From: editor@rbhatnagar.csm.uc.edu (digest editor)
Subject: The Hindu Digest -Perspectives on Recents Events in Ayodhya
Organization: Univ of Cincinnati
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 09:16:34 GMT

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Topics: Perspectives on Recent Events in Ayodhya -Ajay Shah
	

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From: Ajay Shah(ajay@mercury.aichem.arizona.edu)

		The structure constructed by a fifteenth
	century imperialist foreign invader Babar, at the site of Shree
	Ramjanmabhoomi Temple was deconstructed by some people in
	Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.  Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP)
	considers the manner in which deconstruction was carried out
	unfortunate.  The events in Ayodhya were not planned by VHP,
	and the proposed Kar Seva (devotional voluntary service) was to
	take place only in the land surrounding the actual site where
	the structure stood.

VHP, RSS and BJP Deny That the Actions Were Planned: Moral
Responsibility Accepted

	In separate press releases, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bharat
	General Secretary Shree Ashok Singhal, Leader of the Opposition
	in the Parliament Shree Lal Kishan Advani and R.S.S. General
	Secretary Prof. Rajendra Kumar  have all said that their
	organizations do not approve of the way in which the
	deconstruction of the structure at the temple site was carried
	out.  Taking moral responsibility for the events in Ayodya,
	Leader of the Opposition Shree Advani and the Chief Minister of
	Uttar Pradesh Shree Kalyan Singh have resigned from their
	respective positions.

	VHP had always maintained that the Law and Order situation of
	the country and harmony among all  people belonging to all the
	faiths, Hindu, Muslim and others is very vital for national
	interests.  Parishad therefore, followed the path of
	negotiations, providing comprehensive evidence to the courts,
	and Muslim leadership in Bharat.

Lack of Political Will: Justice Delayed, Is Justice Denied

	For about four decades Hindus sought judicial and political
	solution to the dispute.  Justice delayed, is justice denied.
	And in a matter that was so important to Hindus, justice, alas,
	was denied for too long.  For about forty years.  Several Prime
	Ministers, from Jawaharlal Nehru to Rajiv Gandhi, and V. P.
	Singh to P. V. Narsimha Rao, toyed with the Hindu sentiments.
	Every time, Hindus were promised swift political solution to
	the problem, their hopes were raised, only to be dashed later.
	It was this frustration with the judicial and political system
that led some to the present action.

	For too long Hindu sentiments were taken for granted.  Hindu
	masses were oppressed by the power hungry politicians for
	decades.  Former Prime Minister V. P. Singh once told a VHP
	delegation, Aare bhai Masjid hai he kaha?  Ram Lale Ka Mandir
	Kaho, Mandir!! (Dear friend, where is the mosque?  Call it a
	Lord Ram's Temple!).  He then promised that the temple will be
	constructed within a few months.  When Kar Seva was started
	several months after the deadline had passed, unarmed innocent
	Hindus in Ayodhya were met with police bullets.  Several
	hundred Hindus died in that massacre on October 31, 1990.  It
	therefore comes as no surprise that the masses have reacted the
	way they have, albeit unplanned by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad
	and its allies.

	The present development in Ayodhya can be attributed to
	inaction and indecisive stance taken by the current Central
	Government.  Prime Minister Mr. Narsimha Rao repeatedly assured
	Hindus that he will bring about a political solution to the
	dispute.  No less than two deadlines given by the Prime
	Minister had passed before VHP in Bharat decided to initiate
	Kar Seva in the non-disputed land surrounding the structure.

	A swift judgement by the judiciary would have been weocome.
	However, it must be noted that the role of courts is to
	interpret the constitution.  Courts cannot decide on political
	problems much less on the matters of belief.  Whether Lord
	Shree Ram was born at a particular site, is a solely a matter
	of faith just as the holiness of Mecca or Jerusalem.  The
	politicization of the Supreme Court in recent times and its
	nexus with opportunist politicians has only added to quite
	disturbing.  A glaring example of how Supreme Court decisions
	are manipulated is Shah Bano case, where the Government of
	Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi ignored the Supreme Court to
	preserve his minority vote bank.

