. On 6th and 13th December, the Soviet Navy dispatched two groups of ships, armed with nuclear missiles, from Vladivostok; they trailed U.S. Task Force 74 in the Indian Ocean from 18th December until 7th of January 1972. The Soviets also sent a nuclear submarine to counter the threat posed by USS Enterprise in the Indian Ocean.

At the end of the war, the Warsaw Pact countries were among the first to recognize Bangladesh. The Soviet Union accorded recognition to Bangladesh on 25th January 1972. The United States delayed recognition for some months, before according it on 8 April 1972.

The Birth of Satyagraha: Gandhi's Fight for Indian Rights in South Africa

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

The Gandhian era is divided into two parts - (i) From 1893-1914 (South Africa) & (ii) From 1915-1948 (India). The twenty years of struggle in South Africa were Gandhi's first experiment in political field and had long term impact on his philosophy and leadership.

In 1890-91 some 150,000 emigrants were settled in South Africa,most of which resided in Natal district.The white population resented their presence and the British government there encouraged the xenophobia by a series of oppressive measures designed to prevent the immigration of Asiatics.Through systematic persecution the life of the Indians were made intolerable.They were burdened with overwhelming taxes and subjected to most overwhelming police ordinances and exploitation of all sorts. In 1893 Gandhi arrived in Pretoria to deal with an important case. He was not familiar with the situation in South Africa but from the very beginning he started experiencing the difference between European society and the particular African sociey. In Natal and particulary in Dutch Traansval he was thrown out of hotels and trams, insulted, beaten and kicked.He could have returned to India but was bound by a contract of one year. But when he was about to leave he learnt that the South African Government was planning to pass a Bill depriving the Indians of their franchise.The Indians were helpless as they were unorganized and leaderless. Gandhi felt that it was his duty to defend them. He decided to continue his stay for another month, however he remained there for twenty years fighting for the rights of the Indians.

Then began an epic struggle between courage on one side and governmental power and brute force on the other.As a lawyer he took up the task to prove the illegality of the Asiatic Exclusion Act from the point of view of law and despite stiff opposition he won the case. Gandhi wanted to establish the principle that Indians were citizens of the British Empire and therefore entitled to equality under the law. Finally the Natal Act that was passed in 1897 met his demand of equal electoral rights for British subjects including Indians. This was his first victory on the African soil. He formed an association for educating the Indians known as Indian Congress in Natal. In 1904 he founded the  Phoneix Ashram near Durban. It was an agricultural colony built on Tolstoian lines where the inmates led a simple life and renounced materialism.

In 1906 was planning to draft a bill that that would spell absolute ruin for the Indians.The proposed ordinance required all Indian men,women and children over eight ,to register with the authorities,submit to finger printing and accept a certificate which they had to carry with themselves all the time. A person who failed to register could be imprisoned,fined or deported from Transval. This was highly objectionable to all the Indians and Gandhi decided to oppose it with all his strength. However in due course Transval adopted the Asiatic Registration Act on 31st July 1907.The Indians termed it as Black Act and prepared to offer satyagraha.They refused to get themselves registered failing which they were served notice to register or leave Transval. Refusing to do either, they were arrested and and brought before a magistrate in 1908.This was Gandhi's first term in jail. As a leader he asked for heaviest sentence from the judge as he was the leader of the movement. For the finance of the resistance movement Indians and Europeans in South Africa and Indians from India contributed considerable sums. Suggestions poured in on Gandhi to raise the entire question of Indian disabilities in South Africa and to mobilize the whole Indian community of the continent. But he decided that it was against the principles of Satyagraha to expand or to shift one's goal in the middle of the battle. The issue was of the right of the Indians to live in and enter the Transval only. Gandhi's sentence ended in 1908,but since civil resistance against the registration and emigration continued he was again sentenced to three month imprisonment on  25th February 1909.

Without relenting the Government was planning to extend the act to other parts of South Africa and the satyagraha movement was gaining ground.Gandhi decided to lobby in London.His trip to England made the South African Indian question a major imperial concern.

