Now that the noise has died down, I think it is time we reevaluate how serious we can take the Congress when it comes to its ideological commitment against the BJP and right-wing ideologies. The ruling Telangana Congress government left many aghast and even dumbfounded after the movie ‘Razakar: Silent Genocide of Hyderabad’, which was produced by BJP leader Gudur Narayana Reddy, received awards under the state-instituted Telangana Gaddar Awards.
What makes this particularly worse is the fact that the Gaddar awards are named after popular left icon and Balladeer Gaddar who has been ideologically opposed to Hindutva his whole life.
Of all the things in the world it is honestly beyond me to even wonder what prompted the Congress government in Telangana to award a movie, that too in the environment/heritage/history section, that essentially blames Muslims en masse by twisting facts and distorting history. The Razakar movie is anything but a fair representation on the events surrounding the annexation of the erstwhile Hyderabad state to the Indian union on September 17, 1948.
I would have understood if even the BRS did it (maybe for political balance) when it was in power earlier, but never in life would I have thought that a Congress government would literally pat the back of a BJP leader funded movie in this way. Not only is it absurd, it actually adds credence to the belief by many that chief minister Revanth Reddy has right-wing leanings due to his ABVP days of his early political career.
What is ironic even is the fact that the Razakar movie actually is a slight on the Congress itself. The grand old party has for some odd reason kept mum, and leaders from the state government have so far not responded to demands by activists and some film makers to rescind the awards to the Hindutva propaganda movie.
The BJP over the last few years has managed to twist the annexation narrative and has been calling it ‘Hyderabad Liberation Day’. The BRS in a meek attempt tried to subvert it by observing September 17 as ‘National Integration Day’. The Congress here could have easily claimed the narrative by saying that it was responsible for the merger of Hyderabad into the Indian Union. But somehow the genius minds in the current government seem to have missed it.
Either way, if the Congress government here does not reconsider its decision, it might just cost it politically. After all, awarding a movie produced by a leader from your ideological opposition does not exactly set a good precedent. Muslims at this time in Hyderabad and the country are already facing an onslaught in different ways, one of which is the movie Razakar which paints them in a negative way.
The Congress has a good chance to prove its ideological commitment against hate, but it is seemingly either unbothered or people within see it it fit to further right-wing narratives instead.
Operation Polo as a historical event needs to be reclaimed for the right wing to not have its way. Moreover, the fact that What is ironic even is the fact that the Razakar movie actually is a slight on the Congress itself. I can only hope that this year on September 17 we don’t see another clamour and noise from the right-wing to take over the narrative.
(Views expressed in this article are the author’s alone)
