1948 Readings

1948 saw Operation Polo or Police Action as it is called – the Indian Army entering Hyderabad State and taking over its rule. While the actual military intervention saw minimal loss of lives, it caused a great rupture in the culture and politics of Hyderabad State, later, in truncated form, to become Andhra Pradesh, and even later, Telangana. The huge loss of lives and property before and after the Police Action that Muslims experienced also led them to a devastating (to them) loss of spirit. The Communists who had rapidly spread over Telangana’s villages were crushed by the Police Action. The nationalists celebrated the forcible overthrow of a sovereign state within the borders of India. Hyderabad Readings attempts to present these multiple voices to the readers in the form of extracts from rare books, articles, memoirs - letters even – to help the reader reconstruct history and view the problems of the present through history’s lens.