Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], September 13 (ANI): Marking Operation Polo Day, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders and ex-servicemen gathered at Tank Bund to offer floral tributes to war tanks and honour military veterans who fought for the integration of the erstwhile Hyderabad State.
Operation Polo, was the decisive action taken to integrate the princely state of Hyderabad into the Union.
The commemoration served as a platform for prominent leaders to revisit the historic 1948 police action and critique past political administrations for allegedly sidelining the sacrifices of military heroes.
Recounting the five-day military campaign launched on September 13, 1948, BJP Rajya Sabha MP K. Lakshman described the intervention as a decisive police and military action executed under the leadership of Major General J.N. Chaudhuri.
"Action... a military coup led by the then J. N. Chaudhuri to liberate the then Hyderabad State, now Telangana. The army has been brought into Telangana, they have surrendered to Chaudhuri's place, the fight took place, wherein the Nizam... he was bent upon seeing that this State does not accede to the Indian Union. He wanted this State to be declared as a separate Islamic country, and his private army, Razakars, how they have humiliated the people who wanted liberation, independence,” Lakshman told ANI.
Following a strategic blueprint designed by then-Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the Indian Army advanced from multiple directions and compelled the Nizam to surrender after a fierce five-day struggle.
Lakshman emphasised that it was only after Prime Minister Narendra Modi assumed office that the central government initiated official, large-scale commemorations of the region's liberation, led prominently by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
He said, “So, finally, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's decision to bring the army and military, and the Nizam bowed down after five days of struggle. So, on this particular historic day, why have the rulers of this State, why have the rulers of the country, been ignored? Only when Narendra Modi ji, after becoming Prime Minister, has made this September 17th, which had been liberated and merged into the Indian Union, to be celebrated officially by the Government of India, and our present Home Minister Amit Shah ji has celebrated this in a grand phenomenon in Parade Grounds.”
He further criticised past regional regimes and coalition pressures, citing the Congress and erstwhile BRS for historically downplaying the sentiments and historical struggles of the Telangana people.
“We wanted to inform the present generation and even Gen Z, Gen Alpha, and Beta, that history cannot be ignored. Because the people who have laid down their lives for the freedom of this State from the clutches of Nizam rule, how it has been ruled this State by his army and his Razakars... due to the pressure of the communal party Majlis party, erstwhile BRS, and Congress did not honour the sentiments of the Telangana people," Lakshman said.
Highlighting the heavy human toll of the operation, representatives from the Telangana Ex-Servicemen Cell underscored the raw courage displayed by soldiers during the 1948 campaign. They noted that 46 military personnel laid down their lives to liberate the region from autocratic rule.
He said, “On 13th September 1948, the Indian Army launched the operation known as the name of Operation Polo under the name of Major General Jayanto Nath Chaudhuri, who liberated Hyderabad in five days, covered the entire Telangana in different places and launched the operation together on 13th September 1948.”
Expressing concern that these vital details remain omitted from mainstream educational narratives, the ex-servicemen association urged both the Government of Telangana and the central government to formally institute annual state tributes for the fallen soldiers every September 17.
“Havildar Bachan Singh, who laid down his life for Telangana to liberate the people, along with Ran Bahadur Thapa, and the both are got Ashok Chakra. This history has never been revealed. These Ashok Chakras are gallantry awards for Telangana Liberation Day. So, I demand the Government of Telangana as well as the Government of India to make these war heroes to be a to to to tribute them every year on 13 17th September, along with Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who has planned who has who has beautifully organised to conduct this Operation Polo, which is the brainchild of the man,” he said.
They further advocated for incorporating the comprehensive history of Operation Polo into local school curricula to ensure that upcoming generations understand the true price of the region's freedom.
“So, an entire on behalf of Telangana Ex-Servicemen, we demand that these martyrs- 46 people who the soldiers who were martyred in the liberation of Telangana must be remembered by the Telangana government, and this should be taught to the students of Telangana what exactly the Operation Polo was successfully conducted by the Indian Army and liberated Hyderabad from the Nizam's clutches,” the Telangana Ex-Servicemen Cell said.
Operation Polo marked India’s decisive 1948 military intervention to incorporate the princely state of Hyderabad into the national union, bringing an end to the Nizam's administration and solidifying post-independence sovereignty.
Beginning on September 13, 1948, the Indian Armed Forces executed the strategic campaign orchestrated by Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Confronted by armed opposition from the militant Razakars and the Nizam's political reluctance to accede, military columns moved swiftly across multiple fronts.
Within five days, the forces dismantled the resistance, dissolved the feudal structure, and permanently integrated the territory into the newly independent Indian republic. (ANI)
BJP leaders mark Operation Polo Day, push for greater recognition of 1948 military heroes
