Razakars (Hyderabad)

Razakars were a private militia organized by Qasim Razvi to support the rule of Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII and resist the integration of Hyderabad State in India.

A few people of Telangana under the leadership of Swami Ramanand Tirtha formed the Andhra Hindu Mahasabha which sought integration of the state with rest of India. This was a non-violent struggle initially but later due to pressure from the Razakars, prodding from the communists became violent. This led to the killing and brutal murder of many landlords and Jagirdars in the Telangana region who were driven out and their lands redistributed among the population.

Eventually, the Indian army routed the Razakars by killing nijam paid armed goondas and other sects of the group which got disbanded after Hyderabad state joined the Union of India.

Qasim Razvi, the military chief of Hyderabad state, moved to Pakistan where he resided until his death.

RAZAKAR MOVEMENT The Nizam was very anxious to become independent and it had been Nizam's ambition to secure Dominion Status for his State. He tried to achieve this ambitious desire with the help of Khasim Razvi of the Ittehadul Muslimeen and its Military branch, the Razakars.

The Hindus of the Hyderabad State accounted for 93 per cent of its population. The population was divided on the topic of Join India or sustain Hyderabad statehood. Those who wanted to Join the Indian Union launched the "Join India" movement with the cooperation of a few Muslims for the integration of the State with the rest of the country. The State Congress leaders, led by Swami Ramanand Tirtha, wholeheartedly supported the movement. The Nizam banned the State Congress. Its leaders were forced to conduct their activities from places like Vijayawada and Bombay. The Communists on their part organized village defense squads to protect people from the attacks of the Nizam Police and Razakars. The negotiations between the Nizam's Dominions and the Indian Union proved abortive. The Nizam Government did not agree to the accession to the Indian Union. The Communist party instigated the peasants to use guerrilla tactics and around 3000 villages (about 41000 sq. kilometres) came under peasant-rule in Nalgonda alone. The rebellion was led by the Communist Party of India under the banner of Andhra Mahasabha. The growing violence by the Razakars and the Andhra Mahasabha seriously jeopardized law and order. The Government of India tried to persuade the Nizam to sign the Instrument of accession with India. After nonagreeable negotiations, the Nizam finally entered into a "Stand Still Agreement" with India on November 29, 1947, to maintain the status quo for one year. This agreement provided the Nizam to gain time to procure military hardware from different parts of the world and had to smuggle them into Hyderabad as the British backstabbed him and withdrew their support. Meanwhile the Nizam sent a delegation to the United Nations organization to refer the Hyderabad case to the Security Council.

With the growing violence by the Andhra Mahasabha and the Razakars along with the Nizam's attempts to get himself independent, the Government of India decided to curb these tendencies by launching a `Police Action' against the Nijam Rule. The Indian Army, led by Major-General J.N. Chaudhuri, entered the State from five directions. The motive was to weaken the ruling party and achieve the goal of getting the state to join the Indian Dominion. On 18 September 1948, Nizam's forces surrendered to the Indian army and Mir Laik Ali, the Prime Minister of the Nizam, and Khasim Razvi were arrested. On September 23, the Nizam was forced to withdraw his complaint from the UN Security Council. The merger of Hyderabad Dominions into the Indian Union was announced. Major-General J.N. 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 designated "Raj Pramukh". After the 1952 General Elections, the first popular ministry headed by B. Rama Krishna Rao took charge of the State.