INDEPENDENCE MOVE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26485, 12 June 1947, Page 5

INDEPENDENCE MOVE

NIZAM OF HYDERABAD POLITICAL CRISIS FEARED Rec. 7 p.m. NEW DELHI, June 10. The decision to declare Hyderabad an independent State is believed to have been |aken yesterday at an extraordinary meeting of the Nizam’s Council of Ministers, says Reuter’s correspondent in Hyderabad. Sir Walter Monckton. the Nizam’s constitutional adviser, attended the meeting. Hyderabad is the largest Indian State next to Kashmir, and is as big as England and Scotland, with a population of, 18.000,000, mainly Hindu. The Nizam is reputed to be the world’s richest man. Swami Ramanand Tirth, president of the Congress Party in Hyderabad, said the Nizam’s decision to declare independence would precipitate' a _ first-class political crisis. “ Neither the Princes nor the Government can coerce the people into an arrangement which the people do not desire,” he said. Reuter’s correspondent says Sir Walter Monckton, adviser to the Nizam of Hyderabad, is reported to have advocated the Nizam’s declaration of independence, and at the same time advised the Nizam to demand the return of Hyderabad’s old province of

Berar, which is now part of the India Central Provinces. Sir Walter Monckton also proposed that the Nizam demand port facilities for his land-locked State. Sir Walter is expected to visit New Delhi immediately .to discuss Hyderabad’s decision with the Government of India.

Reuter’s adds that, the Nizam is a Moslem, ruling over a population which is 90 per cent. Hindu. Hyderabad Moslems favour independence, while the Hyderabad and All-India States People’s organisations have been urging that Hyderabad should join Hindustan.