Mohammed Hyder
Published: 2012-10-18
Total Pages: 238
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It is 1948. A newly-independent India is trying to persuade Hyderabad to join the Indian Union. Negotiations are difficult for both sides. The State Congress, now operating from Indian territory, has launched a campaign of violent raids, designed to cripple civil administration in the border areas, and provoke an annexation. The leading Islamic party inside Hyderabad, in an equally rash move, has created a paramilitary body, the Razakars, to counter the threat to Hyderabad’s borders. For Mohammed Hyder of the Hyderabad Civil Service, the newly-appointed Collector of Osmanabad District (situated on the Hyderabad-Bombay border), both, the wayward State Congress and the ramshackle Razakar outfit are a threat to law and order. This first-person account conveys a vivid picture of Hyderabad under pressure, through the eyes of a senior district administrator.