Last update:November 13, 2024, 12:15 p.m. IST

The Razakars, a powerful militia of Hyderabad’s powerful Muslim party, began terrorizing Hindu villagers, on the orders of the Nizam, who refused to become part of the Indian Union after independence. During the violence, the Razakars burned hundreds of houses, including that of Kharge. His mother and…Learn more

Yogi Adityanath criticized Mallikarjun Kharge for remaining silent on Razakar’s violence, fearing loss of Muslim votes. (Image: ANI/X)

As the Maharashtra assembly elections approach, the bitter battle between Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has led to a tragic incident involving Kharge’s childhood.

At a rally in Maharashtra, Adityanath responded to Kharge’s ‘batenge toh katenge’ (will die if divided) slogan by emphasizing that he is a ‘Yogi’ and for him, the nation comes first. But for Kharge, “the policy of appeasement comes first,” Adityanath added.

The UP CM also said that Kharge is deliberately keeping silent about his childhood tragedy in which his mother and sister were killed in an attack by Razakars as he fears losing Muslim votes. He accused the veteran Congressman of suppressing painful personal memories for political expediency.

What was the Hyderabad massacre of 1948?

After the partition of India in 1947, around 50,000 people died in communal riots, mainly along the borders with Pakistan. But a year later, a massacre took place in central India, in Hyderabad, between September and October 1948, during which tens of thousands of people were massacred.

Hyderabad, which was one of the 500 princely states enjoying autonomy under British rule, refused to become part of India under the Nizam after independence. The Nizam’s refusal to cede his sovereignty to democratic India upset many people in New Delhi.

As members of the powerful Razakar militia, the armed wing of the Majlis-e-Itihadul Muslimeen (the forerunner of today’s AIMIM), began terrorizing Hindu villagers, the Indian army invaded Hyderabad in 1948 during the rule of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

The Nizam’s forces were defeated in just a few days, without significant loss of civilian life. But word spread in New Delhi that arson, looting, massacres and rape followed the invasion.

Nehru sent a small team to Hyderabad to investigate the matter. But the report written by MP Pandit Sunderlal was never published.

How Kharge lost his family members in the Razakar violence

Kharge was born on July 21, 1942 in a poor Dalit family in Varavatti village of Bhalki taluka in Bidar district. His father’s name was Mapanna and his mother’s name was Saibavva.

Kharge was only six years old when he lost his mother and sister in the Razakars riots in Bidar, which now falls in Hyderabad Karnataka. Bhalki, like several other villages up to Maharashtra, was under siege by the Razakars.

The Razakars, led by Kasim Razvi, were sanctioned by the Nizam of Hyderabad for suppressing a civil uprising in favor of joining the Indian Union.

After getting the nod from the Nizam, the Razakars unleashed an ethnic genocide of Hindus in rural Telangana.

In an interview, Kharge narrated the incident which made him cry. Kharge said that while he was playing near his house and his father was working in agriculture, the Razakars set fire to their tin shed. While Kharge barely escaped, his mother and sister died in the fire.

Priyank Kharge, Mallikarjun Kharge’s son, had said in an interview to CNN-News18 that his grandfather was working in the fields when a neighbor rushed to tell him that the Razakars had burned down their house. “The Razakars attacked every village in sight. They were a four lakh strong army and acted alone as they had no leader. My grandfather rushed home, but could only save my father, who was close at hand. It was too late to save my grandmother and aunt who died in the tragedy.”

Priyank added that his father and grandfather hid in a dense bush, fearing for their lives. They then met their grandfather’s brother serving in the army in Pune. However, he had gone to Gulbarga (present-day Kalaburagi).

Kharge’s silence on personal loss criticized

Yogi Adityanath slammed Kharge for keeping quiet about his childhood tragedy to save Muslim votes. “The village of Kharge was under the Nizam of Hyderabad. Before the country’s independence, the British believed that they would not be able to resist the Indian revolutionaries for long. So they decided the road map for the partition of India. They were already working to encourage the Muslim League in the country. At that time, the Congress leadership had also surrendered before the Muslim League. This is the reason why the Muslim League was ruthlessly killing Hindus, but the Congress leaders remained silent due to their greed for power,” Adityanath said at an election rally in Amravati.

Recalling BR Ambedkar’s appeal to all Scheduled Castes, Tribes and Hindus of Hyderabad State to come to Maharashtra as they were not safe there, Adityanath was quoted as saying by Deccan Herald: “To This time the village of Warwatti under the state of Hyderabad was also burnt down. It was the village of Kharge. Kharge’s mother, aunt and sister were burnt by Nizam’s Razakars, but Kharge does not want to tell the truth. He believes that if he blames Nizam, he will lose Muslim votes. Congress is distorting history. Nizam’s Razakars brutally massacred Hindus in Hyderabad State. Kharge does not want to accept this truth. He forgot the sacrifice of his family for the sake of the vote bank.”

Meanwhile, Kharge, after launching the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) manifesto, said in a press conference that he criticized the BJP for equating a ‘red book’ of the Constitution with ‘urban naxalism “. He said his party’s demand for caste census is not to divide people but to understand how different communities are currently placed so that they can get more benefits.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis recently claimed that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was trying to seek support from “urban Naxals and anarchists” by holding a “red book” in his hand.