AT HIS RALLIES in poll-bound Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has been making repeated references to the Razakar militia of the erstwhile Hyderabad State to target Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. On Tuesday, Adityanath said Kharge purposely keeps mum on the death of his mother and sister “in an attack by Razakars” as he fears losing Muslim votes.

* Who were the Razakars?

Ruled by the Nizams, Hyderabad was one of the 500 princely states in India at the time of Independence. Though Hyderabad’s Hindu-majority population was in favour of integration with India, the Nizam refused.

The Nizam’s militia, the Razakars, the armed wing of the Majlis-e-Itthadul Muslimeen, was then tasked with crushing dissent among the people who wanted to join India. The Indian government led by Jawaharlal Nehru had initially promised not to intervene in the State’s affairs but Hyderabad was eventually integrated into India on September 17, 1948, after “Operation Polo”, a three-day action by the Indian Army.

Following reports of police atrocities by the Nizam, Nehru had commissioned an inquiry into the issue but its findings report was never made public.

* What did Adityanath say?

Responding to Kharge’s remark that those who wear saffron robes and shave their heads must leave politics, hinting at him, Adityanath said the Congress president was getting angry at him unnecessarily. “Don’t get angry with me. Get angry with those Nizams of Hyderabad, or with those Razakars of the Nizams, who burned down your village and killed your respected mother, sister and other members of the family,” he said.

The UP CM also alleged that Kharge does not want to tell the truth as blaming the Nizam would lead to the Congress losing Muslim votes. “The Congress is distorting history. Nizam’s Razakars brutally massacred Hindus in Hyderabad State. Kharge does not want to accept that truth and has forgotten his family’s sacrifice for the sake of votes,” Adityanath said.

He also claimed that B R Ambedkar had advised Hindus and Scheduled Castes to move to Maharashtra for their safety (from the Nizam-ruled territory).

* Is there any truth to Adityanath’s claims?

Kharge was born into a Dalit family in Bidar (which falls in present-day Karnataka), which was targeted by the Razakars as part of their crackdown against civil uprising of the people of Hyderabad State.

In previous interviews, Kharge has spoken about how his father was working in the fields and he was playing outside his house when the Razakars struck and set fire to his house, in which his mother, sister and other family members were killed.

* Has the Kharge family reacted?

Karnataka Minister and son of Mallikarjun Kharge, Priyank took to social media to slam Adityanath saying though his father narrowly escaped the attack, he rose to become a nine-time MLA, two-time Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha MP and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.

Priyank also said every community had bad apples and individuals who do wrong but that does not make the entire community bad while urging the UP CM to “try and win elections on Prime Minister Modi’s achievements rather than trying to sow seeds of hatred in society for political gains”.

“Despite the tragedy, he never exploited it for political gain, never played the victim card and never let hatred define him. It was the Razakars who committed this act—not the entire Muslim community. At 82, Kharge Ji is fighting tirelessly to uphold the values of Buddha-Basavanna-Ambedkar and to protect the Constitution… So, Yogi Ji, take your hate elsewhere. You cannot bulldoze his principles or his ideology,” Priyank said in a post on X on Wednesday.

* Has the Razakar issue been brought up by other leaders?

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis too has raked up the Razakars during his campaign. In a retort to AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, who while slamming the BJP’s terms like “love jihad” and “vote jihad” said that his ancestors had done actual jihad against the Britishers, the Deputy CM said: “They are the descendants of Razakars, who tortured the people of Marathwada, looted their lands, tried to rape women, and destroyed families. How can they talk to us?”

* Have Razakars found space in the political discourse earlier?

Ahead of the Telangana Assembly polls last year, a movie titled Razakar produced by a Telangana BJP leader, courted controversy and triggered reactions from the AIMIM and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).

While Owaisi said the Razakars had long gone and it was time to drive away the “children of Godse”, BRS working president K T Rama Rao said at the time, “Some intellectually bankrupt jokers of the BJP are doing their best to instigate communal violence and polarisation for their political propaganda in Telangana. We will take up the matter with the Censor Board and also the Telangana Police to ensure that the law & order situation of Telangana is not affected.”

* Why does the history of Hyderabad State resonate in Maharashtra?

The present-day Marathwada region of Maharashtra, which is the epicentre of the Maratha quota protests and comprises the districts of Aurangabad, Beed, Hingoli, Jalna, Latur, Nanded, Osmanabad and Parbhani, fell in the erstwhile Hyderabad State. Kharge’s village of Varawatti in Karnataka also fell under Hyderabad State along with Kalaburagi, Yadgir, Raichur, Koppal, and Ballari.

Apart from the communal aspect of the Razakar agitation, this issue is also resonating now due to the Maratha quota demand. The Nizams had through a gazette notification recognised the Marathas as Kunbis. Following the agitation by Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil, the state government allowed Kunbis to avail reservation under the OBC category and granted the non-Kunbi Marathas an additional 10% quota in jobs and education.

To get recognition as Kunbi, however, people had to produce Nizam-era documents showing the same.