Revisiting the Chapter of Osmanistan
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| Osmanistan Map |
Most people who are
familiar with the history of Pakistan and Muslims in the Indian Subcontinent
must have read or heard about Osmanistan. A little revisit to history’s earlier
chapters would remind us that the Princely State of Hyderabad was to be
Osmanistan had it succeeded in joining Pakistan or gained a separate statehood.
It was a name of the place purposed by none rather than Chaudhary Rahmat Ali,
the name-giver of Pakistan. He proposed the idea of dividing the Muslim states
into Pakistan, Bangalistan and Osmanistan.
Regardless of who
proposed the idea, the British plan of division was adopted and the history was
to unfold in a manner where Osmanistan remained only a proposed name and
nothing more than this. Surrounded by India on all sides, on September 13,
1948, under Operation Polo – so named because at the time Hyderabad was the
place having 17 polo grounds – this Princely state became what it is today with
its territories distributed amongst the Indian states of Maharashtra, Karnataka
and Andhra Pradesh.
The Hyderabad in India
that we know today is the capital of Andhra Pradesh and the country’s 4th
largest city. It is sometimes known as the City
of Pearls as it was once a global center for trade in diamond and pearls.
Now, it is recognized more for its information technology industry and the new
identity has taken over its appellation as Genome
Valley of India. The city is however imprinted with historic and cultural
marks of Muslims all over that allude to its real origin.
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