From: sadhal@alhena.usc.edu (Sati Sadhal)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian,soc.culture.pakistan,soc.culture.bangladesh
Subject: BABRI MASJID: Why All Evil Acts Must be Condemned
Date: 14 Dec 1992 15:31:20 -0800
Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: alhena.usc.edu


I  thoroughly condemn the senseless act of the demolition of  the 
Babri  Mosque  by right-wing Hindu fanatics.  The  government  of 
India  must punish all those responsible for bringing about  this 
situation  of civil unrest in South Asia as well as  in  Britain. 
That  the  place is believed to be the birth place  of  Sri  Rama 
Chandra may be an issue, but that the Mosque is believed to  holy 
place  and must be respected as such for those who are  sensitive 
to it. \\

The fact that a thousands people could be persuaded to destroy  a 
holy  place  clearly shows that there is  gross  misunderstanding 
between  religions. A vast majority of the well-read Indians are
probably  confused as to why the Babri Mosque takes such a high 
position in the  Islamic  world.  A great deal of the Indian 
history as far I know history portrays Babar was a plunderer, and  
an  evil emperor. Upon his invasion of Panjab, he encountered 
resistance from a highly placed prophet, namely Guru Nanak, who was  
subsequently   imprisoned   by  Babar. Seeing  all   the  plunder 
and   killing   of innocent men,  women  and  children,  he  
proclaimed, 

	``When there is so much of bloodshed and the people groan,
		O God, thou feelst no pain?  

	A deadly lion hath pounced upon a herd of cows,
	and Thou, the Master, carest not?'' 
				-- {Guru Nanak}

Guru Nanak went on to condemned Babar as a `Zabar' (tyrant). 
He further wrote, in reference to Babar,

	``You have become the ruler of Khurasand,
	Then why do you terrorize Hindustan?'' 
					-- {Guru Nanak}


The Moghul Emperors, with the exception of Akbar, are regarded as 
a  bunch despots with no humanitarian regard. In the  opinion  of 
many  Indians,  they  hold  the same rank  as  Genghis  Khan  and  
Timurlane,  who are  also their forebears. The atrocities include  
the execution of Guru Arjan Dev and Guru Teg Bahadur, the  sawing 
of  Bhai  Mati   Das's  head in half and  the  hacking  of   Sikh  
children   and garlanding  their  mothers with the  body  pieces, 
all   because  of their  vehement refusal to accept the  Moghulai 
version  of   Islam. It  is the responsibility of  all  civilized 
nations  to   dissociate from  these  evil emperors.  While  they 
have committed  these  horrible acts  in pretense of Islam,  they 
have   besmeared  the good name of Muslims. One often hears  that 
the  Moghul kings   are highly regarded in the Islamic world.  If 
this is a myth, then the Muslims  of the world must condemn these 
men, put the myth  to rest and clear any misunderstanding.  There  
were,   of  course, numerous Muslims  during the Moghul  era  who  
are   highly  regarded   in  Indian history:  for  example,  Bhai  
Mardana,    Bhagat  Kabir, Sheikh Farid, Mian Mir and  Akbar  the 
Great.  \\

Whenever  an evil man in a position of power carries out  heinous 
crimes  in the name of a people or a religion,  those  people 
bear the responsibility to condemn him and dissociate from him in 
order to clear their own name. The despots of the world,  ancient 
or   modern,   must  be regarded as such  in  recorded   history.  
Furthermore,  the  condemnation of such cruel  people  by those 
even remotely associated with them can  bring together  potential 
enemies.  A glimpse into one such historical example is particularly 
appropriate. When, under King Aurangzeb's rule, Guru Gobind  Singh's 
sons,  aged  9  and 7, were brick-walled alive  for  refusing  to 
accept Islam, it was a Muslim, Sher Mohammed, the Nawab of 
Malerkotla who had the guts to condemn this  inhuman  killing  of  
innocent children.   Consequently,   Guru  Gobind Singh,  touched  
by the Nawab's expression of sympathy, blessed the people of 
Malerkotla. The  results of Nawab Sher Mohammed's condemnation of 
this act of terror were seen  some  two centuries  years   later,  
when Malerkotla's  Muslims  were spared of the horrible massacres 
during the  1947  partition   of India. Malerkotla was   the  
only   Muslim community in East Panjab that was  left  unscathed.  
\\

While  it is understood the oppressed cannot always condemn their
despotic rulers, it is certainly possible when tyrants are  gone. 
The  Russians did not waste any time to  condemn  the iron   rule  
of Lenin  and  Stalin, once they were free to do  so.  Therefore,  
we  must   condemn the horror of the demolition  of   the   Babri   
Mosque,  the  ensuing revenge destruction of  Hindu   temples  in  
Pakistan   and  Bangladesh,  and the incredible loss   of   human 
life. At  the  same time,  we must condemn the atrocities of  400 
years  ago   that  are still  haunting  us,  and  we  must  never  
embrace   evil  emperors, especially when we are free from  them. 

			Satwindar Singh Sadhal 


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