However,a third issue was added to the whole scenario when on 14th March 1913,a Justice of the Cape Colony Supreme Court ruled that only Christian marriages were legal in South Africa.This invalidated Hindu,Muslim and Parsi marriages and turned all Hindu wives into concubines without rights.This was highly unacceptable and a direct onslaught on the vanity of all Indian women. For the first time large number of women joined the resistance movement. The struggle grew in strength and the satyagraha was being seen as highly successful. Finally showing a reconciliatory gesture the government opened it's doors for negotiations. General Smuts and Gandhi finally exchanged letters after prolonged negotiations on 30th June 1914 which stated that Hindu,Moslem and Parsi marriages are valid, Indians could move  freely from one province to another and that three pound tax on unindentured labour in Natal was abolished.The settlement was a compromise which satisfied both the sides. Gandhi regarded the agreement as the Magna Carta of South African Indians. The victory was vindication of civil resistance. It was the victory of the moral force. "It is a force which if became universal,would revolutionize social ideals and do away with despotisms", Gandhi wrote in Indian Opinion.

The purity of Gandhi's methods made it difficult for General Smuts to oppose him. Victory came to Gandhi not when Smuts had no more strength to fight him but when he had no more heart to fight him.

Thus ended an era which taught the world the importance of civil disobedience and removed fear of governmental authority from people's mind. Mahatma Gandhi's credentials as a leader became well established and the scene of his fight against oppression and colonialism shifted to India.

Written by:
Shama Sonali
Asst. Professor, Dept. of Political Science,
Ranchi University,
India

Dandi March, the Beginning of Civil Disobedience and Mass Movement in Modern India

At midnight on 31st December, 1929, the Indian National Congress raised the tricolor for the first time on the banks of Ravi in Lahore and on 26th January 1930, led by Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, it publicly issued the Declaration of Independence, or ‘Purna Swaraj’. But with the coming of these revolutionary events, the Congress was also in a dilemma. A new anti-government campaign was needed to unite the people of India and lay the foundations of a mass movement against the British Raj. By feburary, 1930 Gandhi’s mind was set to start a civil disobedience movement targeting the British salt tax. The 1882 Salt Act gave the British a monopoly on the collection and manufacture of salt, limiting its handling to government salt depots and levying a salt tax. Even though salt was freely available to those living on the coast (by evaporation of sea water), Indians were forced to purchase it from the British government. The choice of salt tax for satyagraha was ingenious on part of Gandhi and the Congress Working Committee for a number of reasons:

• The salt tax affected almost every Indian, irrespective of class, caste or religion
• Being an item of daily use salt was expected to resonate more with the masses than abstract demands of greater constitutional rights
• The Salt tax represented around 8% of the British Raj tax revenue

Gandhi felt that the protest would be meaningful to the lowliest Indian and would also build unity between the Hindus and Muslims by fighting for a cause that affected both the communities equally. Explaining his choice Gandhi had said “There is no article like salt, outside water, by taxing which the state can reach even the starving millions, the sick, the maimed and the utterly helpless. The tax constitutes, therefore, the most inhuman tax, the ingenuity of man can devise.” However, the British establishment did not take the treat of a salt tax resistance seriously. Lord Irwin, the Viceroy of India, wrote to London that “At present the prospect of a salt campaign does not keep me awake at night”.

 

From February, 1930, the preparations for the salt satyagraha began in ernest. The salt satyagraha would begin on March 12th from Sabarmati Ashram and end in Dandi with Gandhi breaking the Salt Act on April 6th. Gandhi chose April 6th to launch the mass breaking of the salt laws for a symbolic reason—it was the first day of "National Week", begun in 1919 when Gandhi conceived of the national hartal (strike) against the Rowlatt Act. The 24 day march of 390 km would pass through 4 districts and 48 villages. The route of the march was planned so as to maximize the recruitment potential for the march. Gandhi’s talks and events at each of the villages were scheduled and publicized in Indian and foreign press. On March 2nd, Gandhi wrote to Lord Irwin, laying down a 11 point Charter of Demands in his letter. These included a considerable reduction in the Pound-Sterling-Rupee exchange rate, curtailing of military budget, a fifty percent reduction in land revenue, preservation of indigenous textile machinery, abolition of Salt Tax and releasing political prisoners. Lord Irwin, however held the salt protest in disdain and ignored the demands laid down by Gandhi in his letter. As a result, on 12th March 1930, the salt satyagraha march to Dandi was set in motion.

