Hyderabad, Sept. 13 -- Exactly this day 73 years ago in 1948, the Indian government, after months of deliberations and talks with the last Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan, finally decided to send its army to annexe (or merge, as some call it) the erstwhile princely state of Hyderabad to India. It would conclude in about four days, and on September 17, the task would be complete.

The military offensive led by India's J. N. Chaudhuri, called Operation Polo or Police Action in local parlance, has left deep scars on the psyche of Muslims even decades later given the fact that thousands had lost their lives in the aftermath. The entire episode played out like a fast-moving novel over a year starting from India's independence on August 15, 1947, afte...