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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