12-05-2004, 11:55 PM
Secular issue of larceny
Prafull Goradia
The demolition of the Babri edifice 12 years go was no tragedy. Most Hindus believe that Lord Ram was born there by virtue of which it is eminently sacred for the community. All faiths inspire deep sentiments. For example, the Muslims are so sensitive that they do not allow any non-Muslim to set foot either in Mecca or Medina. Admittedly, the Muslim of today was not responsible for the desecration. In this context, the interaction between the respective parents of my mother and father is worth recalling. When they first met, it was discovered that a moorti of Lord Buddha, which belonged to my father's family, had moved to my mother's years earlier. This grandfather had bought it from the chor bazar at Mumbai. Immediately, the moorti was restored to the rightful family.
It is in this spirit of decency that the desecrated temples should be returned to the Hindus. I am not referring to the thousands that have been listed by scholars. Most of these were the result of recycling the debris of the mandirs that were standing before their destruction. The same stones were reused to build the masjid's plinth upwards.
The scholars have identified mandirs with the help of epigraphs found on the mosques wherein the sultans or the nawabs took credit for doing service to Islam. In a number of cases, the court chroniclers have left behind descriptions of what happened and how the masjids were built. The converted, as distinct from the recycled, mandirs have not been distinguished by the scholars in their lists. The reason perhaps was that the listing was based on desk or library research.
The converted is the still standing temple which was originally built. It was not brought down. Merely the sanctum sanctorum was destroyed and all the faces, whether of avatars, humans or animals, were either disfigured or cut off. <span style='color:red'>Until about the advent of the Lodis, Islamic architecture had not matured enough in India to build well designed masjids. The easy quick fix method adopted by the invaders was to convert a standing temple. An outstanding example of conversion is the Adhai dinja Jhopda about a furlong away from the dargah of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti at Ajmer.</span>
It was identified and catalogued by Lt. Gen. Sir Alexander Cunningham, the founder director of the Archaeological Survey of India. According to the legend also discovered by him locally, soon after Mohammad Ghauri defeated and killed Prithiviraj Chauhan at the second battle of Tarain in 1192 AD, he travelled to Ajmer. He was so awed by the triple temple complex that he ordered their conversion into a masjid instantly. His wishes were fulfilled in a matter of only two and a half days. Which is why the masjid was called Adhai din ka Jhopda.
There are many other instances such as the Adina masjid on National Highway 34 between Raiganj in West Dinajpur district and Malda in West Bengal. It was converted by Sultan Sikandar Shah between 1366 and 1374 AD. Between Kannauj and Etawah, there are several such converted masjids. Jaunpur has at least four obvious such mosques led by the centrally located Atala Devi masjid. Their desecration took place in the first decade of the 15th century under the instructions of Sultan Ibrahim Naib Barbak. The Bhojshala and the Lat masjid as well as the Bijamandal at Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh are now well known examples. There are many more spread across most of India including Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
<b>A conversion of mosques into churches is not uncommon in Europe.</b> For example, the Almobed masjid in Seville, Spain, was transformed into a cathedral. The Great Mosque, which was the centre of Umayyad caliphate based at Cordoba was converted into a church soon after the expulsion of the Moorish invaders. In Sicily, the palace chapel at Palermo had earlier been desecrated by the Moorish invaders.
On reconquest of the island by the Normans in the IIth century, it was reconverted into a church. At Jerusalem, the al-Aqsa mosque is being used at present by the Jews as the wailing wall. A number of conversions took place in Greece on the morrow of the population exchange, in 1923 under the auspices of the League of Nations, whereby most Muslims were transferred out to Turkey.
But in India they stand as monuments of plunder. Nevertheless, we can let bygones be bygones provided the Muslims show the decency of returning what their forefathers had plundered. In this context, it could be treated as a secular issue of larceny and reparation. The crypto-communists have helped Muslims to perpetuate these monuments by passing the Places of Religious Worship Act 1991 which stays the status of all religious places as it was before Independence.
<b>The Muslims, proud of their having been the rulers of India, need not hide behind the law passed at the initiative of then Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao.</b> This legislation legalises theft and plunder. With this example, can we expect a sincere enforcement of law and order?
