From: raghu@nairobi.eecs.umich.edu (Raghu Mani)
Subject: Re: Win Win situation for Muslims Hindus & Secularists at Ayodhya
Organization: University of Michigan EECS Dept., Ann Arbor, MI
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 19:30:43 GMT

In article <1993Jan6.152014.8008@ryn.mro4.dec.com>, verma@pfeast.enet.dec.com (Virendra Verma) writes:
|> 
|> 	Selva, I thought I will never confront you. But since you have
|> 	mentioned my name, you deserve a prompt reply. It is not shame
|> 	but a grace of hinduism that we are talking against the barbaric
|> 	politics of India. Ayodhya is just a symbol of that voice. I
|> 	don't know how much you know of hinduism, I can defend the so
|> 	called barbaric act of Mosque domilition based on hindu argument.
|> 	Can you tell me how many dead bodies the kar sevaks have to go
|> 	through before they demolished the mosque? None. The violence
|> 	in the aftermath of that demolition is created by Congress and
|> 	other pseudo secularists so that they can get widespread support
|> 	for anti-demolition activities and particularly to diminish the
|> 	popularity of BJP in the hindi-belt. I have no problem with this,
|> 	it is all poltics. Let us apply a spiritual argument.
|> 
This is as extreme a point of view as I have heard. Regardless of what anyone
felt about the mosque, you have to admit that to a vast majority of Muslims,
it meant a great deal - not perhaps, as a place of worship, but certainly as
a symbol of Islam. Now if you tear something like this down, you have dealt
a great blow to these people and there is *bound* to be violence. If the BJP
and VHP are to take credit for the destruction of the mosque, they had better
accept at least part of the blame for what followed since it was a direct 
consequence of their action.

|> 	The killing of innocent people is anti-hindu. Using violent means
|> 	is also anti-hindu. That is not the only hindu idea. Hinduism also
|> 	talks about evil as God. When the system gets beyond repair, the
|> 	evil forces of God take control of the situation. This may sound
|> 	evil to you but from a non-ethical point of view, there is nothing
|> 	wrong with this evil. It is due to our lower understanding of
|> 	knowledge of things (which is predominantly by natural forces of
|> 	guna) that we categorise between good and evil. It is because of
|> 	this philosophy that Krishan had to ask Arjuna to kill Kauravas.
|> 	When a person raises himself beyond the forces of gunas, that
|> 	consciousness is what Krishna was talking about as Divine nature
|> 	which does not distinguish between moral and ethical aspects of
|> 	good and evil.
|> 
|> namaste,
|> 
|> -- Virendra Verma

What bothers me most about the destruction of the mosque is not the actual
destruction itself but the motives behind the parties/groups that engineered
it. What we have here is a group of parties that have for many years been
trying to win the support of the majority religious group by trying to incite 
anger and aggression against a minority religious group. Advani, Vajpaye and 
other "moderates" are merely the acceptable face of the BJP/VHP. Behind this
mask, the BJP/VHP are as extreme as you can get - I have heard tapes of speeches
by the likes of Ashok Singhal and Uma Bharati - they bear a very disturbing 
resemblance to the speeches by the Nazi leaders about the Jews. 

Since Mr. Verma has quoted Hindu philosophy to justify his position, let me do
the same to justify mine. One of the things that the Gita teaches us is that
the motives behind our actions are as important as our actions themselves. It
is Krishna's advice to Arjuna to fight because it is the correct thing to do -
because, in that situation, it is his duty - if we learn anything from this,
it is that personal advancement and revenge SHOULD NOT be motives in a conflict
of this nature. Can anyone honestly say that the BJP/VHP acted solely out of 
a desire for the general good? 

The BJP has engineered this entire episode with a view of gaining support among
Hindus - this is not to say that the other parties haven't been equally selfish - 
the Congress is among the worst offenders in this regard - and yes, I do agree
with many of the BJP's complaints about pandering to minorities but I am 
very much opposed to their idea of a solution. India is like a patient with some
kind of tumor - surgery is certainly needed but we do not want a surgeon who 
tries to cure the problem by lopping the patient's head off.

Raghu Mani
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian