The birth of a political party is steeped in historical events. The name, the origin, and every detail have a compelling story behind it. Congress, one of India’s oldest political parties, wasn’t a term borne out of a wordsmith’s creative mind. The party’s formation and name were met with a strong resistance initially.
The Federal.com, in a recent detailed editorial, notes that even though the Indian National Congress (INC) was founded in 1885, Hyderabad did not have its own Congress until almost 63 years later. The first to join the INC from the Nizam’s Dominion was Mullah Abdul Qyayyum, a leader of the secular Muslim community. However, the INC was still unable to assert itself as a group.
The Hyderabad State Congress (HSC)’s foundation was delayed owing to the Mahatma Gandhi-led Congress party’s stance toward the Nizam, Hyderabad’s sanctions on political activity, and its associations with institutions that operated outside of the state.
The Nizam government believed that the word Congress had a strong ring to it and could assemble people of all faiths for a common political cause. The Nizam State’s Executive Council president, Sir Ali Imam, said about Mahatma Gandhi’s campaign: “Mr Gandhi’s movement has proved to be an insidious one, bringing in its wake lawlessness, pure and simple in every form it takes. The danger of the cult is all the great because of the religious incentive behind it.”
To prohibit political activity, free speech, and the publication of literature that opposed the Nizam’s administration, the Nizam issued a regulation known as ‘Gasti Nishan-53’ back in 1891.
Given the sectarian beliefs held by Hindu members who were fighting for political rights within the state, Gandhi was understandably hesitant to advance the nationalist agenda in the princely state. The Federal.com highlights that the founding of the Hyderabad Congress was not a topic of discussion during Mahatma Gandhi’s two travels to Hyderabad in March and April 1934.
During a visit to Hyderabad, Mahatma Gandhi said, “I am greatly pleased to hear that, in the Nizam’s Dominions, there is a sound Hindu-Muslim amity. I am very happy that Nizam has captivated the hearts of people by prohibiting cow slaughter. I am greatly delighted at your unity.”
His general priorities involved the elimination of untouchability, the advancement of Harijans, prohibition, and the spread of charkha.
Professor Adapa Satyanarayana notes that many Muslim intellectuals began to wear Khadi and advocated Gandhi’s teachings, a sign of change.
In 1938, when the INC’s Haripura session adopted a resolution declaring all princely states to be integral parts of India, the INC finally cleared the way for the creation of the Congress party in Hyderabad. Not that everything was smooth from there on. Initially, the Nizam government objected to the title Congress when the party was founded in 1938, which caused an eight-year delay in its formation.
It was only after discussions about the transfer of authority from the British to Indians (1946) did the Nizam government lift the ban on the name Congress.
A sage from Gulbarga named Swamy Ramananda Teertha was the first to propose establishing the Congress party in Hyderabad state. In June 1938, he arrived in Hyderabad and started recruiting party members. However, Nizam’s government barred the Hyderabad State Congress even before it was founded.
There was no end to the deadlock until April 1946. However, the political climate armed the Congress leaders with confidence. They were in no hurry to change the party’s name. The Nizam government finally gave in to public pressure and revoked the ban on the Hyderabad State Congress.
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