As the BJP is beefing up its campaigns in the assembly poll-bound Telangana, the party leaders are setting a new trend to reach the masses - making a movie. In recent times, the movies like 'The Kashmir Files' and 'The Kerala Story' were blended with BJP's 'anti-Muslim' propaganda and had also sparked controversies and public outcry across the country. In line with these movies, it's time for yet another movie from the BJP camp.

While The Kashmir Files and The Kerala Story had no apparent associations from the BJP leaders though they supported them through thick and thin, this time the BJP leaders are directly making a movie ahead of the Telangana assembly polls. Titled, 'Razakar: The Silent Genocide of Hyderabad', the movie is being made to reach the pan-Indian audience and the makers have released a motion poster. 

The movie is produced by BJP leader Gudur Narayana Reddy under the banner of Samarveer Creations and is helmed by Yata Satyanarayana. The makers have planned to release the flick ahead of the Telangana assembly polls, that will be held later this year and the announcement about the movie had drawn huge attention from across the country. At the poster launch event in Hyderabad last Friday - July 14, the makers of the movie announced that they will release the movie in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, and Hindi. 

The poster launch event had witnessed the presence of BJP leader and former Telangana BJP chief Bandi Sanjay, former Governor of Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, Vidhyasagar Rao, and senior BJP leader and former Lok Sabha MP, AP Jitender Reddy. The Razakar movie will be based on the atrocities committed by  the paramilitary force in the erstwhile princely state of Hyderabad. 

The movie will be starred by Bobby Simha, Vedhika, Makrand Deshpande, and Prema in lead roles. While speaking at an event, director Yata Satyanarayana said that the movie was inspired by the struggle for 'Hyderabad's liberation'. The BJP leaders who spoke at the event had reiterated their backing to The Kashmir Files and The Kerala Story and claimed that the youngsters of today must be taught the history. 

The News Minute quoted BJP leader Bandi Sanjay saying, "When we watched the film Kashmir Files, Narayana (director) and I both thought we should make a movie called Patabasti (old city) Files. But we decided to do the film Razakar first. Today's youngsters do not know enough about our history and it's great that someone wants to show them that history." By citing that the claim that Nizam's rule as a golden age is a wrong assumption, Sanjay further said that the pseudo-secular people are not revealing the real history to avoid upsetting some people and to indulge in vote bank politics."

What is Razakar? 

The Razakars were the paramilitary volunteer force of the nationalist party in the Hyderabad state under the rule of British. The force was formed in 1938 by Bahadur Yar Jung, who was the leader of Majis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM)  and Razakars surged and expanded under the leadership of Qasim Razvi during the Indian Independence. The group's primary motive was to maintain Muslim rule in Hyderabad and to resist integration into India. 

It has been said that the Razakars had targeted only Hindu families in the state of Hyderabad. During that time, MIM became a powerful organization with a principal focus of marginalizing the political aspirations of Hindus and progressive Muslims through its actions, including the insistence that Hyderabad be declared a Muslim state. It has also been alleged that the Razakars had terrorised the Hindu population and its sympathizers, that led many people to flee into jungles or neighboring Indian provinces seeking safety. 

Between November 1947 and August 1948, when Hyderabad was under a Standstill Agreement with India, the Indian government had placed incessant demands to the Hyderabad Nizam to dissolve Razakars. Eventually, the Indian Army invaded and made the Nizam to surrender and disband the Razakars. The leader of the group, Qasim Razvi was detained and imprisoned for almost a decade and he was then allowed to move to Pakistan, where he was granted asylum. 

The Razakars were dissolved after the merger of Hyderabad with India while the MIM party was banned. However, in 1957, the party was allowed to be rechartered under new leadership as All India MIM (AIMIM) and is currently led by Asaduddin Owaisi, who is the MP of Hyderabad. Though the AIMIM and its leaders have said that they have nothing to do with its erstwhile party and Razakars leader Qasim Razvi, the BJP has been claiming that they both have links. Now, as the saffron party is making a movie about Razakar, the party is aiming to separate the voters from AIMIM and to gain more Hindu votes by disseminating the atrocities led by the Muslim-led Nizam rule. 

"Razakar" The very word was terrorizing. 10s 0f 1000s men, women and children of Telangana were killed. Atrocities on women and children were unbearable, even to hear.

At "Razakar" The movie poster release yesterday. Produced by my friend Gudur Narayan Reddy, directed by Yata… pic.twitter.com/PF2PKRdCUr

— Konda Vishweshwar Reddy (@KVishReddy) July 15, 2023