Hyderabad's Silenced History: The 1948 Police Action

Hi everyone, welcome back to another blog! This week I’m going to be talking about a silenced history of Hyderabad, the Police Action in 1948. The India/Pakistan Partition in 1947 is more known, but the aftermath of this, specifically in the south of India, is often left out of mainstream published histories. The Police Action, also known as Operation Polo, was a military invasion of Hyderabad by the Indian Army, resulting in the annexation of the state. This history is something I’ve recently come to know about, even though my family is from Hyderabad. It goes to show just how much these historical events are often lost or forgotten. 

Map of Hyderabad within India (Siasat Daily)

I’m currently working on a research project about this, my semester-long independent study with my lovely supervisor, Professor Gayatri Reddy! She has been the biggest support and guide over the last few months! It’s been quite a journey, but I’m really enjoying it. Prior to doing this project, I was unaware of these events and how it affected so many people in Hyderabad and India. One of my main research methods was conducting oral history interviews with my family who witnessed the event! There were a few published books and media that I utilized as well. My main focus of the project was to research and understand how the Police Action of 1948 disproportionately affected Muslims in Hyderabad, and share those histories, especially in the wake of India’s current right-wing ethno-nationalist agenda. 

As some of you may know, the Indian subcontinent was a former British colony from 1858 to 1947. After a long and well-documented struggle, in August 1947, it was announced that the British would leave their former colony, and simultaneously, the subcontinent would be divided into two parts: India for the Hindu majority and Pakistan for the Muslim majority. What followed would be one of the deadliest forced migrations in history. Millions of people were subjected to looting, rapings, torture, and death in their journey to their “new” homelands. 

In the south of India, the princely state of Hyderabad was considered one of the safe havens for Muslims. The Nizams, or the rulers, of Hyderabad were one of the wealthiest Muslim rulers in South Asia and their dynasty is accredited with much economic, social, and cultural advancement of the state. The Nizams ruled over Hyderabad for more than 220 years, with seven different rulers, the last Nizam being Osman Ali Khan. In 1947, the Standstill Agreement signed by the Nizam and the British gave Hyderabad the choice to remain an independent state or join the Indian Union. Hyderabad chose to stay independent.

In September 1948, amid ongoing political tensions between the nation-state and the Hyderabad state, the Indian central government launched Operation Polo, a five-day invasion and occupation of Hyderabad by the Indian Army. It was a brutal invasion to take over the state. Hundreds of thousands of people were displaced, and even more lost their homes and their livelihoods. This event is more known by my family members as the “Police Action.” Following the event, Muslims were forced to live in a new reality, which resulted in significant economic ruin and political marginalization. 

Wikipedia

Through my family's interviews and analysis of the literature and media, I have gotten to know the violence and severe impacts of the Police Action. There was a massive loss of life, not only for Muslims but for Hindus as well, and this violence incited intense societal change in the aftermath of the event. Throughout my research, this event was often referred to as a second Partition. Similar to how many Muslims fled to Pakistan during the 1947 Partition, many Muslims fled during the Police Action.

The chaos and havoc that ensued left deep scars on the people in Hyderabad. Those that chose to stay were met with cultural and political restructuring. Since Hyderabad was freshly part of the Indian Union, people from the nearby state of Andhra, a former British colony, came for new economic opportunities and advantages. As a result, the local and dominant language, Urdu, began to be gradually replaced by coastal Andhra Telugu. My family told me stories about how they witnessed the people from Andhra being given economic privilege over the local Hyderabadi’s. 

This integration of language and culture from Andhra in Hyderabad was so widespread that in 1956, India reorganized the states along linguistic lines. Part of Hyderabad was merged with the Andhra state to form Andhra Pradesh. With this merger, there was much more cultural and societal change in that region of Hyderabad, further prompting the “loss” of old Hyderabad. Since then, there has been a rapid urbanization and modernization of the state, more so in some areas than others. Almost everyone I had interviewed in my family had let me know just how much Hyderabad has changed and how they sometimes can’t even imagine what it used to look like anymore. 

Doing this project has taught me so much! I learned about my family’s history, and placed their experiences in the larger narrative of Hyderabad’s and India's history. It also pushed me to seek out my culture and homeland on my own. I had gone to Hyderabad before when I was little, but most of my family and I haven’t been back since (mostly due to harsh visa restrictions). Despite the mourning of “old” Hyderabad, my family, like many others in the diaspora, have been able to preserve their culture and heritage in many ways. Speaking Urdu, wearing traditional clothes, practicing traditional culinary practices, etc., and they’ve made it a point to pass it down to their children and grandchildren. I’ve had the privilege to grow up surrounded by my culture in the U.S., but doing this project has brought me even closer to it and for that, I am so incredibly thankful!

Pinterest

I hope you guys enjoyed this week's blog! This project has been the only thing I could think about for a while, so I just thought about making it into a post. I want to thank Professor Reddy again for her guidance in this project! I can’t think of a better way to end my undergrad here at UIC. My final presentation is soon, and I hope it all goes well! I’ll see you all next week. Be sure to follow @/kahani.mag on Instagram to stay updated! 

- Juveriah