When the Vande Mataram mantra ignited the fire of freedom in the Nizam’s territory

Abandoned B Hostel of Osmania University in Hyderabad where students chanted the Vande Mataram mantra. | Photo credit: Serish Nanisetti

‘B’ Hostel Osmania University has its doors boarded up. OU ‘A’ Hostel is now walled off. “That building has collapsed. Don’t go there. There are big snakes and the building might collapse on you if you go inside,” says a man who has set up a hair salon on a muddy road. Inside ‘B’ Hostel is a photograph of Indian social revolutionaries which includes Gautama Buddha, Jyotirao Phule and Ambedkar. There are no sounds of students or teachers. But that wasn’t the case when the buildings were first built. There were large portraits of Rama and Krishna on the walls of the hostel in the prayer rooms for Hindu students, but when it came to singing Vande Mataram, the Nizam government drew the line.

In the winter of 1938, just as these buildings came up, the same corridors of hostels and prayer halls resounded with chants of “Vande Mataram” after the Ramzan holidays. The chant was given the goat of the Nizam’s rule and became a mantra of freedom and nationalism in the Nizam’s Dominion. A mantra and not a song as dozens of students stood up for their right to chant the mantra. The singing of Vande Mataram was doubly brave because it was not the British but the decree of the Nizam’s government. The government saw it as a patriotic song rather than a religious message.

But the outburst of nationalistic fervor did not occur on the OU campus, it began in Dominion schools. 17-year-old PV Narasimha Rao sang Vande Mataram at his school in Warangal and was expelled. Another 17-year-old Laddipalli Anjayya chanted the same mantra in Secunderabad. He was caught, flogged and imprisoned for three days. Mahadev Singh Thakur was a Matric (Class X) student in Karimnagar when he chanted the Vande Mataram mantra and was rusticated.

Singing did not start in isolation. In July 1938, a Provisional Committee was formed for the Hyderabad State Congress to push for a representative government under the Nizam. But the Nizam government immediately invoked the Public Safety Ordinance and banned them. But the Congress workers were undeterred and started a satyagraha.

The Hindu carried this news on December 30, 1938, where Mahatma Gandhi said that he would prefer the students to leave without education to their attending institutions, where a ban on the song “Vande Mataram” had been imposed. | Photo Credit: Hindu Archives

The satyagrahis were imprisoned and beaten. One of the worst fates for chanting the mantra was that of the satyagrahi Ramachandra Rao, who was flogged in prison and chanted Vande Mataram with each blow. Incidentally, Vandemataram Ramachandra Rao contested as an independent for the assembly seat three times and won, including once in 1967 against KV Ranga Reddy, the grandfather of current Chevella MP K. Visheshwar Reddy.

1938 GenZ

But the Vande Mataram fire ignited a different GenZ at Aurangabad Government Intermediate College, where teacher Govindbhai Shroff brought a revolution to the classrooms. On 14 November 1938, students of Intermediate College, Aurangabad sang Vande Mataram on the college campus. At the instigation of teacher Govindbhai Shroff, who was dismissed on November 9 for anti-national activities, the song became a sensation across the Dominion. The OU lodgers sang the same hymn on 23 November 1938 in the prayer halls after returning from Ramzan leave. This was a repeat of what the students did before the Dasara holidays in September. As the singing became more common in the campuses of Mahbub College, Hanamakonda, Gulbarga and other places, the Nizam government banned the singing of the song on 28 November. That same night, as students exited the prayer hall, university officials took the signatures of those who violated the order. On November 29, students were forced to leave their dormitories overnight.

At the end of the protest on December 12, there was a mass rustication of students — 350 students were expelled from Osmania University College. City College expelled 70 students, Gulbarga College (including high school students), 310 students were removed, 120 students were removed from Mahboobnagar High School.

The Hindu News of December 13, 1938 | Photo Credit: Hindu Archives

At the heart of it was the debate over whether the song was patriotic or religious. While the students argued that it was religious, the Nizam’s government did not buy this argument. All the higher education institutions were affiliated to Osmania University and the classroom anthem was Asafia’s song “Do Al Men Riya Sabe” which meant “May the Nizam live long”. Summoning the homeland, the mantra proved to be a challenge.

Jaisoorya Naidu, son of Sarojini Naidu, enlisted the help of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhash Chandra Bose for the Vande Mataram Movement. He also wrote a request for students to end the strike and return to classes. Some students agreed.

In June 1939, some of the students apologized to university officials with a warning about the passwords they would use. These were: “Vande Mataram, Matrubhasha ki Jai, Shah-e-Osman Zindabad, Osmania University Zindabad, Hindu-Muslim unity-ki-jai and Hyderabad State Zindabad.

Later, during the Join India Union movement, people started greeting everyone with “Vande Mataram” instead of saying “Good morning” or “Namaskar”.

Published – 29 Aug 2026 06:00 IST