 

Gandhi on Dandi March

On 12th March 1930 at 6:10 am Gandhi came out of his room, calm and composed. He offered prayers, looked at his watch and exactly at 6:30 am commenced his march with 78 volunteers. Following the commencement of his epic Dandi March, a tremendous wave of enthusiasm swept over the entire country. In cities like Clacutta, Madras, Bombay, Lahore, Delhi, Peshawar, Nargur, Ahmedabad and Allahabad, the ‘Satyagraha Day’ was celebrated by taking out processions, holding public meetings and unfurling of the tricolor. Meanwhile thousands of men, women and children accompanied the marching column for a few miles and thousands lined the route and showered flowers, coins, currency notes and kum kum at the satyagrahis. According to The Statesman, the official government newspaper which usually played down the size of crowds at Gandhi's functions, 100,000 people crowded the road that separated Sabarmati from Ahmedabad. At each of the stopovers across the route, Gandhi held public meetings with the villagers, emphasized the importance of salt and criticized the salt tax levied by the government. Each night the satyagrahis slept in the open, asking of the villagers nothing more than simple food and a place to rest and wash. Gandhi felt that this would bring the poor into the battle for independence, necessary for eventual victory.

Each day thousands of volunteers and prominent leaders like Sarojini Naidu joined the march. Foreign journalists closely followed the Dandi march and made Gandhi a household name in Europe and America. The New York Times wrote almost daily about the Salt march, including two front page articles on 6th and 7th April. When Gandhi reached Dandi on 5th April, he was greeted by a crowd of more than 50,000 people. The following morning, after a prayer, Gandhi raised a lump of salty mud and declared, "With this, I am shaking the foundations of the British Empire." He then boiled it in seawater, producing illegal salt. He called upon all his followers to likewise begin making salt along the seashore, "wherever it is convenient" and to instruct villagers in making illegal, but necessary, salt.

 

The effects of the salt march were felt across India. Millions broke the salt laws by making salt or buying illegal salt. What began as a salt satyagraha quickly grew into a mass movement of civil disobedience. British cloth and goods were boycotted, unpopular forest laws were defied in the Maharashtra, Carnatic and Central Provinces, Gujarati peasants refused to pay tax, under threat of losing their crops and land. As a reaction the British government imprisoned over 60,000 people in less than a month. The campaign also had a significant effect on changing world and British attitudes toward Indian independence and caused large numbers of Indians to join the fight for the first time. The satyagraha against the salt tax continued for almost a year, ending with negotiations with Viceroy Lord Irwin and the Second Round Table Conference.

Post Independence Integration - The Taking of Hyderabad

The Nizam of Hyderabad

One of the few princely states that resisted integration into the Indian Union was the State of Hyderabad. Theb state of Hyderabad had a Muslim ruler and a mostly Hindu population (~85%). It was located in the south-central region of the Indian subcontinent, and was ruled, from 1724 until 1948, by a hereditary Nizam. In 1947, under the rule of the then Nizam, Osman Ali Khan, it was the oldest existing Muslim Empire in India. Although landlocked, with an area of over 200,000 sq. km and a population of over 16 million, Hyderabad was self sufficient in food, cotton and coal. The Nizam owend over 10% of the land of the state and most of the rest was owned by large landlords and very rich nobles. The bulk of the population, both Muslims and Hindus, worked as factory hands, artisans, labourers and pesants. The Nizam had ascended the throne as far back as in 1911 and was one of the richest men in the world. 

In 1946-47, the Nizam was determined to continue his rule over the state after the British left. In his discussions with the viceroy, Lord Mountbatten, the Nizam emphasized that if pressed into signing the Instrument of Accession he would seriously consider joining Pakistan. Such an alternative if realized would cut the young nation into two halves. Experts pointed out that India might be able to live with its two arms in the Northwest and the Northeast cut off but may not survive without its midriff. 

Princely State of Hyderabad

In the conflict the Indian Union was supported by the Hyderabad State Congress which pressed hard for Hyderabad to meger with the rest of India. Its leaders organized protests, rallies and courted mass arrests. The Nizam was supported by Ittihad-ul-Muslimeen (meaning 'Unity of Muslims') party which in 1946-47 was getting increasingly radicalized by its new leader, Kasim Razvi. Under him, the Ittihad had developed a militia called the 'Razzakars' whose armed members demanded an independent Hyderabad. 

The Nizam's ambitions gained strength from the support of the Conservative Party of Britain. Even Winston Churchill stood in support of the Nizam and speaking in the House of Commons argued that Britain had a personal obligation not to allow one of its frinedly states that had declared its sovereignity to be strangled, starved out or actually overborne by violence. The Nizam and specially the Razzakars found further strength from the support shown by Pakistan. Jinnah had declared to Mountbatten that if Congress attempted to take over Hyderabad, every Muslim in the subcontinent would rise to defend it. 

On 15th August, 1947, the same day India became independent, the Nizam declared the independence of Hyderabad. Alarmed by the idea of an independent Hyderabad in the middle of India,  the Indian government offered Hyderabad a 'Standstill Agreement' which made an assurance that the status quo would be maintained and no military action would be taken. Under the agreement multiple discussions were held between Indian representative, K M Munshi and the Nizam's dewan, Mir Laik Ali. However no common grounds could be reached. By March, 1948 the Razzakar militia had grown in strength to over 1 lakh and the real power in Hyderabad had passed to Kasim Rizvi. The Razzakars saw the entire struggle in communal light while the Congress on the other hand saw it as a fight between democracy and autocracy. As months passed the tension grew as there were rumurs of arms supply to Hyderabad from Pakistan and the flood of Hindu refugees kept flowing into adjoining Inidian provinces. 

On 24 August 1948, Hyderabad formally asked the Secretary General of the new United Nations Organization for its Security Council, under Article 32 of theUnited Nations Charter, to consider the "grave dispute, which, unless settled in accordance with international law and justice, is likely to endanger the maintenance of international peace and security." This provoked the Indian Union to take military action before the UN could intervene. 

Razzakar Units

On 13th September 1948 Indian troops invaded Hyderabad from all points of the compass in a campaign code named"Operation Polo" because at that time, Hyderabad state had some 17 polo grounds, the largest number in India. The fighting lasted four days and was mostly between the Indain army and the Razzakars. Around 32 Indian soilders were killed in the operation while the losses suffered by Hyderabad state forces and Irregular forces combined were 1,863 killed, 122 wounded, and 3,558 captured. On 17th September the Nizam spoke on the radio calling on the people of Hyderabad to live in peace and harmony with the rest of the people of India. 

For his final accesstion to India, the Nizam was rewarded with the designation of Rajpramukh (governor) of the newly formed state of Hyderabad but resigned from this office when the states were re-organized in 1956 on linguistic basis and large parts of Hyderabad state went to Bombay State, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. Many officials and members of the royal family fled and re-settled in Pakistan where they now live.

Razvi was placed under house arrest and tried under Indian laws on seditious activities and inciting communal violence. He was jailed 1948-1957. He agreed to migrate to Pakistan as a condition of his release from prison.His family had been residing there since 1949.

TIME Correspondent Robert Lubar, together with a LIFE reporter and photographer, set out in a hired 1935 Ford to have a look at the war between India and Hyderabad. The Indian army had undertaken a "police action" (which it also called a "mission of mercy") against Hyderabad, whose predominantly Hindu population was ruled by a stubborn Moslem Nizam. The would-be war correspondents sped 180 miles toward the front, found that the war was over by the time they got there. All in all, it had been one of the shortest, happiest wars ever seen. Cabled Lubar: 

Everyone is satisfied. The aggressive section of Indian public opinion has been appeased. Hyderabad, which was never really out of India, is now indisputably part of India. There have been no terrible outbreaks of communal violence. The Nizam, who capitulated in four days and 13 hours, satisfied the demands of his ego for at least a token fight. Said Lieut. General Sir Maharaj Rajendrasinghji, the Indian generalissimo: "It is not our job to hurt anybody who is law-abiding." This presumably included the Hyderabad army. There were no casualty reports (by the best available count, twelve Indian soldiers were killed). 

