Special on 22 August, Day of Remembrance: Freedom fighter Shoybullah Khan

Shoybullah Khan, who was a harsh critic of the separatist ideology that was falsely spread in the Nizam State through his powerful writing, was born on 17 October 1920 in Mahbubabad, Warangal district, Andhra Pradesh. Since he resembled Gandhi, his father, Habibullah Khan, used to call him “Shoybullah Gandhi.” From childhood, Shoybullah was influenced by Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy of non‑violence. After graduating from Osmania University, he entered journalism. He worked for the Urdu weekly *Tez*, which promoted and propagated nationalist ideology. He wrote many articles criticizing the inhumane atrocities committed by the Nizam’s Nawab’s henchmen, which led the Nizam government to ban the weekly *Tez*. Later, he joined the Urdu magazine *Rayath*, run by M. Narsing Rao. He continued to use his pen to criticize the cruelty of the Razakars and the inhumane acts of the Nizam government in that magazine, which forced it to shut down. After the closure of *Rayath*, Shoybullah sold his mother’s and wife’s jewelry and founded his own magazine *Imroze* on 15 November 1947. He fought against the Nizam government and its henchmen’s sectarianism and atrocities without any compromise. When India gained independence in 1947, he wrote editorials demanding the merger of the Hyderabad State into the Indian Union. He supported mass movements for the merger and wrote several articles explaining the need for the Nizam State’s integration into the Indian Union. He exposed the selfish motives of the Nizam in opposition to the merger. His articles were threatened by the Nizam’s henchmen. Nevertheless, he ignored their warnings and threats and continued his nationalist mission. Consequently, on the night of 21 August 1948, while returning from his *Imroze* office with his colleague and brother‑in‑law, Mohammad Khan, he was brutally attacked by his opponents, who severed his hands and shot him. Shoybullah Khan died in Hyderabad on the morning of 22 August 1948 from his injuries. Before his death, while receiving treatment in the hospital, he told his relatives and friends, “Death is inevitable. No one can escape death. If one dies on the way to a cause, one should feel proud. You should feel proud of me, for I am dying for the country.”

Source: *The Immortals*, by Syed Naser Ahmad, compiled by Hasrat Ali, Sherpur district, Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, Phone number 8580533689.