77th Commemoration of Operation Polo

September 13 signifies the 77th anniversary of Operation Polo.

Operation Polo is initiated by military action from the Indian Armed Forces in September 1948 to incorporate the princely state of Hyderabad into the Indian Union.

It is also referred to as the Police Operation.

Justification - Mir Osman Ali Khan, the Nizam of Hyderabad, declined to join India or Pakistan post-independence and aimed to continue as an autonomous sovereign.

Therefore, the Nizam of Hyderabad is unwilling to sign the Instrument of Accession.

An instrument of accession is a pact through which the ruler of the princely states consented to the inclusion of his territory in independent India.

Hindu majority region - Most of the inhabitants were Hindu, while the leader was a Muslim, who had the hereditary title of Nizam.

Strategic Significance - Hyderabad constituted a vast landlocked area in southern India, encompassing today's Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and the Marathwada division of Maharashtra.

India worried that a sovereign Hyderabad might pose a security risk, become a source of unrest, and possibly align with foreign nations.

Standstill Agreement - A temporary standstill agreement was signed in November 1947 by both parties, accepting that the relationships would remain unchanged as they were during British rule.

Shortly thereafter, a manipulative communal farming system and the fight over language emerged against the Nizam.

Razakars, a paramilitary group, were fervent backers of the Nizam, who violently crushed the opposition to his rule.

Simultaneously, the Nizam aimed to broaden the matter by engaging the United Nations, sought Pakistan's counsel and aid, and started accumulating weaponry.

In this context, the Indian Home Minister Sardar Patel chose to annex Hyderabad.

After hostilities broke out, the Indian Army marched into Hyderabad on September 13, 1948.

Result: On September 18, 1948, Hyderabad was incorporated into the Indian Union after the Nizam of Hyderabad and the Razakars submitted to the Indian army.

Up until December 1949, the Nizam was still Hyderabad's nominal ruler.

The Ministry of States then appointed an unelected civilian government. In 1952, elections were finally held.