Hyderabad, Sep 17 : The government of Telangana and the Centre are set to celebrate September 17, the anniversary of erstwhile Hyderabad State's merger with the Indian Union, with contrasting nomenclatures.

The decision of the Congress government in the state to celebrate September 17 as 'Praja Palana Dinotsvam' or people's governance day has sparked criticism from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which will be celebrating 'Hyderabad Liberation Day'.

For a third consecutive year, Hyderabad will witness two separate programmes by the state and the Central governments to mark the day.

While the Centre will celebrate Hyderabad Liberation Day with a parade by the central armed police forces and a cultural programme at Parade Ground, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy will hoist the national flag at the main official ceremony at Public Gardens to mark 'Praja Palana Dinotsvam'.

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 late last year, decided to celebrate the occasion as 'Praja Palana Dinotsvam'.

For the last two years, Union Home Minister Amit Shah was the chief guest at 'Hyderabad Liberation Day' programme at Parade Ground. This time Union Coal and Mines Minister G. Kishan Reddy and Union Minister of State for Home Bandi Sanjay Kumar will attend the event.

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has invited Amit Shah to attend 'Praja Palana Dinotsavam' as a special guest to celebrate the anniversary of the 'arrival and heralding of democracy on Hyderabad soil'.

He also invited Union Ministers Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and G. Kishan Reddy, and Minister of State Bandi Sanjay Kumar for the event.

The BJP leaders, however, rejected Revanth Reddy's invitation. Kishan Reddy, who is also the state BJP president, wrote that he "cannot be part of an insincere ritual that blatantly attempts to erase the truth from the people".

"The state government's intent seems to be to deflect the people's attention from the core aspects of the struggle, which is evident in the very name given to the day. To describe the liberation of Hyderabad as just another transition of power from a monarchy to a democracy not only subverts the heroic struggle but also propagates further the politics of appeasement," he said

The Union Minister asserted that there was a long struggle to liberate this region from the brutalities of the Nizam and his private army of Razakars. He said many people laid down their lives in the process, and thousands withstood unfathomable violence.

Bandi Sanjay described 'Praja Palana Dinotsavam' as yet another sign of Congress party's 'double standards' on the Hyderabad Liberation Day.

'The Congress government is calling it 'Praja Palana Dinotsvam'. Does it mean there was no people's governance in the previous regimes of the party?,' he asked.

Bandi Sanjay said he would attend the Telangana government's programme if it changes the name 'Praja Palana Dinotsvam' to 'Hyderabad Liberation Day'.

In March this 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 of the Independence of India on 15th August 1947 and was under 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 the government to officially organise the celebrations.

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

AIMIM 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. Union Home Minister Amit Shah hoisted the national flag and reviewed the parade by contingents of paramilitary forces in Hyderabad both in 2022 and 2023.

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.

/IANS