From: ahmed@ecs.umass.edu
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian
Subject: The Babri Masjid Issue: Time For Despair, Time For Hope
Date: 12 Dec 92 17:56:55 GMT

Hi: The following is a copy of the letter we have written to send to the
PM of India, a local newspaper and probably to a daily in India. We were
able to collect about 50+ signatures and expect some more. We also had
a discussion within the Indian Community that was well attended. Hopefully,
all of you will take similar actions at your school/community.

thanx ... khaleel

PS: I also have a LaTex version of this letter. If more than one person
sends me a request for the above version, I will post it on the net.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The Babri Masjid Issue: Time For Despair, Time For Hope


On December 6, 1992, at the town of Ayodhya in India, a 200,000 strong group
of Hindu kar sevaks broke through flimsy barriers and inadequate police lines
and demolished the 16th century mosque known as the Babri Masjid.  This action
(which was in gross violation of the Supreme Court orders) has sparked off a
spate of rioting across the country that has already claimed several hundred
lives.

The mosque at Ayodhya was constructed in 1528 by Mir Baqi, a nobleman in
Emperor Babur's court.  Some Hindu organizations such as the RSS, the BJP, and
the VHP claim that a temple was destroyed to make place for the mosque, and that
the Babri Masjid was built at the exact spot of the Ram Janma Bhoomi - the
birth place of Ram, a Hindu deity.  Claiming to represent popular Hindu
opinion, the BJP, RSS, and VHP have launched an agitation demanding the
relocation or the demolition of the Babri Masjid and the construction of a
temple marking the Ram Janma Bhoomi - an agitation that has seen the country
awash with blood, with the 1990 riots alone accounting for over 2000
deaths.

The historical and the archeological evidence offered by the BJP that a temple
did indeed exist at the site of the Babri Masjid is slim and questionable.  In
fact, a number of prominent Indian historians (among them several Hindus) have
asserted that the BJP claims are based largely upon the specious polemics of
vested British colonial interests.  But the rhetoric of history has been
intervowen into the politics of expediency and the result has been holding
entire communities to ransom.

The pervasive spirit of modern communalism has derived much ideological
sustenance from this movement that is aimed at avenging perceived historical
wrongs of invading Muslim armies by converting india's secular, democratic
system into a Hindu state.

The perversion of Hinduism and Islam - both of which preach patience, tolerance,
and generosity - has seen too much hatred and too much blood.  It must stop. At
stake are nothing less than religious freedom and human lives.  The constitution
of Hindu and Islamic consciousness and identity does not demand these
sacrifices.  We believe that the gulf between the two communities is not
unbridgeable, nor do we believe the Hindus and the Muslims to be hopelessly
polarized.

For peace to have a chance, we need the strong emergence of those non-communal
voices that have till now been drowned under the harsh sounds of political
rhetoric and communal war-mongering.  We urge all concerned communities
and individuals here to try and make themselves heard.  Far too much has
been lost already, we can't afford to lose more.

We condemn the attack on the Babri Masjid and the government's inability to
protect it.  We express our anguish over the demolition of the mosque in
question, over the destruction of other mosques, and over the retaliatory
tearing down of Hindu temples.   We mourn the deaths - both Hindu and Muslim -
in the ongoing violence.  We demand the reconstruction of a mosque at the
site of the Babri Masjid and an adherence to the legal and constitutional
processes in India.  We demand the protection of human lives in the countries
affected by this strife.  We urge    you to join us in praying for peace.

Xref: sparky soc.culture.indian:40480 soc.culture.pakistan:18016