OTTAWA, “Why should a historic place of worship belonging to 1 religious minority be occupied by force, taken away by means of a patently illegal order and seized because of a brute majority?”

This question has been posed by Mr, Mohammad A, Munim, convenor, committee for the protection of Muslims in India. In a pamphlet distributed at the recent annual convention of the Islamic Society of North American Plainfield, Indiana, U.S.

The pamphlet was titled Violations of Basic Human Rights of the Muslims of India, Babari Mosque one of the thousands of violations of human rights of Muslims in India.”

The pamphlet containing an article by Mohammad! Munim, also includes a memorandum of Muslim members of the Parliament of India to Prime Minister Rajiv Ganhi on March 3, 1986, It gives the names of 41 signatories,

It includes an editorial of Muslim India, entitled “shall India survive?” It reproduces a memorandum of Muslim Majlis e Mushawarat to Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on Feb. 14, 1986 and includes the memorandum of Uttar Pradesh Muslim members of the Legislative Assembly to the Chief Minister on Feb 6 last.

Mr. Munim’s article gives the history of the Babari Masjid and then says: “The seizure of the Babri Masjid is a patent violation of the Rule of Law and of human rights, of the Indian constitution calculated to humiliate the Muslims and to settle the account of history.

“This is an act of surrender to Hindu chauvinism, an act of betrayal against secularism and an vent which has shocked the Muslim community into realization that the Indian State has been transformed into a defector Hindu state.”

The article said, “This is an act Of high handedness whose consequences shall reverberate for many years because the Muslims Cannot permit it to go unchallenged, Indeed, the whole world must sit up and take note of the Tape of the rights of a minority in a secular state, Human conscience Must stir itself out of apathy and listen to the agony and their cry for justice,

“India is in the forefront of the international campaign against  Israel for desecrating the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and itself perpetrates an atrocity no less heinous, which is nothing short of legalized housebreaking and the Muslims of India are not a conquered people, they are equal citizens of the world’s largest democracy, and of a secular state, and the world is no longer living in the middle ages. We are in the 20th declaration of human rights,

“Why should a historic place of Worship belonging to a religious minority be occupied by force, taken away by means of patently illegal order and seized because of a brute majority,

“Shall you tolerate this double faced hypocrisy?

“Shall you refrain from questioning the authenticity of India’s protestations of secularism?

“Shall you tell the Government of India to stop this act of desecration?

“Shall you advise it to restore the Masjid to the Muslims?

“Shall you remain a silent spectator or shall you do something about it? APP

Article extracted from this publication >> December 26, 1986