The World Stood Silent When Scores of Temples Were Destroyed in the
Aftermath of 1986 Anantnag Riots and in October 1990

	While VHP does not support the manner in which deconstruction
	of the existing structure was carried out, it is worth noting
	that in supposedly secular India, no one raised even an eyebrow
	when over 40 Hindu temples were destroyed by Muslim fanatics in
	1986 following Anantanag riots in Kashmir.  It is indeed a sad
	commentary on the state of affairs in India and its neighbors
	that while the Hindu community has expressed concern about the
	way structure at Ramjanmabhoomi site was deconstructed, the
	Muslim community stood silently and at places jubilantly
	cheered while the Hindu temples were being demolished.

	Nor was a word said by the pseudo-secular elements in the media
	and elsewhere when tens of Hindu temples were destroyed in
	Pakistan and Bangladesh as recently as in November 1990,
	following the attempted Kar Seva in Ayodhya.  The
	deconstruction of structure erected by a barbarian - foreign
	invader who demolished numerous Hindu temple has led to
	annihilation and desecration of over thirty Hindu temples in
	Pakistan, several Hindu temples in Bangladesh, a country India
	helped in its independence struggle.

	Just as in October 1990, several innocent Hindus have been
	killed or harassed in Islamic countries like Pakistan,
	Bangladesh and Afghanistan.    Our recent news report suggests
	that Muslim fundamentalists have burnt or attempted to burn
	several temples in United Kingdom.  These events have gone
	largely under reported in Indian and Western media.

Secularism in Bharat Died in 1947

	The religious strife in Bharat has not been a creation of Hindu
	community.  It is merely continuation of the ongoing sufferings
	that Hindus have endured throughout their recent history.  It
	is documented by Arun Shouri, one of the most respected
	investigative journalists in India and others that no less than
	3000 temples in India were destroyed or converted to mosques by
	the Islamic invaders since seventh century.

	Some have said that on December 6, 1992 secularism died in
	Bharat.  For any rational student of history, or one who has
	felt being Bharatiya, secularism died on August 15, 1947.  On
	that, day, India was divided on religious grounds.  Hindus  did
	not ask for partition, but they suffered and endured one of the
	gravest massacres in the history of mankind when a million of
	Hindu men, women and children were  killed at the hands of
	proponents of Pakistan.  The ruined temples in Sindh and Punjab
	stand testimony to the destruction and death of Hindu culture
	and life on the banks of Sindhu river.

	Secularism died in Bharat when separate civil codes were put in
	place and the state of Jammu and Kashmir given special
	provisions in the constitution because a majority of people in
	that states were Muslims.  Secularism died when Muslim League
	members in Bombay Municipal Corporation said in 1973 that
	India's national song Vande Mataram was against Islam and
	Muslim students in Kerala refused to sing Jana Gana Mana,
	India's national anthem on the same grounds.

A Call to Hindus and Muslims

	At this hour when India is undergoing metamorphosis, VHP urges
	Hindus and Muslims in India to show restraint and work on
	mutually acceptable solutions to the longstanding disputes in a
	peaceful manner.  We appeal to the people of Islamic faith to
	reject the section of Muslim politicians who have unduly
	manipulated and exploited the Muslim masses into supporting a
	structure where no Muslim has prayed for over seventy years.  A
	structure that stands as an egregious sign of barbaric invasion
	of India.

	We hope that those who have opposed this popular movement will
	understand the importance, temple at the birthplace of Lord
	Shree Rama occupies among a vast majority of Indians of all
	faiths.  The communal harmony will gain great strength if
	people belonging to all the faiths will unanimously support the
	temple at Ramjanmabhoomi.  This temple will stand as a monument
	for national unity and communal harmony.
 
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Posted By: Ajay Shah
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