The image of centuries old Hindu religious tolerance was shattered on Dec,16,1992, with the desecration and destruction of Babri Masjid at Ayodhya. The complicity of U.P, Government of Kalyan Singh was utterly despicable and the laid back approach and vacillation of Prime Minister Rao, added further fuel to the communal fires, The timely intelligence information provided to the central government regarding the nefarious designs of R.S.S., V.HP., BJ.P. and other Hindu fundamentalist organizations to demolish the Baba Mosque, which had become the symbol of secular India, was either ignored or intentionally overlooked by Rao for fear of confronting the daunting challenge of Hindu fundamentalists. Congress leadership dreads the prospect of any action which could be misconstrued by the BJ.P. as anti-Hindu, thus resulting in the loss of popular Hindu vote.
The ugly face of police communalism was stripped naked when instead of upholding the law of the land to protect the ancient structure, they turned their backs and some of them later participated in offering prayers at the makeshift temple erected over the mins of the Mosque, As if this was not enough, the police showed extreme brutality in dealing with anguished Muslim protestors, killing more than 90% of them with police bullets according to Indian News reports, The Indian judiciary represented by U.P, High Court also did not lag behind in the deliverance of biased communal justice, denying the Muslims but allowing the Hindus to worship at the disputed site, giving a shroud of legitimacy to the illegal demolition against the clear-cut directive of the Supreme Court of India. The critical voices of Hindu Intelligentsia like that of Vaidya of India West were stifled by accusing them of being anti-Hindu and anti-Hindu Rashtra by the followers of extremists Right Wing Hindu organizations. This tragic chain of events virtually amounts to the betrayal of the minorities, constitutional guarantees and assurances given to them and fully vindicates the stand taken by Jinnah at the lime of India’s partition in 1947.
If there’s only one God and Hindu Muslim Sikhs Christians and all others are His children, then Rama in Heaven, if there is one, cannot help but cry over the communal bloodletting and assertion of religious nights of one community over another.
My friends, we have come a long way and could not afford to go back to the dark days of the rule of Babar, Perpetuation of this religious madness in the name of rewriting the history of India will inevitably lead to disastrous consequences and the country is bound to meet the tragic fate of Eastern Europe. Equal justice, fairness and true secular democracy which are fast becoming the endangered species in India are the only antidotes to this catastrophe. Rhetoric and empty slogans of secularism and democracy would no longer serve as smokescreen to the eyes of the world.
Mohinder S.Poonia, M.D. Fresno, CA.
Article extracted from this publication >> February 19, 1993
