October Coup: A Memoir of the Struggle for Hyderabad

Download or read book October Coup: A Memoir of the Struggle for Hyderabad written by Mohammed Hyder and published by Roli Books Private Limited. This book was released on 2012-10-18 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is 1948. A newly-independent India is trying to persuade Hyderabad to join the Indian Union. Negotiations are difficult for both sides. The State Congress, now operating from Indian territory, has launched a campaign of violent raids, designed to cripple civil administration in the border areas, and provoke an annexation. The leading Islamic party inside Hyderabad, in an equally rash move, has created a paramilitary body, the Razakars, to counter the threat to Hyderabad’s borders. For Mohammed Hyder of the Hyderabad Civil Service, the newly-appointed Collector of Osmanabad District (situated on the Hyderabad-Bombay border), both, the wayward State Congress and the ramshackle Razakar outfit are a threat to law and order. This first-person account conveys a vivid picture of Hyderabad under pressure, through the eyes of a senior district administrator.