Shabbir Ali seeks SA legislators’ apology for criticising Nizam

Hyderabad, Jan 23: Congress MLC and former minister Mohammad Ali Shabbir on Thursday demanded that the Seemandhra legislators tender an unconditional apology for criticising Nizam by distorting historical facts.

Participating in the debate on State Reorganisation Bill in the State Legislative Council, Shabbir Ali alleged that the Seemandhra legislators had hurt the sentiments of all Telangana people by criticising the Nizam and his administration. Challenging the Seemandhra leaders for an open debate on Hyderabad, he asked the Seemandhra leaders to come out with facts and statistics to prove their claim of developing Hyderabad. He expressed regret that some legislators, including some ministers and legislators of Congress party itself, made vague statements on Nizam.

“Those criticising the Nizam have no knowledge of history of Hyderabad or Deccan. They are simply resorting to falsehood and propaganda to express their opposition to the Reorganisation Bill. By furnishing wrong information, they are not only trying to mislead this August House, but the people of entire State and country,” Shabbir Ali said. Pre-1956 Hyderabad was the largest and most prosperous of all princely States in India. It had its own army, airline, telecommunication system, railway network, postal system, currency and radio broadcasting service to name a few, he said.

Shabbir Ali said that Hyderabad was already a developed city centuries before it became part of Andhra Pradesh. He said that Hyderabad was the education hub of Asia during Nizam’s rule. While the Osmania University was established in 1918, in 1936 itself it established post-graduate courses and research facilities in all the sciences – Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Medicine, Engineering, Metallurgy as well as Law, Education and Teacher Training Courses. By 1948, its degrees were accepted by Indian universities and British universities. He also read out a long list of achievements of Nizam in chronological order.

“The achievements of Hyderabad State are innumerable and no other State in the country could match them. I strongly condemn that several leaders from Seemandhra region, including a few ministers and legislators from my own party Congress, are criticising Nizam to divert the attention of people from the Telangana Bill. Nizam was a secular leader and his credentials were acknowledged by all the national leaders including the then Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru who made him the Raj Pramukh,” Shabbir Ali said.

He described the claim of Seemandhra leaders on development of Hyderabad as farce. Instead, he said, they earned wealth and fame by taking away resources of Hyderabad and Telangana. He also ridiculed the claim of Leader of the Opposition in Assembly Nara Chandrababu Naidu of bringing Hyderabad on the global map. “Naidu went on global map and got recognition by chanting the name of Hyderabad city,” he said.

Shabbir Ali described the Telangana statehood movement as a true public movement which shook the entire country. He cited instances of suicide for Telangana, including one committed by a constable Kishtaiah in Shivaipally of Kamareddy and another by a youth Karim, and said that hundreds of youth sacrificed their lives for the statehood cause. AICC President Sonia Gandhi was deeply upset over these suicides and took a favourable decision on Telangana.

He said that the decision on Telangana was taken after consultation process and all the leaders, including Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, who are opposing the Telangana formation was aware that the State would be bifurcated. He said instead of trying to stall the division, the Seemandhra leaders should focus on developing their own State. He said that the Telangana leaders would extend all cooperation in making the Seemandhra region a prosperous State.

- INN