Hyderabad, Sep 16 : September 17 is the Hyderabad Liberation Day for the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre but for the Congress government in Telangana, it is people's governance day.

The Central and State governments will be celebrating September 17, the day when Hyderabad State was annexed into the Indian Union, with different themes.

For the fourth consecutive year, the Centre is organising Hyderabad Liberation Day celebrations at Parade Grounds, Secunderabad.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will hoist the National Flag to mark the occasion.

Parade by the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) and cultural extravaganza will mark the event, said Union Minister for Coal and Mines G. Kishan Reddy, who represents Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency.

According to him, about 1000 artists and paramilitary troops will participate in this event.

Kishan Reddy has also appealed to all the people to hoist the National Flag in every village across Telangana. "Let us all remember the immortal heroes who sacrificed their lives fighting against the Nizam's autocratic rule," he said.

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy will unfurl the National Flag at the main event to be held at the Public Garden in Hyderabad. Like last year, the state government is celebrating it as Telangana Praja Palana Dinotsavam (people's governance day).

State ministers, government advisors and key representatives will hoist the national flag and take salute at the official celebrations in all 32 district headquarters.

The National Flag will also be unfurled at all government offices, urban local bodies and gram panchayats.

While the earlier government of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) celebrated September 17 as 'National Integration Day' in 2022 and 2023, the Congress party, which came to power in December 2023, decided to celebrate the occasion as 'Praja Palana Dinotsvam'.

In 2022 and 2023, Union Home Minister Amit Shah was the chief guest at the Hyderabad Liberation Day programme at Parade Ground. Last year, Union Coal and Mines Minister G. Kishan Reddy led the celebrations.

Last year, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy had invited Union Ministers Amit Shah, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Kishan Reddy, and Minister of State Bandi Sanjay Kumar to attend 'Praja Palana Dinotsavam' to celebrate the anniversary of the "arrival and heralding of democracy on Hyderabad soil".

The BJP leaders, however, rejected the invitation. Kishan Reddy wrote that he "cannot be part of an insincere ritual that blatantly attempts to erase the truth from the people".

In March last year, the BJP-led government at the Centre decided to celebrate September 17 as Hyderabad Liberation Day. It issued a gazette notification which mentions that Hyderabad did not get independence for 13 months after the Independence of India on August 15, 1947 and was under the Nizam's rule.

The BJP has long been demanding an official celebration of September 17 as Hyderabad Liberation Day. Earlier, in united Andhra Pradesh and later in Telangana, the party used to organise protests demanding that the government officially organise the celebrations.

Successive governments, however, avoided official celebrations in view of the objections from Muslim organisations, which claimed that a massacre took place in the name of 'Police Action' as 'Operation Polo' was popularly known.

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) led by Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi and other parties strongly opposed celebrations also on the ground that the entire India has one Independence Day.

In 2022, the Union Ministry of Culture started organising the celebrations in Hyderabad on September 17.

Accusing the BJP of giving communal colour to the issue, then Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao decided to celebrate September 17 as National Integration Day. AIMIM also changed its strategy and celebrated it as National Integration Day.

This year, in the run-up to the programme organised by the Centre, Governor Jishnu Dev Varma unveiled a 3D virtual museum themed- Liberation of Hyderabad Samsthan at Parade Ground.

Developed by the National Council of Science Museums (NCSM) and the Ministry of Culture, Union Government, the 3D digital virtual museum provides comprehensive coverage of key events, struggles, and milestones that shaped Hyderabad's liberation. It showcases rare photographs, archival documents, and visuals of freedom fighters, leaders, and historic monuments through interactive timelines, maps, and multimedia presentations.

/IANS