Asaduddin Owaisi Wants Nizam In School Syllabus

MIM President and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi on Tuesday demanded that the State Government include a chapter on the 7th Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan in the school syllabus of Telangana.

He was speaking after releasing the book "Mere Taboot Par Jashn" (Celebrations On My Coffin) authored by senior journalist M A Majid on the merger of Hyderabad State with the Indian Union.

He said that the distortion of history could never lead to a better future, and strongly condemned the fabricated stories being floated around in the name of Hyderabad Liberation.

Asaduddin Owaisi said that the Central Government had constituted a committee led by Pandit Sunderlal to probe the atrocities against Muslims that occurred during the police action.

The Committee visited the affected areas and submitted its report to the government. However, the report was never made public.

He said that references to the Pandit Sunderlal report were widely made in the works of several historians including Canada-based Ayub Ali Khan, Omer Khalidi and A G Noorani. He said that the Committee's report should have been made public.

The MIM chief said that some forces were trying to commnalise the atmosphere every year during the anniversary of the police action. Quoting Prof Suleman Siddiqui, he said that the 7th Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan was a pro-people ruler and had extended huge financial aid to several temples and Hindu institutions.

He said that the Nizam donated a huge piece of land near Asif Nagar for the Seetharam temple. He had also sanctioned an annual grant for its maintenance.

Similarly, Firmans were issued giving grants to the Balaji temple of Madannapet, the Shankarbagh temple and the Golnaka temples.

The Thousand Pillars temple of Hanumakonda, the Hindu institutions of Pune, the Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanams, the Shanti Niketan and the Banaras Hindu University were the other beneficiaries of the Nizam's grant, he claimed.

In 1931, the Hindu Mahasabha had conducted its conference in Hyderabad, which was attended by nearly 10,000 delegates from across the country. Owaisi said that the conference had specially thanked and praised the 7th Nizam for his role in establishing educational institutions for the poor. Other Rajas and Maharajas were advised to emulate Mir Osman Ali Khan.

"Will the Hindu Mahasabha deny its own resolution passed in 1931?" he asked.

Owaisi said that it was the last Nizam who eradicated the Devadasi system from the Hyderabad State. Stringent punishments were proposed for those forcing girls to become Devadasis.

He said that history could be debated from different perspectives, but it was wrong to create a fake and biased history.

The MIM chief demanded that the Telangana government take immediate steps to educate the masses, especially the children, with real history.

Tameer-e-Millat President and Assistant General Secretary of the Muslim Personal Law Board Abdul Raheem Qureshi in his presidential address strongly condemned the official celebration of the Liberation Day in some districts of Karnataka and Maharashtra which were part of the erstwhile Hyderabad State.

He said that people were being misled and divided in the name of celebrations.

He stated that the contribution of the Nizam to India could not be ignored. He reminded people that Mir Osman Ali Khan donated 5 tons of gold to the Government of India in 1965. He also said that the Nizam took several initiatives for the development of dalits and backward classes. However, he was being presented in a bad light by communal elements.

Captain Panduranga Reddy appreciated the efforts made by Asaduddin Owaisi in securing the Pandit Sunderlal report, which was kept a secret for over six decades.

The author, M A Majid, gave an overview of the subjects covered by him in his book. He thanked Owaisi for sharing a copy of the Pandit Sunderlal report whose Urdu translation has been included as a chapter in the book.

He said that several aspects related to the merger of Hyderabad have been extensively covered in his book.

Dr Kalori Chiranjeevi and Press Council of India member Amarnath also addressed the function which was organised by the Telangana Union of Working Journalist at the Press Club.

The Union's General Secretary Warahat Ali welcomed the gathering while Treasurer Mahipal Reddy proposed the vote of thanks. (INN)