The decision of the Supreme Court to declare Urdu as the second official language in Uttar Pradesh is historic and needs to be welcomed by one and all. In its order Supreme Court has ruled that State governments have every right to adopt any language as the second official language as long as it is in use in the state and figures in the official languages listed in the Constitution.
The very decision will open more avenues and opportunity for many and it will certainly help to revive and promote the language. It will also serve as the linkage between the communities. All other states where Muslims are in sizeable numbers should also try to adopt Urdu as the second official language.
Kalim Khan
Lucknow
Protect Indian Society
Your editorial (Radiance, 31 August-6 September 2014) is rightly headlined “Love Jihad or Hate Jihad”. We here too find that the love-jihad phenomenon is the creation of hate-mongers who have their eyes centred on upcoming elections. They reap electoral success only through conflict, tension and riots; peaceful atmosphere cannot yield them success. BJP president Amit Shah reportedly said that if riots continue in Uttar Pradesh his party would form the government in the state. The entire situation invites the civil society to make tireless strivings to protect the plural character of Indian society and defeat hate-mongers.
Asghar Karim
Meerut, UP
Riots can’t Take Place …
After going through Radiance Viewsweekly of 24-30 August, it reminds me of riots against Sikh brothers where they suffered great losses. Though they are supposed to be brave warriors yet they were made to suffer. Definitely, I still remember TV news where an elderly Sardar at a relief camp painfully narrated their difficulties, disappointments and helplessness. Recently, in the city of Hyderabad, a scrap labour as usual burned rubber waste to extract metal wires from it. Accidentally, the flames or the sparks partially damaged a Sikh flag nearby and a spontaneous riot erupted. Muslims were taken aback.
The incident was unexpected and sudden. It took lives of Muslim innocents by firing from security forces. There is no result of any inquiry yet. At that moment, brave Sikh brothers were photographed waving their swords. A same type of photograph from Saharanpur appeared in Radiance too. The conclusion reveals support from different sources and mediums for the riots. In other words, without a power back force, no group can be oppressor. The ex-chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, late N.T. Rama Rao once said, riots cannot take place without a power back support. And he proved a riot-free rule during his regime.
Nayyar Ahmed
Hyderabad, T.S.
Minority in a Plural Society
The special issue of Radiance on Minority in a Plural Society (10-16 August) was indeed remarkable and covered most issues pertaining to minority in a plural society. There were many articles written by experts who presented the truth of minority in a plural society with facts and figures. More such issue based special issues are required to project and remind the government of the need to improve their quality of life. Since Independence, no government either the so-called secular or the NDA-led government has made any sincere efforts to solve the problems of the minority but instead has only used them as mere vote entity. It is high time that the minority made the best use of their strength to bargain for their needs.
Aftab Hussain
New Delhi