October Coup: A Memoir of the Struggle for Hyderabad

Mohammed Hyder

Description

It is 1948. A newly-independent India is trying to persuade Hyderabad to join the Indian Union. Negotiations are difficult for both sides. The State Congress, now operating from Indian territory, has launched a campaign of violent raids, designed to cripple civil administration in the border areas, and provoke an annexation. The leading Islamic party inside Hyderabad, in an equally rash move, has created a paramilitary body, the Razakars, to counter the threat to Hyderabad’s borders.
For Mohammed Hyder of the Hyderabad Civil Service, the newly-appointed Collector of Osmanabad District (situated on the Hyderabad-Bombay border), both, the wayward State Congress and the ramshackle Razakar outfit are a threat to law and order. This first-person account conveys a vivid picture of Hyderabad under pressure, through the eyes of a senior district administrator.

Sujets

• Histoire
• Raj Británico
• South Asia
• Hyderabad Civil Service
• Annexation
• Biography
• British Raj
• Osmanabad
• Union of India
• Independence Day (India)
• Razakar
• Princely state
• Islamic party
• Hyderabad
• Memoir
• Congress
• Politics
• History
• Asia
• Independence
• India
• Prince
• Raj britannique

Informations

• Publié par: Roli Books
• Date de parution: 18 octobre 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9789351940272
• Langue: English

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Mohammed Hyder

Lotus Collection
© Masood Hyder, 2012 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission of the publisher.
First published in 2012 The Lotus Collection An imprint of Roli Books Pvt. Ltd M-75, Greater Kailash II Market, New Delhi 110 048 Phone: ++91 (011) 4068 2000 Fax: ++91 (011) 2921 7185 E-mail: [e-mail] Website: www.rolibooks.com Also at Bangalore, Chennai, & Mumbai
Cover: Kadambari Mishra Layout: Sanjeev Mathpal Production: Shaji Sahadevan
ISBN: 978-81-7436-850-8

‘Of the gods we believe and of the men we know, that by a necessary law of their nature they rule wherever they can. And it is not as if we were the first to make this law, or to act upon it when made: we found it existing before us and shall leave it to exist for ever after us; all we do is to make use of it, knowing that you and everybody else, having the same power as we have, would do the same as we do.’
– Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, Chapter XVII

Contents
Editors Note
1. The Beginning of the End
2. Qasim Razvi
3. Collector of Osmanabad
4. Border Camps
5. A Conference at Shah Manzil
6. Reforms in Osmanabad: The Administration, the Irregulars and the Army
7. Nanaj and After
8. The Fall of Osmanabad
9. Police Action and My Arrest
10. The Charges Against Me
11. Trials in Court
12. I File a Writ
13. The Government’s Counter-Affidavit
14. My Reply to the Government’s Counter-Affidavit
15. Final Judgement
16. Conclusion
Appendix
Glossary
Timeline
Acknowledgements
Index

Editor's Note
In 1948, at one of the most difficult times in the history of Hyderabad, Mohammed Hyder was Collector of Osmanabad, one of the most politically sensitive districts of that state. This memoir is an edited version of the account of his collectorship written by him in Osmanabad Jail in July and August of 1949. His notebooks were typed up soon after his release in 1952, but not published at that time; presumably, he intended to first negotiate his professional future with the government. In 1960, rebuffed by the government, he put Osmanabad and everything connected with it behind him. But in July 1972, when the present editor – his son – offered him a shorter version of his work, his interest revived. He thoroughly reviewed it before his death in 1973, at fifty-eight.
Thus improved, the manuscript waited these long years for completion: Other preoccupations intervened. The remaining work of editing closely follows the 1972 version (the introduction and the concluding chapter were both added in 1972, with some additional material from his jail diaries). The last part of the book includes material from his trials in court, including the case that he brought against the government in 1957. This material constitutes a natural conclusion to the memoir, and provides documentary support for it.
Masood Hyder New York 10 February 2012

The Beginning of the End
T he question of Hyderabad was one of the major unresolved issues at the beginning of 1947: would Hyderabad accede to India by the time the latter gained independence, or would it stay out of the Indian Union altogether, as a sovereign state, or attempt to join Pakistan? For a time, the question loomed very large and it still remains on the agenda of the UN Security Council, more a historical relic than unfinished business. But in the beginning of 1947, the issue was no less worrying than Kashmir.
To look for the origins of this situation is to risk an infinite regress along the chain of cause and effect. Certainly, there were major causes, whose proper assessment would require a balanced historical analysis. Here, I propose to enumerate some of the more immediate causes. Even at the level of a fairly superficial overview, it becomes clear that the Hyderabad question had a certain degree of complexity, and given the contending historical, political and social forces, a peaceful and harmonious outcome was not assured.
As a factor contributing to the downward spiral, Hyderabad’s relative isolation from the larger affairs of India figured somewhere at the top of the list. This could perhaps be traced to the exchanges between the viceroy of India, Lord Reading and the Nizam as far back as 1926, on the subject of Britain’s paramountcy over Hyderabad. This famous clash subsequently dissuaded the ruler from taking a closer interest in Indian affairs. The Nizam’s aloofness in the 1930s and 1940s adversely affected opinion in Delhi and in Hyderabad, at a time when trust and mutual confidence should have been cultivated by both sides. It also showed up the differences of outlook on the constitutional position of Hyderabad, which were to come to the fore in 1947. The British continued to assert paramountcy and the right to intervene in the internal affairs of all princely states; Hyderabad continued to regard itself as the greatest of the princely states, therefore expecting to be treated as a special case. And it began to anticipate the time when the British would depart.
In June 1947, when the new viceroy, Lord Mountbatten, announced his plan for the transfer of power, the idea that paramountcy would lapse was reconfirmed by Britain. In Hyderabad’s case, it opened the way for the argument that the Nizam would revert to his original status of a sovereign prince, and could choose to assert his independence or accede either to India or Pakistan. Although the argument was legally sound, it was, in fact, quite unrealistic to expect that independent India would concede to Hyderabad what Britain had never allowed. Whoever ruled India would hold the view that Delhi would succeed London as the Paramount Power, and that Hyderabad could not possibly exist as an independent entity in the heart of the new Indian Union. But the Delhi perspective was not appreciated in Hyderabad.
At the level of popular politics there was one overwhelming fact to be taken into account: Hyderabad was predominantly Hindu, with Muslims representing some 20 per cent of the population. From one perspective, its political arrangements were self-evidently undemocratic, with an autocratic Muslim ruler at the head of the system, and a small, apparently reactionary Muslim ruling class dominating its administration and political life. From inside the system, the perception was entirely different. Hyderabad was viewed as a state blessed with a remarkably secular outlook, enjoying communal harmony, with a benign ruler concerned with the advancement of the poor and the protection of the oppressed; an excellent administration where recruitment was based on competition and advancement on merit; and an eclectic ruling elite, which included, besides Muslims, Hindus, Parsees, and others who had proudly assimilated into the distinctive culture of Hyderabad.
Which perception reflected the reality more accurately? It was all in the eye of the beholder. But those who subscribed to the second point of view were concerned that unless the inevitable transition to responsible government was handled with care, something of inestimable value