Did the Nizam have a secret deal before Hyderabad’s accession in September 1948?
The Hindu
Secret cables between U.S. and U.K. diplomats show the Nizam and GOI played the endgame of the Asaf Jahi empire
As Indian forces surrounded Hyderabad and moved in on five fronts in September 1948, the United States and British diplomats suspected that the Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan and the Government of India had choreographed the operation.
“Embassy feels, although it has no definite evidence in support its conclusion that whole military campaign and consequent capitulation (of) Nizam was to (a) certain degree (a) prearranged plan between Nizam and El-Edroos (Maj. Gen. Syed El Edroos commander of Hyderabad forces) on one hand and GOI officials on other,” was the secret telegram sent to U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall by Charge in India Howard Donovan during those crucial days.
While Indian Independence on August 15, 1947, was a heady affair for the rest of the country, Hyderabad under the Nizam Osman Ali Khan hedged his bets. Hyderabad had to deal with a fog of war for 13 months before the ‘Police Action’ began on September 13, 1948. ‘What will the Muslim ruler with a majority Hindu population do in the heart of India?’, was the big question. The Nizam’s Dominion sprawled over 82,698 square miles an area bigger than Scotland and England put together.
Around 440 MBBS graduates of 2021 are not required to undergo one year of compulsory rural service as per the bond signed by them while joining the medical course through government-quota seats in 2015 as the High Court of Karnataka has said the law, enacted in 2012 for mandatory rural service, remained unenforced for 10 years as it was published in the official gazette only in July 2022.