From: selvakum@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca (C.R.Selvakumar - Electrical Engineering)
Subject: Re: Letter to NY Times ( ayodhya issue)
Keywords: ayodhya, hindu zeolotry 
Organization: University of Waterloo
Date: Sun, 10 Jan 1993 23:53:21 GMT

In article <1992Dec20.233902.2021@jupiter.sun.csd.unb.ca> bond@jupiter.sun.csd.unb.ca (Girish) writes:
>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.
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>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 
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       Whether it is sacred or not is to be decided by the followers of
       that faith, is it not ? It is indeed a
       simple fact that the destruction of the mosque is a barbarious
       act.  These arguments that the mosque was 'not sacred' etc. are 
       really specious and quite disgusting. If one comes along and
       says such and such violations are going on in a 'hindu' temple
       and hence it is not a sacred temple - would you agree for its
       demolition ? Be honest ! [ please don't come around and
       say 'if the temple were built on the ruins of mosque';
       I've heard that there are hindu temples which are built on the 
       ruins of temples of other faiths or were converted from
       one faith to another..] 
       
>was a mosque constructed by a brutal Muslim invader 'Babur' over four hundred 
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        Revisionism ! One can continue backwards in time by equal time
        spans and we will be fighting the 'ancient' cave-peoples wars !
        in modern times ! Why can't we consider Babur as an Indian King !
        Yes, he could have been a tyrant ( so too were many 'hindu',
        buddhist jainist kings). I will not be surprised if one day
        these patriotic hindu sadhus arrive in a ratha yaatra at
        Taj Mahal and do some 'kar-sevaking' ! 
        Is it not a shame that this kind of revisionism is 
        advanced ? 
      
>years ago on the ruins of a great temple dedicated to the supreme Hindu god 
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>Shree Ram. This temple which was thousands of years old was raised to the 
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     Supreme Hindu god ? Shree Ram ?
     So you claim you understand ?!
     Have you heard of Siva ? 

>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 
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>a fundamentalist organization is fully dedicated to rebuilding this temple 
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      Okay, the NY Times didn't know; what about the hundreds of 'hindus'
       who repeatedly described the VHP as a fundementalist organization
      in this net ? I can understand that as the time passes the intensity
      and clarity of the recognition that some fundementalists caused the
      deaths totalling more than 1000 by this despicable act will fade
      away both due to 'public memory phenomenon' and by systematic
      'softening propaganda' of the well organized fundementalists-supported
      organizations,  but truth remains clear for those who care
      to look.  
        
      
>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. 
            [ some deleted] 
>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 
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>Mother Mary was a Virgin. Hindus of all opinions are aware of this double 
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>standard but the Vishwa Hindu Parishad is vehemently opposed to the utterly 
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>untenable position of the Muslim community and the BMAC. Added to this the 
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          Does it mean that one can say spin any stories ??!!


>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.

          Because Pakistan or other islamic states practice bigotry
          as you say we too should, is it ?!!
          Now, because hindus are discriminated by several americans
          should we do the same to Indian Christians ? Please
          understand that the muslims in India are no different from you
          and me ( they are no less native than you and me). 
          The religious zeolots often quote happenings outside
          our country and use demagougery to polarize opinions on
          religious grounds. If other countries mistreat hindus,
          as a nation with a large hindu population our country can
          explore proper methods to influence the leaders of the offending
          country. In any case those hindus living in other countries
          are citizens of those countries and the affected hindus 
          should seek remedy in their native countries. If a hindu
          temple in USA is vandalized, then the hindu citizens living
          in USA will have to use laws of USA to fight for justice. 
          It will be absurd to pull down churches in India! 
          

       
>
>I believe that your reporting and editorial staff lacks the intricate 
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>knowledge required to comment on this important issue. Moreover, you have 
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         Your conclusion that Shree Ram is the supreme Hindu god 
         is equally lacking in knowledge !

>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.
>

      - Selva

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