Hyderabad was the largest state in India and was completely surrounded by Indian Territory. The Nizam of Hyderabad was the third Indian ruler who did not accede to India before 15 August. Instead, he claimed an independent status and, encouraged by Pakistan, began to expand his armed forces. However, Sardar Patel was in no hurry to force a decision on him, especially as Mountbatten was interested in acting as an intermediary in arriving at a negotiated settlement with him. Time, Patel felt, was on India's side, especially as the Nizam made a secret commitment not to join Pakistan and the British government refused to give Hyderabad the status of a Dominion. However, Patel made it clear that India would not tolerate an isolated spot which would destroy the very Union which we have built up with our blood and toil. In November 1947, the Government of India signed a stand still agreement with the Nizam, hoping that while the negotiations proceeded, the latter would introduce representative government in the state, making the task of merger easier. However, the Nizam had other plans. He engaged the services of the leading British lawyer Sir Walter Monckton, a friend of Mountbatten, to negotiate with the Government of India on his behalf. The Nizam hoped to prolong negotiations and in the meanwhile build up his military strength and force India to accept his sovereignty; or alternatively he might succeed in acceding to Pakistan, especially in view of the tension between India and Pakistan over Kashmir. In the meanwhile, three other political developments took place within the state. There was rapid growth, with official help, of the militant Muslim communal organization, Ittihad ul Muslimin and its para-military wing, the Razakars. Then, on 7 August 1947 the Hyderabad State Congress launched a powerful Satyagraha movement to force democratization on the Nizam. Nearly 20,000 satyagrahis were jailed. As a result of attacks by the Razakars and repression by the state authorities, thousands of people fled the state and took shelter in temporary camps in Indian Territory. The State Congress-led movement now took to arms. By June 1948, Sardar Patel was getting impatient as the negotiations with the Nizam dragged on. From his sick-bed in Dehra Dun, he wrote to Nehru: I feel very strongly that a stage has come when we should tell them quite frankly that nothing short of unqualified acceptance of accession and of introduction of undiluted responsible government would be acceptable to us. Still, despite the provocations by the Nizam and the Razakars, the Government of India held its hand for several months. However, the Nizam continued to drag his feet and import more and more arms; also, the depredations of the Razakars were assuming dangerous proportions. Finally, on 13 September 1948, the Indian army moved into Hyderabad. The Nizam surrendered after three days and acceded to the Indian Union in November. The Government of India decided to be generous and not to punish the Nizam. He was retained as formal ruler of the state or its Rajpramukh, was given a privy purse of five million rupees, and permitted to keep most of his immense wealth. With the accession of Hyderabad, the merger of princely states with the Indian Union was completed, and the Government of India's writ ran all over the land. The Hyderabad episode marked another triumph of Indian secularism. Not only had a large number of Muslims in Hyderabad joined the anti-Nizam struggle, Muslims in the rest of the country had also supported the Government's policy and action to the dismay of the leaders of Pakistan and the Nizam. As Patel joyfully wrote to Suhrawardy on 28 September, On the question of Hyderabad, the Indian Union Muslims have come out in the open on our side and that has certainly created a good impression in the country. |
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