Ayodhya

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From letters to pioneer..

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Misguided fervour
This refers to Mr N Jamal Ansari’s article, “Ayodhya and after” (December 25). It reminded me of Baburnama that describes how the Mughal emperor Babar, when he faced frequent rebellions of his provincial governors in Afghanistan, resorted to excessively harsh measures to subdue them. If a man treated his own people thus, one can well imagine how severe he would have been towards the conquered “pagans”. It is time Mr Ansari and his ilk were told that Babri Masjid’s destruction was not because “the forces of Hindutva wanted to expand their political base” but due to the arrogance and the misguided religious fervour of the invading tribal Muslims. They razed temples because Islam is against idolatry and Allah does not forgive the sin of associating other gods with Him (An-Nisa,116, Al-Baqara, 2:165). That the temples were sacred to locals mattered little. In fact, even the knowledge that Ayodhya was the birth place of Ram made little impact on the marauders. Interestingly, Muslims are themselves fighting for the construction of a mosque in Nazareth, for which they do not have permission because it is the birthplace of Jesus. However, there is evidence that the Babri Masjid was built on a temple site. British Director General of “Fyzabad” ME Neville, in his report, had written, “In 1528 AD Babar came to Ayodhya, destroyed the ancient temple (marking the birth-place of Ram) and on its site built a mosque still known as Babar’s mosque... It has two inscriptions, one on the outside, one on the pulpit; both are in Persian and bear the date 935 AH.” Another British historian Cunningham wrote, “Hindus united to face the attack on their Ram Janmabhoomi temple”. Incidentally, then Minister of State for Home MM Jacob stated in Lok Sabha on March 12, 1993, that 38 Hindu temples were vandalised in J&K between 1989 and 1991. These demolitions took place much before December 6 1992. What is more, after December 6, as many as 39 temples were destroyed in J&K. However, to people with blinkers, only the demolition of Babri Masjid and Gujarat riots are visible. They refuse to see how Kashmiri Pandits have been ethnically cleansed. I would also like to tell Mr Ansari that he need not worry about the fate of Hinduism or dowry deaths. Such concern is particularly galling after his own community challenged the Supreme Court’s judgement in the Shah Bano case.
VRP Sarathy<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->