Operation POLO and unified india

After the partition one of the major problem that india was facing was to keep the rest of the nation United. Sardar Patel as the first home minister of the state palyed a historic role with the first home secretary VP Menon. Patel in one of his speech on linguistic states told that the primary work of the leaders was to keep the nation United as other things could wait for some time. 

According to the 3rd June plan (Mountbatten plan) princely states were free to join either india, pakistan or remain independent. Patel and Menon urged the Indian princes to show their patriotism and join the Indian Union by signing the Instrument of Accession. By 15th August 1947 as many as 136 states had acceded to indian union. However, accession of Hyderabad, junagarh and kashmir was more difficult then the rest. In these states Hyderabad was the only state against which India used military power.

Hyderabad was a landlocked but sprawling state in the center of the Deccan plateau and covering three linguistic zones (Telugu, Kannada and Marathi). Hyderabad too had a Muslim ruler (the Nizam) and a largely Hindu population (85%). The Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan Asaf Jah 7 was one of the richest man in the world and also probably most miserly. The main force that become active in the state at tis time was the Majlis-e-ittihadul- Muslimeen ( MIM) and emerged as a paramilitary force suppoted by the militia of Razakar led by a muslim radical Kasim Rizvi. 


On the other hand Nizam drew their support from Conservative party and pakistan. Jinnah had told Mountbatten that if congress made any attempt to take Hyderabad by force, all the hundred million Muslims would rise as a man to defend the oldest Muslim dynesty in India. Few days after this Muslims from Central began flocking to Hyderabad and were said to have chased away the Hindus bid to make Hyderabad a Muslim majority state. 

On 21st June 1948 Mountbatten resigned and handed over the charge to C Rajagopalachari. A few weeks after the departure of Mountbatten, New Delhi received a report that the Nizam was trying to buy Goa from Portugal so that his landlocked State would have access to the sea. The Nizam was also said to have loaned a large sum of money (about Rs 200 million) to Pakistan as a part to win Jinnah's support.


On 13th September Indian army was sent to Hyderabad under Operation POLO on the ground that the law and situation there threatned the peace of South India.The Nizam appealed personally to C.R., who conferred with Nehru and they both decided to call off action again. Patel was informed and the question of drafting a suitable reply to the Nizam arose. Patel coolly announced that the army had already moved into Hyderabad and nothing could be done to halt it. On 17th September Nizam surrendered and Rizvi was put behind the bars and Nizam was made as Rajpramukh ( governer) of the Indian state of Hyderabad.

This was the story of the last state that accede to indian union.

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