Lack of funds leaves panel in limbo
It was more than a year and a half ago that the government issued an order constituting a six-member committee to study and compile the history of Hyderabad-Karnataka region and to establish a Hyderabad-Karnataka chair in Gulbarga University. But as the government is yet to release funds, the committee headed by well-known writer and Gandhian Prof Vasanth Kushtagi is yet to start work.
The region, which comprises the present Bidar, Gulbarga, Yadgir, Raichur and Koppal districts was part of the erstwhile Nizam state of Hyderabad. It has a unique history and was declared independent and part of the country only on September 17, 1948, nearly a year after India got independence.
The people in the region were subjected to torture by the Razakars, a private Islamic militia organised by Qasim Razvi to support the rule of Hyderabad Nizam and to resist integration of Hyderabad state with the Union of India. So far, no systematic study has been conducted to record the atrocities perpetrated by the Razakars and the fight waged by the people of the region to get themselves liberated.
Then chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, who participated in the HK Liberation Day function on September 17, 2009, announced the committee to study and record the history. Exactly a year later, the government issued an order forming the committee headed by Prof Kushtagi with Professors Mahabaleshwarappa, V.G. Andani, H.F. Patil, Geeta Badiger and Dr Majid Dagi as members.
A disappointed Prof Kushtagi told Deccan Chronicle, “This is not the way to treat us. The government should have honoured its promise and released funds. Without funds, we cannot undertake the study which may take about three years. There are less than 50 people, who were witness to the atrocities of Razakars, are alive today”.
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