Open Letter to Prime Minister Vajpayee

whoa! Self criticism takes guts and boy have you got those.

A very to-the-point concise well written article.

It`s nice to see Indians who are not blindly patriotic and who want to start with the man in the mirror.

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Well said Anand Patwardhan.

This is a bit hard to digest though:

``that demolishing it (Babri Masjid), hurt the sentiments of a religious minority as well as the sentiments of a secular (though unfortunately largely silent) majority``

Vajpayee and other fascists would not be in power if the oh so innocent, secular, tolerant but silent majority would be as secular and tolerant as Indians would like the world to believe.

``But is it not indisputable that demolishing it, hurt the sentiments of a religious minority as well as the sentiments of a secular (though unfortunately largely silent) majority that had

been nurtured on the belief that this country is proud of the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi and that it believes in tolerance and humanity?``

This is a serious question... do Indians realize the difference between Multiculturalism and Secularism? You talk of a silent secular large Majority.... personally every Indian International student I have met, and believe me there are lots... support BJP wholeheartedly... I am not suggesting that it mars their secular credentials.... but the fact that large Majority of India has chosen the path tread by BJP, I think it is not out of place to say that Gandhian Utopian idealism stands discredited in the Modern World like Karl Marx`s thesis which had once enamoured us all! Intentionally or unintentionally the humanism that is spoken of so often on this site exceptionally humanist site, is nothing but fake humanism. Denying or ignoring differences is not humanism! Biases and passions have to be recognized in order to be dealt with.

Yasser Hamdani

Interesting article.

Just when I thought we were finally about to see some unconditional self-criticism from an Indian contributor, I read the end of the last paragraph.

``That my nation is no worse than an America that bombed Hiroshima? Than a Pakistan that invokes Jehad?``

To the best of my knowledge Pakistan, ``invokes Jehad`` only in Kashmir; a place in which is completely dominated by over 500,000 thousand soldiers, killing far more freedom fighters than vice-versa. How can someone equate a struggle to support self-determination to destroying a mosque?

Perhaps the greatest asset that Pakistan currently has is the unconditional introspection and self-criticism (sometimes to cynical levels) that is currently going on. Pakistanis are finally blaming themselves for their problems, and not attempting to find scapegoats across the border for Pakistan`s domestic injustices.

Your article would have carried a lot of weight had you stuck to your initial argument, i.e. destroying a mosque is equally, if not more, a sign of intolerance than destroying these statues. By incorrectly bringing Pakistan into it unnecessarily, you have weakened your criticism.

``Your party had two seats in Parliament before it started the campaign to demolish the Masjid. The campaign brought you to power``

Is this correct? Did the BJP go from two seats to being the largest party in the govt. due to the campaign for the destruction of Babri Mosque?

err......hello, you missed the point here,

the descruction of the statues means there probably will be mosque built on that same site and vajpayee represents those buddhists who might maybe one day, if and when they muster up enough courage, numbers & weapons end up destroying that mosque.......

it`s sad and yet hilarious how these same people who created the uproar over the babri masjid are now doing the exact same thing and oh i better change that and say, are repeating the same exact thing....

ylh: I`ll second that. Its really unfair on the writer`s part to criticize Pakistan for Jehad (which is incidentally invoked in Kashmir and rightfully so!) when India`s own extremist ruling party defended the demolition of the Babri Mosque...perhaps India should take a crash course in (recent Indian)history before pointing fingers at others (namely their neighbors), which in the end comes out as nothing but hypocrisy!

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Is the author a filmmaker?

A well expressed article.

I, however, disagree with the author`s contention and inclinations in this matter. The international hue and cry over the destruction of the Bamiyan statutes reeks of a self-serving political correctness. Leaving aside the aruments of world`s heritage, I have to wonder where is the international sense of indignation and shame, when the Agfhans are dying from the drought?

Is saving a few sand-stone stautes worth the death of a solitary Afghan?

What makes the so called moral guardians of world think that after pushing the Taliban to the proverbial wall, the militia gives an eqivalent of a diplomatic bowel movement as to what the international hypocrites think of the Taliban`s action?

