ADVANCING INDIANS STRIKE STIFF RESISTANCE SIXTY MILES FROM SECUNDERABAD

Grey River Argus, 17 September 1948, Page 5

ADVANCING INDIANS STRIKE STIFF RESISTANCE SIXTY MILES FROM SECUNDERABAD

(Rec. 10.30) LONDON, Sept. 16. The Indian Army’s Southern Headquarters at Poona in its latest report, stated: The Indian column advancing along the road from Homnabad towards Secunderabad has met stiff resistance, and. it is now fighting on the outskirts of Zahirabad, sixty miles from Secunderabad,

The Indian Army in' Hyderabad has captured Suriaypet, 80 miles north-east of Secunderabad and Khammameth, 40 miles north-east ci Suriyapet. An Indian communi qua has reported steady progress in ail areas. Indian troops cleared Homnabad after overcoming “very strong resistance” from Razarkars and the Hyderabad regulars. The Indians are gradually overcoming strong resistance on the southern border between Hospet and Ginigera, 20 miles to the north-west. The communique added that at the historic Mongul city of Aurangabad, Razarkars surrendered a large quanity of arms and ammunition.

Indidn troops, advancing from the north-western road and rail junction of Jalna, secured intact an important bridge at Shagadh. The Indian Air Force made sorties.

Indians Expect

Early Conquest

LONDON, Sept 15. ’ The Prime Minister of India, Mr Pandit Nehru, addressing nearly 500,OQO people at an open-air meeting in Bombay, expressed the hope that India’s operations in Hyderabad would end very soon. He appealed tor unity in the face of a grave national emergency. The Indian troops were rapidly progressing in all fronts in Hyderabad. It was an indication of India’s armed strength. “But it is not enough for us to know that we are militarily strong,” he said. “We must come out with a clean conscience.” He added that India must take a warning from calamitous conditions prevailing in Burma, Malaya and South-east Asia countries generally and smother all separatist tendencies like communalism and provincialism and he demand for new linquistic provinces. He said communal trouble was only a remote possibility unless “Pakistan hotheads, who demand war against India, in support of Hyderabad, start a massacre of the Hindu minority in East Bengal.” It is admitted that an Indian column, advancing beyond Homnabad met strong resistance from Hyderabad State troops and Razarkars, who are dug in on both sides of the road. A thousand Razarkars and “other hostile elements” coming from Kalyani, 10 miles nor-west of Ajasur, tried unsuccessfully to cut the Indian lines of communication.

HYDERABAD RULER APPEALS TO THE KING

,(Rec. 10.40) LONDON, Sept. 16 The Hyderabad Agent-General in Karachi has disclosed that the Nizam cabled His Majesty the King: “I am grieved to report to your Majesty that the Indian Union troops this morning began advancing from all directions into my state. I have cabled Mr Attlee and I do hope that the matter will receive Your Majesty’s personal early attention.” , WT . In his cable to Mr Attlee, the Nizam suggested that the British Government should send a commission of three independent and impartial persons to study the situation and to decide the issue justly and equitably. He adedd that there was little prospect reaching an understanding with the Indian Government, unless there was immediate British intervention.

HYDERABAD FORCES PUT UP GOOD SHOW

Indian Tanks Knocked Out with Small Guns

(Rec. 9.50) LONDON, Sept. 16 The Hyderabad State forces who have no proper anti-tank weapons, and have only a few twenty-five pounder guns, have halted the first momentum of the Indian tank advance upon Secunderabad. Reporting this last night, a Daily Telegraph correspondent in Hyderabad city said: The Nizam’s gunners fired over open sights at oncoming tanks, destroying at least eight. He added that a second phase of war was now beginning, namely, a battle for the central Deccan Plateau, extending at about eighty miles radium around the capital. The Indian Army’s two main spearheads are thrusting towards it from a southeast and the west, while a third Indian thrust is expected from the northwest towards Bidar, to secure a landing field for airborne supplies. There is complete’ calm in the Hyderabad capital and the Nizam continues to take his daily public drive. Hyderabad officials report that stiff fighting continues on the border of Berar. Indian pressure on the Sholapur-Secunderabad road was meeting strong Hyderabad opposition.