At the time of this writing one of the worst Hindu-Muslim riots in the Indian history has taken toll of at least 600 lives with the numbers underestimated considering the flare of riots have now engulfed major cities of India.
Even if one considers Prime Minister Narasimha Raos government not totally implicated yet it cannot absolve itself of its failure to protect life property and place of worship of one of the most persecuted minority of India the Muslims.
The events of October 1990 which were consequential for the downfall of V.P.Singhs government were too powerful to be forgotten by the present government. At that time “only” 100000 Hindus followed L.K.Advanis Ram Rath Yatra to Ayodhya. Yet on Oct.301990 the storming of Babri Masjid occurred with such flagrant hatred and violent intensity that one Indian journalist Yogi Agarwal declared “From this day (Oct.301990) on India can no longer claim to be a secular state.”
One is appalled at the relative insensitivity of the Indian government to gouge the seriousness of situation. During the three month truce between Indian government and the extremist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its nonpolitical fanatic ally Vishwa Hindu Parashad (V HP) nothing else was achieved except three rounds of talks and a couple of court orders.
When the truce fell apart on Oct.31, 1992 no extra effort was shown to appease the Hindu revivalists despite the threats by the latter to embark upon the temple construction on Dec.8 and the onset of March of one million extremist Hindus towards Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh. The unfortunate trail of events which followed are extremely shameful for the Indian government which perpetually trumpets the slogan of being the “biggest secular democracy” that was!
Farhana Mohamed Ph.D. South Pasadena CA
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