Annexation of Hyderabad
| Operation Polo | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 The State of Hyderabad in 1909. | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Union of India | File:Flag of the State of Hyderbad.gif State of Hyderabad | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Joyanto Nath Chaudhuri |
File:Flag of the State of Hyderbad.gif S.A. El Edroos File:White flag icon.jpg File:Coat of arms of the Nizam of Hyderabad.jpg Qasim Razvi File:White flag icon.jpg | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 35,000 Indian Armed Forces |
40,000 Hyderbad State Forces 200,000 Razakars | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
|
10 KIA 97 wounded[1] |
Hyderbad State Forces: 807 KIA, 1,647 POWs[2] Razakars: 1,373 KIA, 1,911 POWs[3] | ||||||
The Indian invasion of Hyderabad, codenamed Operation Polo, was the invasion of the State of Hyderabad by the Armed Forces of India in September 1948. The operation was the first large-scale military operation carried out by independent India following which the princely state of Hyderabad and Berar became a part of the Union of India.
The military operation was carried out because the Nizam of Hyderabad, Osman Ali Khan, Asif Jah VII, decided to remain independent after the Partition of India. Though backed by Qasim Razvi's armed militias, known as Razakars, and by Pakistan[4], the Hyderabad State Forces were easily defeated by the Armed Forces of India within five days.
The dispute
Hyderabad State stretched over 82,000 square miles in the heart of India and with a population of 16 million. The area covers parts of what is now states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Orissa and Tamil Nadu, and covered most of Andhra Pradesh.
Its ruler was Nizam Osman Ali Khan, Asif Jah VII. Hyderabad had always enjoyed an influential relationship as the largest and most loyal ally of the British Raj. Under the influence of Muslim radical Qasim Razvi, the Nizam sought independence for Hyderabad as a dominion in the British Commonwealth. When the British ruled out this possibility, the Nizam set his mind upon independence, and refused to sign the instrument of accession.
To Sardar Patel, Hyderabad was more important than Kashmir. Without Hyderabad, there would be a big gap in the stomach of India, and Patel knew that Hyderabad was looking to Pakistan for political and military support.
While Sardar Patel made it clear that Hyderabad was essential, he agreed with Lord Mountbatten that force should not be used immediately. A Standstill Agreement was signed, maintaining a status quo - a concession made to no other princely state without an explicit assurance of eventual accession. But Patel allowed Hyderabad to only guarantee that it would not join Pakistan.
Mountbatten and K.M. Munshi, India's envoy attempted to engage the Nizam's envoys Laik Ali and Sir Walter Monckton into negotiations on an agreement. But Hyderabad continually reneged on possible deals meted out by Mountbatten. Hyderabad also protested that India had created an armed barricade to isolate it economically. India charged that Hyderabad was receiving arms from Pakistan, and that the Nizam was allowing Razvi's fundamentalist Razakars to intimidate Hindus and attack villages in India. Hyderabad also attempted to obtain the arbitration of the United Nations and the President of the United States, unsuccessfully.
Mountbatten crafted the Heads of Agreement deal and attempted in June 1948 to obtain Patel's signature. The agreement called for the disbandment of the Razakars, restriction of the Hyderabad State Forces and for the Nizam to hold a plebiscite and elections for a constituent assembly. While India would be empowered to control Hyderabad's foreign affairs, the deal allowed Hyderabad to set up a parallel government structure that could have enabled it to obtain the same level of a dominion, and perhaps declare independence.
Sardar Patel signed the deal, only knowing that the Nizam would renege on the plan despite it favoring Hyderabad. The Nizam reneged and Mountbatten's plan fell flat.
The operation
Sardar Patel made it clear that India would take no more. He obtained the principal agreement of Governor-General Chakravarti Rajagopalachari and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru after some contentious debate, and under Operation Polo, sent the Indian Army to annex Hyderabad. Between September 13th and 17th, Indian troops fought Hyderabadi troops and Razakar militants.
Operation Polo as it was called was launched on September 12, 1948. The Indian Army backed by the Indian Air Force surrounded the Nizam's territory. Nizam's Army and 200,000 Razakars (similar to Stormtroopers) expected to put up fierce resistance. Razakars had famously claimed that they would not only beat the Indian Army, but hoist the Nizami flag from the ramparts of Red Fort (located in Delhi).
The army attacked from all fronts encircling the Hyderabad State forces and the notorious Razakars. Within five days Hyderabad was secured by Indian Army. The Indian Army suffered 22 dead and 97 soldiers injured, Razakars and Nizam's army suffered 882 dead and thousands injured. Major General (later General) Joyanto Nath Chaudhuri, who led the whole Operation Polo was appointed the Military Governor of Hyderabad (1948-1949) to restore law and order.
Aftermath
The annexation of Hyderabad was followed by reprisals against the Muslim populace in general and against suspected Razakar members in particular. As reports of the reprisals against the Muslim minority reached Delhi, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru commissioned an unofficial report from a group of veteran Congressmen which included made up of two Hyderabadi Muslims who had prominently opposed the Nizam's rule. The 'goodwill mission' was chaired by a Hindu, Pandit Sunderlal, and had as its members Kazi Abdul Ghaffar and Moulana Abdulla Misri.
After extensively touring the state, the committee presented its report, known as the "Sunderlal Report", to Nehru and Patel in January 1949. The report catalogued a large number of incidents of murder and mass rape committed by Hindu mobs, often after troops had disarmed the Muslim population.
"The perpetrators of these atrocities were not limited to those who had suffered at the hands of Razakars, not to the non-Muslims of Hyderabad state. These latter were aided and abetted by individuals and bands of people, with and without arms, from across the border, who had infiltrated through in the wake of the Indian Army. We found definite indications that a number of armed and trained men belonging to a well known Hindu communal organisation from Sholapur and other Indian towns as also some local and outside communists participated in these riots and in some cases actually led the rioters." [[5]]
The report also mentions several incidents where the soldiers themselves were involved in looting and rape. The report was suppressed and never made public, possibly because it cast the Indian Army in an unfavourable light. Excerpts from the report were published in the Indian news magazine Frontline after having been published in 'Hyderabad: After the Fall' by Omar Khalidi and in Margrit Pernau's book 'The Passing of Patrimonalism'. The report places a conservative estimate of the number of deaths to between 27,000 and 40,000.
Nehru was deeply disturbed to hear of the scale of violence which was far more than he had been led to believe. Following the successful operation by the Indian army, the Telugu speaking area was joined to Andhra Pradesh while the western portion was merged with Karnataka state. The Army's success paved the way for further acquisitions by force against any other pockets of resistance like Goa. Patel however retained the Nizam as the head of state, while Maj. General J.N. Chaudhari became the military governor. Qasim Razvi was placed under house arrest. Years later, he immigrated to Pakistan as part of a general exodus of the Hyderabadi Muslim elite after its annexation.