From: bond@jupiter.sun.csd.unb.ca (Girish)
Subject: Letter to NY Times
Organization: University of New Brunswick
Date: Sun, 20 Dec 1992 23:39:02 GMT

This is for a friend who doesn't have access to SCI. Following is the
letter he wrote to the New York Times when it was going berserk over
the December 6 events in Ayodhya.
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Your coverage of the recent events in India is lackadaisical at best. Your 
reporters have a half baked knowledge about the Hindu-Muslim problem in India 
and are providing a highly distorted view about the incident at Ayodhya. The 
structure demolished by the Hindus at Ayodhya is not a 'sacred' mosque. It 
was a mosque constructed by a brutal Muslim invader 'Babur' over four hundred 
years ago on the ruins of a great temple dedicated to the supreme Hindu god 
Shree Ram. This temple which was thousands of years old was raised to the 
ground after a brutal massacre of thousands of innocent Hindus. In recent 
times the local court had barred Muslim entry into the structure and Hindus 
have regularly prayed at this Temple for more than 40 years. The Vishwa Hindu 
Parishad (VHP) or the World Hindu Council which you have mistakenly labelled 
a fundamentalist organization is fully dedicated to rebuilding this temple 
at the very same place. There is nothing wrong with that except that the 
Muslim community led by the Babri Mosque Action Committee (BMAC) has turned 
it into a media circus by claiming that a mosque still exists at that site. 
The contentious issue was sub-judice at the time of the incident. Ofcourse, 
Court orders were violated but that is only part of the story. The political 
skulduggery of the ruling Congress party is to blame for this incident and 
not the devout Hindus who were demanding their religious rights. It is no 
secret that the Ruling party depends on the solid Muslim vote bank to stay in 
power and has time and again appeased them at the cost of India's national 
security. While the Muslim community wants this issue to be referred to the 
Supreme Court they refuse to abide by the same standard when it comes to 
their own religious affairs. This glaring double standard is the basis for 
the refusal of the World Hindu council to seek judicial recourse. Basically, 
it is making a strong statement against the hypocracy exhibited by the Muslim 
community and their benefactor the ruling Congress party. The Supreme Hindu 
god Shree Ram was born in Ayodhya and the Hindus want to reconstruct the 
temple dedicated to him at his birth place. The Muslims want proof of this. 
This is again a glaring double standard. While their religion is based on 
faith or 'iman' and they are proud of that fact, they want to deny that same 
opportunity to the Hindus. It is like asking the Catholics to prove that 
Mother Mary was a Virgin. Hindus of all opinions are aware of this double 
standard but the Vishwa Hindu Parishad is vehemently opposed to the utterly 
untenable position of the Muslim community and the BMAC. Added to this the 
activities of the Muslim community in Kashmir, Pakistan, and Bangladesh have 
infuriated the Hindus. Hindu temples have been regularly vandalized and 
demolished in these Muslim countries. The recent demolition of scores of 
Hindu temples in Pakistan is a clear example of their extreme bigotry. In 
India thousands of mosques exist but the Hindus are not attacking even one 
mosque that has been legitimately constructed.

I believe that your reporting and editorial staff lacks the intricate 
knowledge required to comment on this important issue. Moreover, you have 
taken a consistent anti-India line in your editorials. Be reminded of the 
fact that it is the Hindus that have established a pluralistic, democratic, 
secular, and a federal India. While the Pakistanis (former Muslims of India) 
have established a theocratic, monolithic, Islamic state of Pakistan. As 
to who the real fanatics are should be measured by this fact. As to whether 
India will survive as a secular country and a democracy there should be no 
doubt. The Hindus are a tolerant people and there is no country in the world 
including America that has better laws protecting the rights of religious 
minorities. Ofcourse, there are problems and ommissions on occasion but the 
same cannot be said about the fanatical Muslim regimes of Pakistan, 
Bangladesh, Iran, and Saudi Arabia where minority rights do not exist. So, 
please do not comment on things you don't know much about. Thanks.

Vijay Raghava.

Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian