Evening star., 1948-07-29
Hyderabad to Be Democratized

TO the Ed1tor OF Inc star:
The tragic division of India, which has given
rise to bloody communal strife between Moslem
and Hindu, has evoked a number of letters
to The Star. Unfortunately, however, many
Of the correspondents have very little real
knowledge of the situation or are deliberately
misstating the facts Discussions Of the Hy-
derabad problenl-such as the letters of Karl
Jensen on July IA and 21-have been parti-
cularly distorted.
1t is contended that the difficulties between
Hyderabad and the Government of India are
parallel to the Russo Finnish war of 1910
when the Red Army was supposedly forced"
to invade the little nation for reasons OF
self Defense" quick study of the history
of India will readily prove that the situation
there Is not analogous.
In the first place, Finland was an Independent
sovereign state, recognized and accepted by
the family of nations It's people are not Rus
sian; they form q distinct nationality and have
distinct culture and language of their own.
Hyderabad, on the other hand was never
in history an independent state and its people
and culture are the same as those of India.
The history of Hyderabad goes back to 1720
when the Mogul Emperor of India appointed
one of his favorites, Nizam ul Mulk, as
governor of the southern administrative dis
trict of India The Moguls it should be
pointed out were foreign Mongel invaders of
India who were ruling the country by OPP
preston and eventually tried to convert the
Hindus to- Mohammedanism by force. As a
result of their policy, the country had been
seriously weakened by internal resistance and
rebellion followed by the invasion OF Britain
and France.
First Nizam Appointed by Mogul.
FY1.. t.1,. as,,f;
Nizam ul Mulk, a man of some ability, he might
be able to save that part of the empire from
destruction. After the death of the Nizam,
his son asked the Emperor for the commission
as governor and his petition was granted.
During the remaining period of Mogul rule,
the Nizams of Hyderabad were individually
commissioned by the Emperor as administrative
officers.
Finally, one of the Nizams came to the con-
clusion that the destruction Of Indian power
by the British was inevitable and he decided
to desert his own master and make deal
with the invaders. He was granted the right
to rule the remaining portions of his ad
ministrative area by agreement with Great
Britain as a result of his desartion. Thus,
the Nizam of Hyderabad became a hereditary
vassal of the British crown by an act of
treason.
Under the entire period of British suzerainty
over India, the Nizarn of Hyderabad was con-
sidered to be subject to the central power
ruling India and his attempts at asserting
some measure of internal autonomy were
quickly rejected by the viceroy. In 1926 for
example, the Nizam was told bluntly by Lord
Reading, viceroy and governor-general, that
"the right of the British government to in
teryene in the internal affairs of Indian states
is another instance of the consequence neces-
sariy involved in the supremacy of the British
crown. It's supremacy is not based only upon
treaties and engagements but exists inde-
pendently of them"
With the establishment of an independent
Indian dominion, the crown renounced all SOW
ereign power and terminated all treaties and
agreements with the Indian states. The
government of India taereupon automatically
succeeded to all sovereign rights. In other
words, the withdrawal of British power re-
established the situation in India as 1t was
prior to British control and the state" OF
Hyderabad reverted to an administrative dis
trict whose ruler is subject to appointment,
control and removal by the government of
india.
India has not made any such drastic de-
mands. The government merely insists upon
the abolition of the autocratic rule OF the
present Mohammedan' Nzam and upon the
institution of democratic regime. Today.
the will of one man rules 16 million subjects,
of which only q million are Mohammedan.
within the heart of central India There is
little difference between the desire of the
government to protect the people OF Hyder-
abad and the principles expressed In our own
Constitution. Article 4, Section 4. specifically
provides that 'the United States shall guaran-
tee to every State in the Union Republican
form of Government"
There is absolutely no basis upon which the
Nizam Of Hyderabad can arrogate to himself
sovereign powers above the rights OF the
Indian people.
Hypothetical Parallel Set Up.
The situation might be clearer If the follow
ing comparison were made: Suppose that the
japanese had been able to conquer the United