Hyderabad massacres

1948 Hyderabad massacres
Part of the Indian annexation of Hyderabad (Operation Polo)
Indian Army officers ordered the surrender of all arms, but in practice, only Muslims were disarmed. Hindus, whom the military deemed less of a threat, were often allowed to keep their weapons which resulted in the massacres.
Hyderabad State
LocationHyderabad State (hardest-hit areas were Osmanabad, Nanded, Gulbarga and Bidar)
Date13 September 1948 (1948-09-13) - October 1948 (1948-10)
TargetHyderabadi Muslims
Attack type
Mass murder, pogrom, arson, ethnic cleansing, rape, systematic torture, lootings by Indian soldiers.
Deaths27,000-40,000 (Sunderlal committee)
200,000 (estimate by responsible observers and scholars)
PerpetratorsHindu militias,
Indian Army
MotiveIslamophobia retributive violence
Religious bigotry

The Hyderabad massacres were the mass killings and massacre of Hyderabadi Muslims that took place following the Indian annexation of Hyderabad (Operation Polo). The killings were perpetrated by local Hindu fanatics, often supported by the Indian Army soldiers.