From: budaraju@cae.wisc.edu (Srinivas Budaraju)
Subject: Press Release from India Alert on the Babri Masjid Incident
Organization: U of Wisconsin-Madison College of Engineering
Date: 14 Dec 92 20:47:37 CST

   The following will be read out by India Alert before the SILENT MARCH 
on Dec 19th, given as press release and also handed out to people on 
Devon Ave. The march will start at 12:45 PM at Warren Park, 6601 N.Western Ave.
(2 blocks North of Devon Ave), Chicago.
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INDIA UNDER THREAT
BABRI MASJID TODAY, INDIA TOMORROW?

We march today to:

	- protest the demolition of the Babri Masjid by the kar sevaks of
	  the Vishwa Hindu Parishad;

	- protest the threat to minorities in India today;

	- condemn the violence, the bloodshed, the cycle of revenge and
	  its repercussions in the subcontinent and elsewhere;

	- protest the failure of the Indian Government to uphold the rule
	  of law and the Constitution;

	- protest the divisive activities of fundamentalist groups of all
	  religions.

December 6, 1992 was independent India's darkest day. The
assault on Babri Masjid and the resulting violence has plunged
India into a deep crisis. We have become divided as never before.

If this is not the time to act, then when is?

How long are we going to remain silent and watch thousands of
people become victims to politics of hate?

Who has given the fundamentalists the right to decide whose
India it is? Who has given these groups the right to destroy
India's secular foundation, to break the highest law of the
land, as stated by the Supreme Court of India?

Are we ready to allow the destruction of our rich cultural,
ethnic and religious heritage and diversity?

As nonresident Indians can we absolve ourselves of blame? Who
knows better than us what it is to be a minority, and worse, a
discriminated minority?

It is Time... It is Time to Protest!  It is Time to Speak Up!!

It is Time we, the NRIs, stop portraying Indian culture in
narrow religious terms. Indian culture is too vast and too rich
to be limited by and fossilized within exclusionary religious
and regional groups.

It is Time we as a community condemn fundamentalists of all
religions and stop funding their organizations. It is time we
stop misusing our safety and security in North America while
supporting agents of violence in India. Instead, we must use our
resources to improve the condition of thousands of starving
people in India. We must invest in a safe, progressive future
for its citizens by helping to strengthen India's socioeconomic
and educational infrastructure.

It is Time to remember that fundamentalism will not only destroy
the minority religions, it will destroy Hinduism itself. Let us
not destroy what has withstood the test of centuries, and has
symbolized peace and understanding for the rest of the world.

There is only one acceptable solution in sight: to live together
in peace, respecting each others' differences.

OUR FUTURE IS AT STAKE  -  WE CANNOT TAKE IT FOR GRANTED ANYMORE.

(Issued by India Alert, a Human Rights group, comprising
students and professionals based in Chicago and Madison.)
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-Srinivas				budaraju@cae.wisc.edu

Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian,soc.culture.pakistan