From: gauri@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (Gauri Pavate)
Subject: Residents still united in Ayodhya
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1993 16:40:38 GMT

		      (report from The Telegraph)

			RESIDENTS STILL UNITED
			 By Monimoy Dasgupta 
___________________________________________________________________

Ayodhya, Dec.9: The acrimony created between Hindus and Muslims
in the twin cities of Ayodhya and Faizabad by the destruction
of the four centuries old Babri Masjid by mobs of kar sevaks will
not take long to heal, for the two communities have been living
in perfect harmony for years.

	Peace and order was disrupted only when violent bands of
kar sevaks, bent on razing the disputed mosque to the ground,
came "in from outside".  Local lumpens and petty criminals
joined in the frenzied mobs and indulged in rioting and arson.

	The Sunder Bhavan Temple, a symbol of Hindu-Muslim 
amity, is barely a stone's throw away from the legendary
Hanumangadi Temple, in the RamJanmabhoomi police station
area.  Munna Mian, an octogenerian Muslim, is the caretaker
of the temple, which houses dieties of Ram and Sita.

	"I have been managing this temple since 1950 and I
have appointed four pujaris for aarti and pujan since then,"
said Munna Mian.

	The founder of the temple, Yogiraj Mahant Ram Sundar
Dasji, who has never discriminated between Hindus and Muslims,
said he wanted an honest and sincere man to look after the temple,
so he appointed Munna Mian, a former forest ranger, vyavasthapak
of the temple.  He is paid a token salary of Rs. 7 thousand per
year.

	The Sunder Bhavan temple's dharmashala shelters Hindus
and Muslims alike.  Even as Hindus offer prayers to idols of
Ram and Sita, Muslims offer namaaz from a west-facing balcony
inside the same complex.  "As long as the place is clean, you
can offer namaaz anywhere," said Rahmatulla, a resident of
the dharmashala.

	Close to the Sunder Bhavan Temple is Jaisinghpura,
a locality where fanatic kar sevaks unleashed a brutal
carnage.  Muslims have fled the area in hordes.  Roshanlal,
a resident of the area, said he was worried about the fate
of his neighbour Khusro, who was forced to flee with his
family.  "Their house has been burnt, but when they come back,
we will take them in," he said.

	In Tedi Bazar, nearby, Qasim and his family have 
moved in with Ramashankar, who said, "Anyone who tries
to kill Qasim will have to kill me first."

	When the VHP organized the one month long paduka
pujan, in September last year in Nandigram, 14 km from
Ayodhya, the 12,000 pairs of padukas were supplied by Muslims
from the Tedi Bazaar area.

	A large number of Hindus are on the verge of starvation
because their Muslim employers have either fled or their
business establishments have been ransacked.

	Residents of the area are seeking local anti-socials
who helped kar sevaks identify Muslim-owned shops and 
business establishments.  "If we can get hold of Ramasray
Yadav and Kaniya, we will not spare them," said a resident
of the locality.  While Ramasray Yadav controls the illicit
liquor trade in the region, Kaniya is the jailed Bajrang Dal
chief, Mr. Vinay Katiyar's henchman.

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