Shoeb-ulla-Khan · The Hand That Wrote Truth
Editor of Imroz · “A patriot’s murder hastened Hyderabad’s merger” · August 22, 1948 · Martyr of the pen
Shoeb-ulla-Khan was not a general, not a politician, not a soldier. He was an editor. But in the Hyderabad of 1948, the pen was the most dangerous weapon — and those who wielded it knew they were writing their own death warrants. Shoeb-ulla-Khan, the fearless editor of the Urdu daily Imroz, dared to expose the atrocities of the Nizam’s regime and the Razakar terror. For that, on the night of August 22, 1948, his right hand was chopped off and three bullets were pumped into his body. His murder, carried out on the orders of Kasim Razvi, sent shockwaves to Delhi. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru declared that a dissenting Muslim had no safety in Hyderabad. Within weeks, the Indian Army marched in. Shoeb-ulla-Khan’s blood hastened the merger that completed the freedom of India.
Shoeb-ulla-Khan began his journalistic career with M. Narsing Rao at the journal Rayyat. Rayyat was one of the oldest Urdu newspapers in Hyderabad, originally owned by Baji Rao and later conducted by his son Vasudeo Rao Aurangabadkar. From its inception, Rayyat was identified with the people’s cause. But its editorial policy was “very cautious” — a necessary survival strategy under the Nizam’s press laws. Young Shoebullah chafed under this caution. He wanted to speak, not whisper.
When Rayyat was eventually banned by the Nizam’s government, Shoeb-ulla-Khan wept uncontrollably in his office. A contemporary witness recorded: “A young man standing in his office room was weeping uncontrollably, an older man was talking and consoling him. It is natural to imagine that some domestic misfortune might have happened but such was not the case. The actual fact was the Nizam’s Government had banned the publication of ‘Rayyat’ newspaper and the subeditor Shoebullah was weeping.” That setback did not silence him. It pushed him to start his own newspaper: Imroz.
The proposal to grant Shoeb-ulla-Khan permission to publish Imroz faced almost unanimous opposition from the Nizam’s governing council. They knew what kind of newspaper he would run. He was permitted to publish only because Sir Kishen Pershad — a high-ranking official, former Prime Minister, and a man of rare integrity — supported the application “very strongly.” Sir Kishen Pershad’s intervention allowed the voice that would soon become the regime’s worst nightmare to find its platform.
Shoeb-ulla-Khan wrote a series of articles against the Nizam’s delaying tactics on merger with the Indian Union and against the atrocities of Kasim Razvi’s Razakar militia. He was in favour of Hyderabad’s immediate accession to India and wanted no part in the Nizam’s dream of an independent “Osmanistan.” The Nizam had declared independence on June 11, 1947, based on the concept of “An al Malik” (I am sovereign). Razvi donned military uniform and celebrated Hyderabad’s “independence” on August 15, 1947. Shoeb-ulla-Khan used his pen to tear down this fantasy.
Imroz was launched by Ramakrishna Rao and his brother Ranganatha Rao to be a voice of the Congress and Communists in Hyderabad. After losing his job at Rayyat, Shoebullah became its Editor — and immediately became a target of ire for the MIM and Kasim Razvi.
Kasim Razvi did not act in secret. He issued a public warning days before the murder: anyone who wrote against the Nizam or the MIM would have his right hand chopped off. Razvi’s Razakars had already turned Hyderabad into a slaughterhouse. They raided villages, massacred Hindus, attacked political prisoners in jails, and murdered journalists who refused to toe the line. Shoeb-ulla-Khan knew the threat. He continued to write. He continued to publish. He did not flee.
“Rizvi donned military uniform, and in fact celebrated Hyderabad’s ‘independence’ on August 15, 1947 after the end of British paramountcy. A patriot and nationalist to the core, Shoebullah took Rizvi head on.” — Syed Naseer Ahmad, authority on the freedom movement
It was about 1:00 AM on the night of August 22, 1948. Shoeb-ulla-Khan and his relative Ismail had just finished printing the next day’s edition of Imroz from the press located at Chappal Bazaar, Kachiguda. They were walking back home across the road in Lingampally. At the crossroads, three or four Razakars waylaid them.
The killers first greeted Shoebullah and began talking to him — a final mockery. One of them went behind him and shot him with a gun. Then, as he fell, his right hand was severed with a sword. The Razakars then cut Ismail’s hand as well. Three bullets were pumped into Shoebullah at point-blank range. The assassins disappeared into the night.
A 16-year-old Intermediate student named Burgula Narsing Rao — who lived in Chappal Bazaar — had said “Khuda Hafiz” to Shoebullah and closed the gate moments before. When the household help Chandraiah knocked frantically saying he had heard gunshots, the young man ran out. They took Shoebullah home. “When we took him home, Shoebullah whispered to me: ‘Babu, main jaa raha hoon’ (I am leaving).” Three hours later, at Osmania General Hospital, Shoeb-ulla-Khan died.
— Burgula Narsing Rao, then 16 years old.
Burgula Narsing Rao’s uncle was Burgula Ramakrishna Rao, from whose house Imroz was published. Burgula Ramakrishna Rao would go on to become Hyderabad’s first and last elected Chief Minister before the State Reorganisation in 1956. The house in Chappal Bazaar was not just a newspaper office; it was a nerve center of the nationalist movement. And on that night, it became a witness to martyrdom.
Shoeb-ulla-Khan’s murder was not an isolated atrocity. News archives reveal that his assassination, along with a clash between Razakars and Indian Army personnel at Nanaj village in Osmanabad, widened the rift between the Nizam’s administration and the Indian government. These events, among others, led to the Police Action (Operation Polo) that began on September 13, 1948. On September 17, the Nizam surrendered. Hyderabad was merged into the Indian Union.
One historian has noted: “A patriot’s murder hastened Hyderabad’s merger.” Shoeb-ulla-Khan’s blood did what months of negotiation could not. It forced the hand of Delhi.
Razvi and four other Razakars were arrested on the charge of killing Shoeb-ulla-Khan. A special tribunal convicted them. However, the High Court set them free on the murder charge. But Razvi was not free for long: he was sent to jail in the Bibinagar attack case (a massacre of villagers carried out in his presence). After serving his sentence, he was deported to Pakistan in 1957.
For Shoeb-ulla-Khan’s family, justice was delayed for decades. It took nearly four decades for the state government to grant a freedom fighter’s pension to Shoeb-ulla-Khan’s wife.
🌟 Why Shoeb-ulla-Khan still matters:
• He was a journalist who refused to be cautious when his people were being terrorized.
• He knew he was going to be killed — Razvi had publicly warned — but he did not stop writing.
• His murder shocked Nehru and the Indian government into decisive action.
• His assassination was one of the immediate triggers of the Police Action that merged Hyderabad with India.
• He is remembered as the “voice for the voiceless” — a Muslim patriot who gave his life for India’s unity.
Jai Hind · Vande Mataram
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