I say to the Taliban ``blow up the statues!`` The world will cry a few crocodile tears of cultural concern and will soon be wondering just how illict was Bill Clinton`s sexual relationship with Denise Rich!

No one will miss the statutes of Buddhas...I for one will not lose any sleep over their acrheological demise!

Ciao!

Now what the heck is Chowk`s policy anyway. Did they even verify who the hell writer is? Now who is this Pakistani who concieved this clever idea to pose as Indian and write such an article. I know this one Anand Patwardhan is none other than Malik Mustansar Billah from Taxila. There are all tell tale signs that author is a Paki. The first sign is that Indians never do anything wrong ever. They are incapable of any wrongdoing. The other sign is that the author is criticizing himself and his countrymen and most of all his own beloved BJP. The third sign is that he did not bash Islam to feel better about his religion. He did not mention camels, camel urine, and Muslims pointing their asses towards the sky- so he cannot be a Hindu/ Indian.

Although this was a clever idea yet it shows that author is still an amateur. May be he should learn from the Hindutva dog named Solitude who claims to be a former proud paki and Muslim. A litmus test to check who Solitude really is to lift his tail in one hand and say the ``P`` word-he forgets his eczema and barking.

Why stop with just the Buddha at Bamiyan, the Babri Masjid at Ayodhya, let us go back to say Ghazni and many of those who came to drink from the Ganga, check out for good order`s sake the Spaniards and the Maya Civilisations, then we can knock down the Pyramids, romping into Saudia Arabia take pot shots at Aramco as well as drive past the Holiest for many at chowk to take a chance, nibble at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem and sure, grab as many temples as you want in India. Take the whole lot, maybe it still won`t cover the Vatican, Angkor we already clipped. Lourdes nobody talks about anymore.

And what about that huge phallic symbol representing the holy trinity, the Golden Gate Bridge? How about bopping that off into the Bay too?

No, we can`t off the Golden Gate Bridge, that feeds many of us.

Or the Golden Temple. They just rebuilt it.

Oh well . . .

Anand,

I agree with the sentiments expressed in this letter. It seems the irony of those protesting against the destruction of the Buddha`s while being involved, in the destruction of Babri Mosque is not apparent to them. I feel I can condemn the talebans actions because I condemned what happened in Ayodhya. Both are ideologically inspired iconoclasm. There is little difference. But the weasel words of Advani etc are unbelievable.

At the end of the day, the talebanis will be cursed because they destroyed some of the finest examples of their own culture, symbols of a high civilisation, a unique confluence of Buddhist, Afghan, Indian , Persian and Greek styles. And it was built by their forefathers, their own people, not outsiders. So in 50 /100 years when future generations of Afghanistanis want to know of their heritage, it is for them we should weep. But ultimately it is their tragedy not ours. As someone said, no blood was shed.... in contrast to reports that non pushto speaking Shias in the north have recently been subjected to massacres and atrocities (where was the reporting and outrage towards this, the real obscenity?)

So Indians, ignore the attempts by Pakistanis on this thread to take this letter as a symbol that all Hindus are the spawn of the devil and a plague of locusts..... we know the reality and it is time for introspection. What happened at Babri and the pursuit of that is the gravest threat to the integrity of the Indian nation today. We treat Pakistan as our whipping boy, and I agree it is fun to laugh at and criticise them. But it is too easy. Notwithstanding the danger their policy to us presents and the tragedy of lost lives etc , notwithstanding justice being seen to take place in Kashmir, they can do nothing but scratch India.

We however, can commit hari-kiri. This was a timely and relevant article.

I am sure that all genuinely concerned Pakistanis will join us in hoping that the requisite introspection takes place amongst the Indian people, that India can succeed in living up to the spirit of its constitution and its ragged secular ideal.

Other Pakistanis who hope that India descends into darkness and smile at the deaths of Hindus/Muslims/Sikhs then claim their concern for them, phuk you.

