Archive · 20 Sep 2026
Alwala Bal Reddy’s Lifelong Fight for Hyderabad’s Liberation
Alwala Bal Reddy was a freedom fighter from Hyderabad.
When he was 16, he left home to join Mahatma Gandhi’s movement.
He was arrested and spent six months in prison.
Later, he worked with the Arya Samaj against the Nizam’s rule.
He helped people who were threatened during the violence involving the Razakars.
He supported schools, women’s protection, widow remarriage, and education for disadvantaged children.
He also trained young people in self-defence.
Hyderabad joined India in 1948, and Bal Reddy was released from prison.
He continued serving the public until he died in 1992.
At 16, Alwala Bal Reddy joined the civil disobedience and salt satyagraha movement and was imprisoned in Yerawada prison for six months.
He later became an Arya Samaj leader who opposed the Nizam’s rule and worked for Hyderabad’s liberation.
Bal Reddy supported the Shuddhi Programme, protected vulnerable women, promoted widow remarriage, and trained youth in self-defence.
He founded a night school for Harijan children in 1934 and established girls’ schools in 1949.
After Hyderabad’s integration into India in 1948, he served two terms on Hyderabad’s municipal corporation before his death in 1992.
- Who
- Alwala Bal Reddy, an Arya Samaj leader, social reformer, orator, freedom fighter, and municipal representative.
- What
- He participated in the freedom movement, opposed the Nizam’s rule, resisted the Razakars, supported social reform, and worked for Hyderabad’s liberation.
- When
- His activism spanned roughly 1930 to 1950; he was arrested in 1932, helped establish schools in 1934 and 1949, and died in 1992.
- Where
- Hyderabad and other parts of the Hyderabad State, as well as Mumbai and Pune, where he joined the movement and was imprisoned.
- Why
- He was motivated by the calls for Indian independence, civil disobedience, Arya Samaj reform, and opposition to the Nizam’s policies and rule.
- Birth
- 1916
- First imprisonment
- Arrested in April 1932 at age 16 and imprisoned in Pune’s Yerawada prison for six months.
- Social education work
- Founded a night primary school for Harijan children in 1934.
- Girls’ schools
- Established Kasturba schools in Umda Bazar and Doodhbowli in 1949.
- Hyderabad liberation
- Indian troops entered on September 13, 1948, and Hyderabad State was integrated into India on September 17, 1948.
- Municipal service
- Elected unanimously for two terms on Hyderabad’s municipal corporation from 1951 to 1956.
- Death
- Died in 1992 at age 76.