Escaping Blaze at 7 to Congress Chief at 80, Mallikarjun Kharge's Firefighting Continues | Son Recounts Journey For News18
By: Rohini Swamy
Edited By: Manjiri Joshi
Last Updated: October 19, 2022, 14:14 IST
Bengaluru, India
Mallikarjun Kharge with his son Priyank. (News18/Special Arrangement)
"My grandfather rushed home, but could only save my father, who was within his arm's reach. It was too late to save my grandmother and aunt who died in the tragedy," Priyank, Mallikarjun Kharge's son, tells News18
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Mallikarjun Kharge, 80, who has been elected as the first non-Gandhi party chief after Sitaram Kesari's tenure (1996-1998), has seen many successful seasons as a politician, but his struggle in life began at a young age of seven. Kharge lost his mother and sister in a fire set off by the Razakars or the private militia of the Nizam of Hyderabad, while he himself had a narrow escape.
The tragic incident that took place in 1948 was undisclosed until recently. Speaking to News18, Priyank Kharge recounted how his father Mallikarjun, and grandfather Mapanna survived the fire.
The Razakars had gone on a rampage, plundered and attacked houses across the region, which was then called Hyderabad state. Bhalki, in the modern-day Bidar district of Karnataka, like several other villages up to Maharashtra, was under siege.
"My grandfather was working in the fields when a neighbour rushed to tell him that the Razakars had set their tin-roof home on fire. The Razakars were attacking every village in sight. They were a four lakh-strong army and were acting on their own as they did not have a leader. My grandfather rushed home, but could only save my father, who was within his arm's reach. It was too late to save my grandmother and aunt who died in the tragedy," said Priyank.
WHO WERE THE RAZAKARS?
The Razakars were the militia of the Nizam of Hyderabad, who killed hundreds of 'revolutionaries' fighting for freedom against the Nizams, at a time when India was celebrating freedom from the British. The people from the erstwhile Hyderabad were fighting against this paramilitary force under the banner of Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (MIM).
Launched in the 1920s, the MIM, at first, started as a cultural and religious platform for the Muslim community, but later took a militant turn under the leadership of a Latur-based lawyer Qasim Rizvi.
In the name of defending the Nizam rule, it is said to have committed several atrocities and killed those who opposed them.
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In 1947, the Razakars made a call to the people of Hyderabad to either join Pakistan or form a separate Muslim dominion.
WHEN DID THEIR ATTACKS BEGIN?
On August 15, 1947, when the Indian sub-continent got its Independence, hoisting the Tricolour was considered an offence under the rule of Mir Osman Ali Khan, the then Nizam.
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He refused to integrate his princely state of Hyderabad, which included Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Telangana, with the rest of India. To bring Hyderabad under the Indian regime, Operation Polo, a military operation, was launched by the Indian government. It was aimed at merging the state of Hyderabad, which was under the Nizams at the time, with the Indian union. Opposing Operation Polo, the Razakars began attacking villages and setting homes on fire after plundering them.
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