View: Sardar Patel’s efforts for political integration are being backed with economic freedom

by G. Kishan ReddyIn his most recent Man Ki Baat address to the nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi brought to light the story of Oukhoo, a village in Pulwama district of Kashmir. Today, Oukhoo is known for making pencil slats and it is estimated that approximately 60% of the pencils that are made in India originate from Oukhoo. With the right kind of support and nudge from the government, the residents of Oukhoo have been able to set-up household units that make pencil slats thus generating jobs and income.A year after the Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir were formed on 31st October, Jammu and Kashmir is fast becoming a story of many Oukhoos. The effective removal of Article 370 was the perfect tribute to the efforts of Sardar Patel who worked tirelessly to form a contiguous sovereign nation. It has also led to the realisation of Dr Ambedkar’s dream of One Nation, One Constitution. Close to 900 central laws have been applied while out of the 334 existing state laws, 205 have been repealed and the remaining 129 state laws have been adapted. The holistic integration of Kashmir is now being backed with visible transformational development in the region. Kashmir specific programmes such as the National Saffron Mission that aims at rejuvenating 3,500 hectares of land for saffron cultivation, incentivising farmers of the region to introduce ultra-high density plantation of apple and other fruits, and addressing bijli, sadak, paani issues on a war footing have positively impacted the citizens of the region. Connectivity is being enhanced with the set-up of 11 airports in J&K and two in Ladakh under the UDAN scheme. The health sector has been transformed with the opening of two AIIMS Hospitals and nine new medical colleges and the Ayushman Bharat scheme is now available for all residents of J&K. Economic integration and deeper political integration is also leading to increased citizen co-operation in anti-terror operations. Many districts in J&K are now terror-free with anti-terror operations being executed in a coordinated manner.Even in my home state of Telangana, the role of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel will be remembered with gratitude for generations to come. While India’s national flag was unfurled across the nation on 15th August 1947, the erstwhile state of Hyderabad had to wait for an agonising 13 months, still languishing under the tyranny of the Nizam of Hyderabad, Mir Osman Ali Khan. It was only after a relentless struggle that culminated with the Sardar ordering police action under Operation Polo that the entire Hyderabad Deccan was finally liberated on 17th September 1948.Operation Polo was warranted because advisors to the Nizam of Hyderabad such as Qasim Rizvi, believed in establishing Hyderabad Deccan as an independent Islamic nation. To achieve this, the Nizam made an attempt to buy the port of Marmagoa from Portugal. This would have given the landlocked Nizam’s province access to the sea and more leverage to pursue independence compared to if it were an enclave. Further, Rizvi supported the Nizam by providing about 150,000 MIM volunteers to augment the Nizam’s regular army of 24,000. These became the Razakars that would later unleash carnage in the princely state. The Razakars rampaged villages, molested women, killed men, and destroyed everything in sight.It was common citizens who were at the receiving end of the Razakar violence. India’s former Prime Minister, P.V Narasimha Rao, had described the rampage of the Razakars in Rangapuram and Laxmipuram villages as South India’s Jallianwala Bagh. The Razakars tied people to trees and shot them mercilessly, women were raped and their gold and money were looted.