The Destruction of Hyderabad Hardcover – October 1, 2014

Wonder why did A.G.Noorani write this book, to rub salt in the wounds, please the aggressor, sell it to the maximum with a deceptive title and malign Hyderabadies and Nizam a dozen times on each page and make tons of money? He is not a Hyderabadi so obviously he does not understand the Hyderabadi culture which is based on much higher values of life, love and peace. The hallmark of Hyderabadi composite culture was the fraternity among all the people living in Hyderabad. It was a truly secular society. Barring a few racist Maharashtrians every body was happy with the rule and all were Hyderabadies and all were Indians. They lived with total peace and in prosperity.The State was the most advanced at least in Asia. Read Time Feb. 22, 1937. HEH The Nizam VII inherits a bankrupt state and barely in 25 years he makes it the envy of the world with its remarkable development plans and achievements. Yet A.G.Noorani sees no merit in the guy. He has to do nothing but just read extracts of "The Hindu" on The Nizam of Hyderabad. Noorani did nothing of that sort. He referred to only those sources that were written to malign the Nizam and those of his adversaries.His preface very first para his references are all anti Hyderabad pro-invader books. Not one Urdu book or not one first hand information.I can go on page by page. On some pages he has resorted to blatant lies like on page In short is the most damaging book on Hyderabad yet.He starts with the objective of proving that Hyderabad had no biz to exist as a State and Nizam had no biz to rule even if he had great approval rating for the people. Now who is A.G. Noorani to pass those judgments? This is not how you treat a historical subject. Ya Noorani was not treating history but is being just spokesman of the invader. Hyderabad was invaded against the wishes of the people of Hyderabad. No referendum was ever taken and all pleas by The Nizam to that were spurned.He forgets that in a conflict there are at least two sides. One side for 65 years was not allowed to say his side of the story. Those that were written were banned like Mir Laik Ali - The PM of Hyderabad and one Qutubuddin Aziz. So much for freedom of expression, secularism and democracy. A.G. sees nothing wrong in the invasion and subsequent massacres and tragedies that befell the people. He is out to make a fast buck. Nothing else.I have seen many buy the book on the deceptive title but all have deplored it. The sources are all anti-Hyderabadi and anti-Nizam. He did not bother to obtain the first hand information. Referred to some anti Nizam Residents and post invasion anti-Nizam books and wrote this book. All his references are of tertiary or later accounts and not one from the locals and in local languages.Such avaricious people like Noorani in fact must be banned from writing for the sake of writing and make money. He may be apple polishing the invaders and making money but he is hurting all the people of Hyderabad regardless of religion who lived in peace with each other. The communal divide (racism) was in areas out of the State of Hyderabad, not in The State of Hyderabad. And that mindset culminated in the break up of the country. And that breakup day is celebrated as The Independence Day.But since Noorani belonged to that area which invaded Hyderabad could never see anything from the local point of view. He only appreciated the invader's POV and the propaganda he imbibed, to justify an illegal invasion. He fails to address the cardinal issue of "Independence of India Act" by which India got independence. The Attlee's govt. in the Act clearly gave the option to the Princely States to either join India, Pakistan or remain independent. Nizam naturally opted for independence and why shouldn't he have? He feared what would happen next.His people would suffer the most and they did as history proved him right. Hyderabad which was a state of lakes and gardens is a "dust bowl" now. The population was allowed to swell due to uncontrolled influx while the infrastructure of roads, water, sewage and power etc. remained the same. Hundreds of thousands lost their lives. Racism was introduced from the North and Hyderabad which never knew what a riot or a pogrom was saw many after 1968 when the divisive forces injected racism with the help of State Power and legislation.Noorani does not see all that and blames Nizam for every thing just because he wanted to remain independent. He did not want to remain independent for his own sake but the people of the State. Once the State is gone they will be overtaken by outsiders and it so happened and in 1956 the worst followed by the totally uncivilized taking over and capturing all their institutions and completely crushing the locals in every walk of life. Hyderabad lost 2/3rd of its area. Noorani does not see anything from the sufferers point of view. He takes the racist POV and racism did not exist in The State of Hyderabad.To be continued.

Sook writer