Prafull Goradia
The demolition of the Babri edifice 12 years go was no tragedy. Most Hindus believe that Lord Ram was born there by virtue of which it is eminently sacred for the community. All faiths inspire deep sentiments. For example, the Muslims are so sensitive that they do not allow any non-Muslim to set foot either in Mecca or Medina. Admittedly, the Muslim of today was not responsible for the desecration. In this context, the interaction between the respective parents of my mother and father is worth recalling. When they first met, it was discovered that a moorti of Lord Buddha, which belonged to my father's family, had moved to my mother's years earlier. This grandfather had bought it from the chor bazar at Mumbai. Immediately, the moorti was restored to the rightful family.
It is in this spirit of decency that the desecrated temples should be returned to the Hindus. I am not referring to the thousands that have been listed by scholars. Most of these were the result of recycling the debris of the mandirs that were standing before their destruction. The same stones were reused to build the masjid's plinth upwards.
The scholars have identified mandirs with the help of epigraphs found on the mosques wherein the sultans or the nawabs took credit for doing service to Islam. In a number of cases, the court chroniclers have left behind descriptions of what happened and how the masjids were built. The converted, as distinct from the recycled, mandirs have not been distinguished by the scholars in their lists. The reason perhaps was that the listing was based on desk or library research.
The converted is the still standing temple which was originally built. It was not brought down. Merely the sanctum sanctorum was destroyed and all the faces, whether of avatars, humans or animals, were either disfigured or cut off. <span style='color:red'>Until about the advent of the Lodis, Islamic architecture had not matured enough in India to build well designed masjids. The easy quick fix method adopted by the invaders was to convert a standing temple. An outstanding example of conversion is the Adhai dinja Jhopda about a furlong away from the dargah of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti at Ajmer.</span>
It was identified and catalogued by Lt. Gen. Sir Alexander Cunningham, the founder director of the Archaeological Survey of India. According to the legend also discovered by him locally, soon after Mohammad Ghauri defeated and killed Prithiviraj Chauhan at the second battle of Tarain in 1192 AD, he travelled to Ajmer. He was so awed by the triple temple complex that he ordered their conversion into a masjid instantly. His wishes were fulfilled in a matter of only two and a half days. Which is why the masjid was called Adhai din ka Jhopda.
There are many other instances such as the Adina masjid on National Highway 34 between Raiganj in West Dinajpur district and Malda in West Bengal. It was converted by Sultan Sikandar Shah between 1366 and 1374 AD. Between Kannauj and Etawah, there are several such converted masjids. Jaunpur has at least four obvious such mosques led by the centrally located Atala Devi masjid. Their desecration took place in the first decade of the 15th century under the instructions of Sultan Ibrahim Naib Barbak. The Bhojshala and the Lat masjid as well as the Bijamandal at Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh are now well known examples. There are many more spread across most of India including Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
<b>A conversion of mosques into churches is not uncommon in Europe.</b> For example, the Almobed masjid in Seville, Spain, was transformed into a cathedral. The Great Mosque, which was the centre of Umayyad caliphate based at Cordoba was converted into a church soon after the expulsion of the Moorish invaders. In Sicily, the palace chapel at Palermo had earlier been desecrated by the Moorish invaders.
On reconquest of the island by the Normans in the IIth century, it was reconverted into a church. At Jerusalem, the al-Aqsa mosque is being used at present by the Jews as the wailing wall. A number of conversions took place in Greece on the morrow of the population exchange, in 1923 under the auspices of the League of Nations, whereby most Muslims were transferred out to Turkey.
But in India they stand as monuments of plunder. Nevertheless, we can let bygones be bygones provided the Muslims show the decency of returning what their forefathers had plundered. In this context, it could be treated as a secular issue of larceny and reparation. The crypto-communists have helped Muslims to perpetuate these monuments by passing the Places of Religious Worship Act 1991 which stays the status of all religious places as it was before Independence.
<b>The Muslims, proud of their having been the rulers of India, need not hide behind the law passed at the initiative of then Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao.</b> This legislation legalises theft and plunder. With this example, can we expect a sincere enforcement of law and order?