20 years after Babri Masjid Demolition

 

Today I remember these beautiful lines said by Bulleh Shah a great Sufi Poet,

Tear down the mosque and temple too, breaks all that divides.

But do not break the human heart as it is there that God resides.

Today twenty years passed, but December 6, 1992 will be engraved in the memories of Indians. The day marks the demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, Utter Pradesh & the communal riots that followed the demolition claimed over 2,000 lives of Indians.

Every true Indian will agree with me that the barbaric act on 6th December 1992 was an insult and black dot on the history of our nation. It was a deadly blow on the secular fabric of our nation which has a base of inter religious co-operation and communal harmony.

Sometimes I ask myself, have we learnt any lessons from our previous mistakes?

Today after twenty years many Hindus and Muslims in India are infected by the virus of communalism, the fact is that before Independence there was no communal feeling at all in most Indians. The communal parties in India has exploited the emotions of people by using religion and caste related issues. Not only that they used God for political gain but using these they have evoked communal sentiments among Hindus & Muslims and tried to divide the society.

It is difficult if we fight among ourselves in the name of religion. Today we have a far greater responsibility to create a peaceful and secular environment so that people live as one, forgetting the narrow mindedness of cast, religion, region, language etc. It is our duty to make people aware of the benefits of secularism so that they don’t fall prey to communal hatred. Secularism is the only way forward to build a progressive united India.

I still remember my father always tells me that, no one went mosque or temple to thank God after partition. Let’s forget & forgive for what has happened in the past. Let us think about the present & future. Everyone needs peace in this world. Let us shed all our differences and get united.

We must defeat all those elements that promote and thrive on religious hatred. Now is the time to get rid of communal politics and restructure the moral fiber of our society before it is too late.

I love you when you bow in your mosque, kneel in your temple, pray in your church. For you and I are sons of one religion, and it is the spirit. (Khalil Gibran)