BJP demands govt include Sept 17 history in textbooks

Metro India News | Hyderabad

BJP Telangana State President N Ramchander Rao on Sunday said that the sacrifices of Operation Polo martyrs are memorable who laid down their lives for the integrity of India.

Marking the commencement day of Operation Polo (September 13),  Rao paid rich tributes to the martyrs and grandly felicitated ex-servicemen at the historic War Tank on Tank Bund under the auspices of the Telangana State Liberation Festival Committee.

Speaking on the occasion, he praised the War Tank located on Tank Bund as a continuous source of inspiration for the people of Telangana. He stated: "If not for the firm resolve of Iron Man Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the initiative of K.M. Munshi, and the Operation Polo military action, it is terrifying even to imagine what the condition of Hyderabad would have been today.

On September 13, 1948, Patel initiated Operation Polo to eliminate anti-national forces that posed an obstacle to the country's integrity." He recalled that during this four-day struggle, many soldiers sacrificed their lives to liberate the Hyderabad Princely State by September 17. Rao noted that September 17 is a sacred Liberation Day for all people of Telangana and the BJP has been fighting for decades for the government to celebrate this day officially.

He criticized the previous BRS government for promising an official celebration but stepping back out of fear of the Majlis (MIM) party. He further criticized the current Congress government, stating that it conducts the event merely as a party program at Gandhi Bhavan rather than holding a full-scale official government event, thereby obscuring the true history under the guise of 'Praja Palana' (People's Governance).

He demanded that the government fulfill its responsibility to teach future generations the history of the Telangana freedom struggle and the values of Vande Mataram by comprehensively including the history of the September 17 Telangana Liberation struggle in school textbooks. He specially congratulated the Telangana State Liberation Festival Committee for successfully organizing the event to honor the sacrifices of the soldiers.