Hindutva propaganda movie ‘Razakar’ to release on Mar 1 ahead of LS polls

Hyderabad: The film "Razakar," by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Gudur Narayan Reddy, which centres around the annexation of Hyderabad state to India, is set to be released on March 1 ahead of the general elections.

The Hindutva propaganda movie predominantly focuses on the Muslim militia known as Razakars (volunteers), who were involved in looting and other violent activities in the days leading up to the annexation of the erstwhile Hyderabad state by the Indian army on September 17, 1948.

Originally planned for release before the Assembly polls last year, the movie faced delays. Narayan Reddy, a long-time Congressman from Bhongir district who joined the BJP a few years ago, has produced the film.

The film was originally planned for release in the lead-up to the Telangana Assembly election held on November 30 last year. He wrote to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) in October, requesting permission to release the film on November 17, stating that the movie was not made with the intention of creating communal discord, addressing accusations of spreading anti-Muslim sentiment through the film.

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However, the movie did not release last year and eventually got delayed.

Moreover, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president KT Rama Rao (KTR) had in September 2023 also stated that the then BRS government would stop the movie’s release and take the issue to the censor board.

The movie poster also depicts certain casteist undertones, featuring an image of a presumed Brahmin boy being impaled while Razakars watch from a distance.

The Razakars were a voluntary paramilitary force established in 1938 in the Hyderabad state under Nizam’s rule. Led by figures like Bahadur Yar Jung and Qasim Razvi, the force expanded significantly during the time of India's independence.

Following the integration of erstwhile Hyderabad into the Indian Union, Qasim Razvi was initially jailed and later granted asylum in Pakistan.

While the annexation itself is a significant issue, an estimated 26,000 to 40,000 Muslims lost their lives due to communal violence inflicted on the populace in the aftermath.

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