Hyderabad, Sept. 14 -- The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) in Telangana have been involved in a war of words over a soon-approaching anniversary of Operation Polo, the military offensive that was initiated by the Indian government in 1948 against the Hyderabad state. It was done on September 17 of that year.

While the BJP is calling it 'Hyderabad Liberation Day', the state government along is calling it 'Telangana National Integration day'. The state of Hyderabad, which included Telangana, five districts of Maharashtra and three districts of Karnataka, was the largest princely state in British India. Its last Nizam, Osman Ali Khan (1911-48), had decided to stay independent.

However, the Indian govern...