Operation POLO (September 1948, Hyderabad):
“Mr Patel, You might be the Sardar of Delhi, but for thousands of years, Hyderabad is cherishing the Asaf Jah Flag. It flutters strong and no power in the world can pull it down. Mark my words.” These were the words of Qasim Razvi to Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel when he proposed the annexation of Hyderabad in the united province of India after our independence in August 1947. The last Nizam of Hyderabad, Mir Usman Ali Khan, declared Hyderabad an independent nation on 12 June 1947. Hyderabad princely state was huge and situated in the centre of India. The state consisted of many districts of present-day Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Chhatisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka. Nizam ruling this state was one of the richest people in the world in those times and had his face on the cover of Time Magazine too.
November 1947, Nizam sent his main man Qasim Razvi to Delhi, not with the intention of joining as an Indian state but to clarify their motives. Sardar Patel spoke with Qasim Rizvi, who cleared that they were ready to negotiate their terms just like one nation does to other, that too with an intention to make things easy for India. He said that Hyderabad has always been independent and will not give its freedom to any other government. To this, Sardar Patel clarified that Hyderabad was never an independent state as per history and now that the British are gone they should rather join hands and work together as single Nation.
“That day is not far when Hyderabad’s boundaries will touch the Arabian Sea, and one day our Asaf Jah Nizam’s flag will flutter on Red Fort too.” Said Qasim Razvi. “Mr Patel, if our Nizam’s conditions are ignored, the Hindus living in the state might have to face some consequences for this.”
To this, Sardar Patel smiled and said, “Dear Qasim, if you have decided to commit suicide, how can I stop you.”
Qasim Razvi
This was the only meeting between Sardar Patel and QasimRazvi. Qasim Rizvi was the leader of MIM party and owned armed force named as Razakaars. This force used to regularly commit various crimes such as communal violence, loots, rapes and murders. Eventually, the Nizam’s decision making power was drifting away from him as Qasim made sure he has his men in all the departments under government.
Eventually, Indian Government signed a Stand Still Agreement with Hyderabad, which meant the operations which used to happen between other Indian states and Hyderabad will continue just as they used to without any changes in taxation or import/export or transportation. Still, Nawab refused to sign the instrument of accession, due to which Hyderabad was not going to be part of India and hence the idea of United Provinces of India was getting blur.
Right after the signing of Stand Still Agreement, it was proven that Hyderabad has lent 20 Cr Rupees to Pakistan and Indian Government received the news that Hyderabad is importing arms and weapons via air from Pakistan.
Now, this clarified the intentions of the state. Many cabinet ministers of Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru wanted him to resolve this by diplomacy instead of any extreme action as this might end up raising communal riots in further south, also, Hyderabad can decide to join hands with Pakistan and battles in Kashmir had also started. This gave Qasim an idea that Indian armed forces would never turn towards Hyderabad. April 1948, Laiq Ali, the last prime minister of Hyderabad came to talk to Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel. He made it very clear to Pt. Nehru that there is no intent of Hyderabad to join India and they will remain independent. It was unimaginable to have the biggest province in the centre of India be independent and join hands with the enemy nation.
Suddenly news reached Delhi that Nizam has sought help with Pakistan in case a war happens, to which the Group Captain Alworthy of Pakistan Defence council refused. He said we can’t take any action against India if they decide to send an army to Hyderabad. Since Hyderabad did not get acknowledgement as a free Individual nation. To which then Prime Minister of Pakistan Liaquat Ali Khan asked if they can bomb Delhi. Captain Alworthy notified that they have 4 bomber planes, of which only 2 are working, if the rest 2 are flown they can go bomb Delhi but they will never return back to Pakistan. Meanwhile, Nizam sent his men to London and Australia to make a deal for weapons import. They got no success in London but they made a deal with Sidney Cotton in Australia who opened ways to send weapons by air to Hyderabad. India made sure that those flights were declared illegal. After this, Sardar Patel was not in a mood to play along diplomacy and due to political pressure on Pt. Nehru, he decided to meet with General Cariappa.
It is said that the meeting between General Cariappa and Sardar Patel lasted between barely 5 minutes. General Cariappa said to Lt. General S. K. Sinha that Sardar Patel asked a simple question to which he gave a one-word answer.
“If we put defence action against Hyderabad and Pakistan retaliates on our western border can you manage the situations without any added requirements?” Sardar Asked.
“Yes”, replied General Cariappa.
General Cariappa
Meanwhile under huge political pressure opposing the defence action, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru gave permissions to Hyderabad, that, they can make their own law, Nizam’s rule will be respected, they can keep an army of 20000 soldiers etc. But this was also declined by the Nizam. Sardar Patel notified Pt. Nehru that our defence forces have entered Hyderabad and now nothing can be done to stop it.
Our defence forces entered Hyderabad from all the directions on 12 September, 2 days after the death of Mohammed Ali Jinnah. The operation was called operation caterpillar or Operation Polo since Hyderabad had a maximum number of Polo grounds (17). On the first day, they infiltrated 70 km. The operation lasted 5 days, in which 1373 Razakaars and 807 Soldiers of Hyderabad state were killed. Our army lost 66 soldiers and 97 were injured. The defence kept infiltrating and final step was entering Hyderabad and Secunderabad. 17 September Nizam Notified on Radio that he has stopped the troops and is ready to sign the instrument of accession.
