The Beatrice Times (Beatrice, Nebraska, USA) - Sun, Mar 17, 1946
Moslem Mob Riots,
Torch Put to Palace Hindu Leaders Warn Against Violence After British Freedom Offer
BOMBAY, March 16—(U.P.)—An angry mob of 15,000
Moslems was reported today to have rioted at Hyderabad two days ago, injuring Hyderabad Premier Nawabuv Chattari and burning his palace to the ground. The report of the new outbreak of rioting came as India Congress party leaders generally welcomed British Prime minister Clement R. Attlee’s offer of Indian independence as a step in the right direction. They called on their followers to avoid acts of mob violence now that their country is on “the threshold of freedom.” Moslem leaders, however, met Attlee’s statement with strong opposition on the ground that it failed to offer them Pakistan— the creation of an independent Indian Moslem nation. Madras dispatches said the Moslem rioting Thursday in Hyderabad, capital of the largest Indian principality, began as a protest against demolition by state authorities of a mosque built without official permission on the grounds of the Methodist mission home for lepers. [They were going to build a mosque on the grounds of a home for lepers! Of course, as they see it, the Methodists doing this selfless work were mere ‘infidels’ and the lepers - even Muslim lepers - should be banished.] Two local missionaries were injured. The residence of one of them was damaged by fire. Priceless art treasures in Chattari’s palace were destroyed when the building went up in flames.
By Rick Heizman, August 15, 2020
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