L2A
Achieving Aspirations
OPERATION POLO
Why in news?
Wednesday marks the 75th anniversary of Operation Polo, the military action launched by the Indian Army on September 13, 1948, to integrate the princely state of Hyderabad.
About Operation Polo:
- Operation Polo was the code name of the Hyderabad "police action" in September 1948, by the newly independent Dominion of India against Hyderabad State.
- It was a military operation in which the Indian Armed Forces invaded the Nizam-ruled princely state, annexing it into the Indian Union.
- At the time of Partition in 1947, the princely states of India, who in principle had self-government within their own territories, were subject to subsidiary alliances with the British, giving them control of their external relations.
- With the Indian Independence Act 1947, the British abandoned all such alliances, leaving the states with the option of opting for full independence.
- However, by 1948 almost all had acceded to either India or Pakistan.
- One major exception was that of the wealthiest and most powerful principality, Hyderabad, where the Nizam, Mir Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII, a Muslim ruler who presided over a largely Hindu population, chose independence and hoped to maintain this with an irregular army.
- The Nizam was also beset by the Telangana rebellion, which he was unable to crush.
- In November 1947, Hyderabad signed a standstill agreement with the Dominion of India, continuing all previous arrangements except for the stationing of Indian troops in the state.
- Claiming that it feared the establishment of a Communist state in Hyderabad.
- Nizam's power had weakened because of the Telangana Rebellion and the rise of a radical militia known as the Razakars whom he could not put down.
- India invaded the state in September 1948, following a crippling economic blockade, and multiple attempts at destabilizing the state through railway disruptions, the bombing of government buildings, and raids on border villages.
- After the defeat of Razakars, the Nizam signed an instrument of accession, joining India.
- The operation led to massive violence on communal lines, at times perpetrated by the Indian Army.
- The Sunderlal Committee, appointed by Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, concluded that between 30,000–40,000 people had died in total in the state, in a report which was not released until 2013.