Just the same, eager Indian war correspondents sent back reports which turned up under headlines like NIZAM'S FORTRESS TOWNS FALL LIKE NINEPINS. The reports failed to mention that the fortresses had been built in the 15th Century. 

"He Is Sorry." At the Hyderabad border we were greeted by Hindu peasants who were obviously all for the Indian "invaders." At Naldrug camp, where we breakfasted, soldiers were gathered around a radio listening to a rebroadcast of the Nizam's surrender speech. A soldier translated the gist to me: "He is sorry. He wants to be friends."

Post Independence Integration - The Joining of Travencore

In 1946-47 around 565 princely states existed in India. Some like Kashmir, Mysore and Hyderabad were larger than many European nations while others were tiny jagirs of a few villages. Within two years of independence more than 500 of these princely states were dissolved into fourteen new administrative units of India. During this period only six states resisted integration one of the first being Travancore.

Travancore was strategically located at the extreme south tip of the subcontinent (now mostly parts of Kerela). It had the most highly educated populace in India, a well established and thriving maritime trade and large deposits of monazite from which is extracted thorium used for production of atomic energy and atom bombs. Travancore also had a strong maritime warfare history. Its sinking of the Dutch fleet in 1741 is apparently the only naval defeat ever inflicted by an Asian country on an European power. With its capital in Trivandrum, it was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family. Travancore Royal family descended from the Chera Dynasty and had ruled since the 1700s.

Kingdom of Travancore

In 1947 Travancore was ruled by Sree Chithira Thirunal, the Maharaja of Travancore. His dewan was Sir C P Ramaswamy Aiyar, a brilliant lawyer who had held that post for the past sixteen years. Even as early as February, 1946 Sir C P had made clear his views that once the British left, Travancore would become a perfectly independent country. In his quest for independence Sir C P found support with the politicians in London who foresaw an independent Travancore as a crucial source of monazite for the imminent Cold War. The Travancore government had already signed an agreement with the British government for supply of monazite. Travancore's bid for independence was also supported by Mohammad Ali Jinnah and the Muslim League. In June 1947, Jinnah wrote to Sir C P a wire welcoming Travancore's decision for independence and emphasizing keenness in establishing a long lasting relationship between Travancore and Pakistan. Empowered by these developments, in July the dewan wrote to the government of Madras that Travancore was taking steps to maintain its independent entity and that it was ready to sign a treaty between the Sovereign State of Travancore and the Dominion Governments of both India and Pakistan.

Sir CP Ramaswamy Aiyar

While the Maharaja and his dewan were keen on establishing an independent state, a large majority of the people had strong pro-India nationalist feelings. Both, Congress and the Communist Party of India had strong presence in the State. In July, the dewan went to Delhi and met with Lord Mountbatten clearly expressing Travancore's decision on maintaining independence. Port the meeting V P Menon tried to persuade Sir C P to sign the Treaty of Accession. However, Sir C P remained adamant and said that he would prefer to negotiate with the Indian nation. Clearly laying Travancore's position, Sir C P returned to Travancore, his mind firmly set on independence.

On 25th July, 1947 while on his way to a music concert in Trivandrum, Sir C P was attacked by a knife wielding member of the Kerela Socialist Party, knifed in the face and body and had to be rushed off for emergency surgery. The impact of this was immediate. The Congress party turned the heat on Travancore ffor accession and the Maharaja immediately gave in. On July 30th the Maharaja wired the viceroy his decision to accede to the Indian Union.

Had it not been for the freak incident, the geo-political landscape of our country today may have been different.