Organization: University of Illinois at Chicago
Date: Monday, 14 Dec 1992 23:45:33 CST
From: Shyamala Parameswaran <U15297@uicvm.uic.edu>
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian,soc.culture.pakistan,soc.culture.bangladesh
Subject: Letter To Heads of State

Dear Friends:

In the light of recent events in India and the aftermath
in the Sub-Continent, we feel that this is the right
opportunity to come together and make a statement,
irrespective of our religion and nationality. This
letter is an expression of our joint sentiments to
be conveyed to the respective PMs of India, Bangladesh
and Pakistan.

Citizens and people originating from these three countries
endorsing the letter and the contents AS IT IS, may send
their names as co-signatories to:

          pjn@cs.cmu.edu (P J Narayanan)          OR

          kazi@cis.udel.edu (Zunaid Kazi)         OR

          arun@vlsi.waterloo.edu (Arun Achyuthan)

IMPORTANT:

1. Names need to be sent BEFORE 12 noon (EST), Wednesday, 16 Dec.
   We will be express mailing the letter with collected
   signatures that afternoon.

2. Please follow the appended format in sending us your names.
   <Full names>  <nationality>  <place, country>

3. We will NOT be able to make any changes to the letter. So
   please do not suggest any. However, this letter can be
   adapted to your liking and sent on your own.

4. Copies of this letter will also be sent to prominent
   English language dailies in the three countries.

5. We are limited to receiving names ONLY from citizens
   and people originating from these three countries for
   this cause.

   Thank you very much for your time.

Shyamala Parameswaran

Text of letter follows:

*************************

We, the citizens and well-wishers of India, Bangladesh and Pakistan,
jointly wish to convey our deep shock at the recent turn of events
following the destruction of the 16th century mosque in Ayodhya
against the orders of the Supreme Court of India. We are, in
particular, greatly distressed by the tragic loss of innumerable
innocent lives in the aftermath of the event in all three countries,
and by retaliatory acts including the destruction of Hindu temples
outside India. We fear that this Ayodhya incident, and the ripple
effects it has caused, may have set a dangerous precedent; we ask
that such an event never be allowed to happen in the future. We
condemn the inability and lack of determination of the respective
governments to avert the tragedy.

Current news media and eye-witness accounts of casualties
in the riots are, indeed, unsettling. While acknowledging the
difficult and dangerous task being performed by security forces
in the containment of riots, we regret that preservation of human
life has often been a secondary consideration in the process.
What we also find alarming is that security forces, at times,
have become ruthless and partisan in quelling rioters belonging
to minority communities, thus furthering the cause of those who
feed upon destructive communal passions.

We deplore the various extremist groups involved in inculcating
and spreading hatred amongst Hindus and Muslims. Such groups
desecrate our most cherished cultural traditions, conveniently
forgettting the history of religious tolerance and peaceful
co-existence of different communities in the Sub-Continent.
In pursuing their political ends, these extremists use
diversionary, divisive and selfish agendas instead of
providing viable alternatives in working constructively
towards alleviating the many hardships plaguing our societies.

It is still not too late for us to forgive our collective errors
of the past and usher in a new era of peace, cooperation and
prosperity in the region. We sincerely appeal to the various
fighting groups to restrain themselves from indulging in further
violence. We ask our respective governments to punish the
perpetrators of these heinous crimes, to take the necessary
steps to restore peace and order in the region to ensure that
the lives of all citizens, and especially the minorities, are
protected everywhere. Above all, we earnestly ask that the three
governments, in recognition of our common cultural heritage,
spare no effort in launching a massive re-education campaign
to fight ignorance and prejudice.

We implore our peoples to rise above religious and other
differences and march towards enlightenment and understanding
at the dawn of a new century so that we can bequeath its promise
to our successive generations.



Waheed A Abbasi            (Pakistan)          Gainesville, USA
Arun Achyuthan             (India)             Waterloo, Canada
Famin Ahmed                (Bangladesh/USA)    Washington DC, USA
Jawad Ali                  (Muslim)            Chico, USA
Khaled Aziz                (Bangladesh)        Rochester, USA
Sunil Arya                 (India)             College Park, USA
Satyen Baindur                                 Baltimore, USA
K. V. Baparao              (India)             USA
Srinivas Budaraju          (India)             Wisconsin, USA
Binay Bhattacharya         (India)             Burnbaby, Canada
Bhaskar Bhattacharya       (India)             Burnbaby, Canada
Dipen Bhattacharya         (Bangladesh)        Riverside, USA
B. Chandrasekaran                              Columbus, USA
Harminder Dhillon          (India)             Toronto, Canada
Gurpreet Grewal            (India)             Toronto, Canada
Navjot Grewal              (India)             Toronto, Canada
Kamal K. Gupta             (India)             Burnaby, Canada
Ranabir Gupta              (India)             Burnaby, Canada
Anisul Haq                 (Bangladesh)        Potsdam, USA
Md. Zakirul Haque          (Bangladesh)        Lincoln, Ne. USA
Jahangir Hashmi            (Pakistan)          Santa Clara, USA
Razak Hossain              (Bangladesh)        Rochester, USA
Syed Irfan Hyder           (Pakistan)          Austin, USA
Atri Indiresan             (India)             Ann Arbor, USA
D. N. Jayasimha            (India)             Columbus, USA
Zunaid Kazi                (Bangladesh)        Newark, USA
Abbas M. Kazmi             (Bangladesh)        Gainesville, USA
Md. Khalequzzaman          (Bangladesh)        Newark, USA
Tanvir Khan                (Bangladesh)        USA
Ramesh Krishnamurthy       (India)             Burnaby, Canada
Halimul Mannan             (Bangladesh)        Indiana, Pa. USA
Ali Ahmad Minai            (Pakistan)          Charlottesville, USA
Naeem Mohaieman            (Bangladesh)        Oberlin, USA
Kamrul Murshed             (Bangladesh)        Santa Clara, USA
Pavaman Murthy             (India)             Chicago, USA
C. M. Naim                 (India)             Chicago, USA
P. J. Narayanan            (India)             Pittsburgh, USA
Shyamala Parameswaran      (India)             Chicago, USA
Gauri Pavate               (India)             Urbana, USA
Parinaz Pooladi-Darvish                        Burnaby, Canada
Rama Ratnam                (India)             Urbana, USA
Md. Ishfaqur Raza          (Bangladesh)        Rolla, USA
Saad Shafqat               (Pakistan)          Durham, USA
Dheeraj Sanghi             (India)             College Park, USA
Sharfi Sarker              (Bangladesh)        Boston, USA
Wasif Sattar               (Bangladesh)        Somerset, USA
Mikail Shams               (Bangladesh)        USA
Naveed Sherwani            (Pakistan)          Kalamazoo, USA
Deepak Srivastava          (India)             University Park, USA
Jawahar Tembulkar          (India)             Boston, USA
Kuros Yalpani                                  Burnaby, Canada