(This is part two of a four-part 'September' series that revisits significant historical events or policies and how the lessons learned from them continue to be of relevance in present-day politics and society. Read Part one here.)
Imagine a scenario. It is 2023 and swathes of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, and Chhattisgarh are not part of India. Without Operation Polo, that could well have become a reality.
A frenetic five days starting on 13 September 1948 and culminating in the evening of 17 September saw the princely state of Hyderabad finally joining the Indian Union. Like East Pakistan that eventually became a sovereign nation called Bangladesh, perhaps, even an "independent” Hyderabad or a Hyderabad as part of Pakistan would eventually have collapsed. But historical accounts make it clear that a bunch of powerful folks were determined to keep Hyderabad out of India.
It is a tribute to the Iron Man – Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel that they failed. In hindsight, it is clear that an "independent” Hyderabad at the heart of India, landlocked and more than 1000 kilometres away from a friendly Islamic Pakistan would have proven to be unviable. But it could have caused incalculable damage to the nation before full “integration” with India became a reality.