Hyderabad: Majlis Bachao Tahreek (MBT) Spokesman Amjed Ullah Khan on Monday demanded a ban on the BJP-Sponsored film ‘Razakar’.
Amjed Ullah Khan, in a media statement, said that the film ‘Razakar’ is based on distorted history and pure imagination and it has the huge to potential incite hatred among the people.He said that the film is being produced by a politician Gudur Narayana Reddy, who switched loyalties from Congress to BJP after he faced allegations of misappropriation of party funds during the 2018 elections.
He said the ‘Razakar’ film is being produced only to create animosity between Hindus and Muslims based on fictitious stories around the merger of Hyderabad State with the Indian Union in 1948.
The MBT leader said that ‘Razakar’ is an Urdu word which means ‘volunteer’. He said when Hyderabad was hit by a plague, several people had served the affected population voluntarily and since Urdu was the official language of Hyderabad State, those people were called ‘Razakar’.
However, he said some right-wing historians have attributed the work ‘Razakar’ to the members of a fictitious private army associated with the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen.
“BJP leaders are desperately trying to incite hatred among the people to win the next Assembly elections. Since they are left with no issues, they are now trying to create one by making the film ‘Razakar’ based on events which happened more than 75 years ago. He said that the Censor Board should not approve the film as any attempts to screen such a provocative film would lead to further divisions in society.
Further, he demanded that the State Government impose a ban on any film that tries to provoke people and create violence. He said if the BRS Govt was serious about maintaining peace and communal harmony, it should ban the film before its release.
Amjed Ullah Khan said that the BJP leaders were neither aware of the history or the Urdu language. He said ‘Razakar’ means volunteer in Urdu. He asked the BJP leaders to find out the translation of “Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh” in Urdu which also means an association of “Razakars” as “Swayamsevak” in Hindi means volunteer in English or a ‘Razakar’ in Urdu.
Although the RSS stands for violence and hatred towards Muslims, originally a volunteer is a person who offers or agrees to do a service without being forced or paid to do it.
The MBT leader said that the BJP has been attempting to distort history through the film ‘Razakar’. He said if the film is allowed, then someone would come up with a sequel ‘Police Action’ wherein lakhs of Muslims were allegedly brutally massacred.
While the stories around ‘Razakars’ are fictitious and propaganda, the atrocities committed during ‘Police Action’ have been documented in the Pandit Sunderlal Report prepared by a Central Government appointed team immediately after the 1948 incidents.
Amjed Ullah Khan said that the Hyderabad State was merged with the Indian Union as it was one of the princely States of India.
However, by coming up with films like ‘Razakar’, BJP has been creating a false impression was Hyderabad was “invaded”. He reiterated the demand that the film ‘Razakar’ be stopped immediately before it spreads venom in society.