All other Pakistanis though genuinely concerned please contribute freely to our understanding of ourselves, as people who are intimately acquainted with us through our shared history and heritage, you have every right to speak on such matters.

We should treat the destructiion of the Buddhas in Afghanistan in a constructive way, to turn in and hold to account those who are guilty of the same actions on Indian soil.

oh yes , and my best wishes to all those celebrating Eid-al-Azhar :-)

regards

Harpreet

Mr. Padwardhan:

Thanks for finally coming through. But Did have to attack Pakistan and the Kashmiri Jehad? Is there some kind of Law in India that say you can`t be honest, unless you also attack Pakistan in the same breath?

You have exposed the duplicity and the hypocracy on the Babri Masjid stance. I encourage you to do the same with kashmir. And if you do, it will be acceptable to attack Pakistan, so long as you can open the eyes and hearts of Indians and help free the Kashmiri, end the atrocities. You`ll be able to get a real subcontinental debate going on the direction all peoples of the subcontinent can support.

It is indeed ironical that a nation where the Babri Masjid demolition occured is criticising the Taliban.

But the author has got some facts wrong.

1. Hard to believe, but neither the BJP nor Vajpayee ever said they would demolish the mosque nor have they said it was a good thing. The official position has been that it was a regrettable occurance and the perpetrators should be punished. You could doubt their sincerity though.

However, this does not mean that the BJP has given up on its aim of construction of a temple. Contruction of the temple and destruction of the mosque are two different things. The BJP and ABV supported the former and not the latter. Before Dec 92, they repeatedly said they do not favour the demolition of the mosque but its respectful `relocation`, which has historical precedent (I forget which).

Destruction of a mosque has not been official policy of any Indian govt, whereas destruction of statues has official sanction of the Taliban.

2. I personally hold that Dec 6 1992 was THE most shameful day in Indian history post independence. The demolition of the mosque cannot be defended by any argument. However, this should not water down the argument for the construction of a temple, or reconstruction as some would have it, of what in itself was destroyed for the Babri Masjid to be built.

India has the sad history, particularly in North India where temples have been destroyed and looted centuries ago. The more unfortunate part is that the invaders, not merely satisfied with loot and plunder, built mosques in the place of the temples, laying the seeds for today`s troubles. The oppressed Hindus, without political power during Muslim rule and later during British rule, became free after centuries, only in 1947 (along with other Indians). So it should not be a surprise that their opinions/demands are being heard for the first time, only now after centuries of near-silence.

Anyone who visits South India, especially Tamil Nadu, will be struck by the existence of temples that are literally thousands of years old. No such temples exist in the North (correct me if I`m wrong). Why? Because the North bore the brunt of the invasions, the temples there were the first to be looted and destroyed. Even the holiest of Hindu cities - Ayodhya, Mathura etc have their key temples destroyed and replaced by mosques. The holiest cities (Ayodhya, Prayag) have had their religiously significant names replaced with muslim ones. Any effort to restore the original name and some dignity to Hindus after centuries of bondage is labelled as communalism by the pseudo-secular brigade. Which other major religion has faced such onslaughts and has faced them with such restraint?

I am not for going back into the past and trying to right every wrong. There is no such thing. But what can and what should be done is to respect the sentiments of the people, so long as it does not violate basic human rights. Cussedness in not doing so will only lead to rise of communal and reactive elements like the Bajrang Dal, Shiv Sena and the like.

Mr Patwardhan,

Very well said. Instead of preaching to others, I think we Indians (me included) better start looking inwards & start criticising ourselves. What we have done in Ayodhya is a matter of national shame. Desecration of holy sites is despicable & shameful.

In the same vein, I`m ashamed at what the Indian govt did to the Golden Temple in Amritsar. We still owe the Sikhs a HUGE apology.

Last, but not the least, we owe the Kashmiris a humble apology. We cant erase the past, but the least we can do is to let those poor people excercise their right to independance.

In the final analysis, blaming Pakistan & Khalistan etc etc are BS rationalisations to cover up our own sins. Unless & until we confront our own demons we will NEVER be a free, secular democracy--just pure hypocrites.