MP Asaduddin wants National Integration Day, not liberation day

HYDERABAD: Hyderabad Liberterian Day should be replaced with a national integration day, according to Asaduddin Owaisi, MP from Hyderabad and the president of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM).

Asaduddin Owaisi also wrote to Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to explain why the term "National Integration Day" could be more appropriate than the "Hyderabad Liberation Day" that would be marked on September 17 in Telangana.

Asaduddin Owaisi stated in an official letter that the battles of the people of the erstwhile Hyderabad state against colonialism, feudalism and autocracy were a symbol of national integration rather than merely a case of the "liberation" of a piece of land.

The Centre on Saturday declared that it would celebrate Liberation Day on September 17. The Union Government has taken the initiative to organise the Liberation Day celebrations for the first time.

Soon after the announcement from the Centre, the Telangana government also formally announced three days of celebrations for the day, from September 16 to 18, just as the State had done for the 75th anniversary of India's independence, which was commemorated over a 15-day period.

Several BJP leaders, including Home Minister Amit Shah and party president JP Nadda, who recently visited Telangana state, have repeatedly accused the KCR-ruled government of failing to observe Hyderabad Liberation Day as promised during the Telangana movement because of its alliance with the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM).