I received a copy of Radiance in January 1968 sent to me by my friend Syed Waqar Ahmed Hussaini, who was a doctorate candidate in Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. At that time I said to myself ‘this is what the Muslims of India need’. Since then I have been reading Radiance regularly. Now, I have the honour of writing one of the articles for the 50 years issue of Radiance (29 September-5 October 2013). In this article “Upholding Truth and Justice” I mentioned a letter I had written to Radiance in June of 1972:
‘Radiance’s policy on standing for truth and justice was put to test hundreds of time, and every time its mission remained the same. I found this to be true way back in 1972. In 1971/1972, this writer was in the city of Hyderabad during the war of independence for Bangladesh. On 19 December, 1971 a victory rally was arranged in Hyderabad to celebrate liberation of Bangladesh. The procession was chanting victory slogans that left me in a complete state of shock. These slogans were uttered in Telugu against Muslims. Some of them were “Don’t trust the Muslims”, “Down with the Muslims”, and few others.
‘I wrote to Radiance and the detailed letter was published on 4 June, 1972. It shocked me to see my California address and name along with the letter. It was very uncommon practice, in those days, to print the address of the writer. The editorial board of Radiance felt that the letter is genuine, and of course it was, and the details were incredibly correct. The editorial board’s decision, I think, was made to dispense the truth while revealing the source – a letter from California. One of the statements I made in that letter was about the rioters whom I called the goondas and proprietors of irrationality. Now, in the 21st century, we know that they are naive people under the influence and control of home grown Hindutva terrorists.’
The letter as published on 4 June, 1972
Upside Down Morality
Sir,
I feel impelled to express my views I held for a long time. I was in India during the recent conflict between India and Pakistan. Certain events that took place in India after the end of the hostilities indicate the direction in which our Democracy is heading.
On December 19, 1971 a victory rally was arranged in the city of Hyderabad to celebrate liberation of Bangladesh. The procession was chanting victory slogans that left me in a complete state of shock. These slogans were uttered in the Telugu language against the Muslims. Some of them are, “Don’t trust the Muslims”, “Down with the Muslims”. I watched to my greatest dismay the grin and smiles on the faces of the officials who did not find anything wrong with these slogans. I also watched the featureless and emotionless faces of the policemen who were with procession. These people were shouting “Don’t trust the Muslims” to celebrate the liberation of Muslim Bengal.
This is the worst kind of inversion and display of upside down morality in democratic India. This kind of doped democracy and the inclined attitudes are going to hurt India permanently. India has liberated Bangladesh from the hands of West Pakistan. It is time to liberate Indians from the clutches of hatred they have towards Islam and the Muslims. We have to do some house cleaning after helping Bangladesh achieve its independence. This hatred campaign against Muslims by the irrational section of India must cease immediately.
The recent riots in Telicherry, Gulbarga and Hubli have once again proved that the goondas and the “proprietors” of irrationality still have an upper hand. The establishment of law and order and justice for all seems far away in Democratic India. These riots are pushing India into degrading decline. For God’s sake let us have law and order.
Mohammad Yacoob
11160 Condon Avenue
Inglewood, California 90304
And the letter was sent on the then address of Radiance:
RADIANCE VIEWSWEEKLY
2448 Ballimaran
Shera Afghan Gate, Delhi 110 001