U & I
29th September 2010 21:00 hours. 18 hours to go for a verdict from the Lucknow bench of Allahabad high court. This is not just another verdict. This is a verdict that will end a more than 60 year old controversy. The controversy is known as AYODHYA controversy.
As per history, Hindu god Ram was born here and there used to be a temple at this place. It is said that, when the mughal’s invaded India, this temple was destroyed and a mosque was build on top of it. This mosque was called as ‘Masjid E Janmsthan’ for a long time. Hindu’s have being claiming this land for long. On December 6, 1992, this masjid, by then known as the Babri Masjid, was brought down by 1,50000 Kar Sevaks.
The controversy still exists, where in hindu religious/political leaders and parties still claim that there was a temple at the disputed site and a temple should be constructed at this controversial site. Muslim religious/political leaders and political parties do not agree to these statements and claim that there is no proof of a temple existing at the disputed site. One set of political leaders claim that a temple should be made. The other set is adamant on getting the mosque reconstructed.
These political and religious leaders are people with high influence and a lot of followers. They have used their influence in the past and convinced people, that getting a temple/mosque constructed at this site is of prime importance for hindu’s/muslim’s respectively.
As per history, Hindu god Ram was born here and there used to be a temple at this place. It is said that, when the mughal’s invaded India, this temple was destroyed and a mosque was build on top of it. This mosque was called as ‘Masjid E Janmsthan’ for a long time. Hindu’s have being claiming this land for long. On December 6, 1992, this masjid, by then known as the Babri Masjid, was brought down by 1,50000 Kar Sevaks.
The controversy still exists, where in hindu religious/political leaders and parties still claim that there was a temple at the disputed site and a temple should be constructed at this controversial site. Muslim religious/political leaders and political parties do not agree to these statements and claim that there is no proof of a temple existing at the disputed site. One set of political leaders claim that a temple should be made. The other set is adamant on getting the mosque reconstructed.
These political and religious leaders are people with high influence and a lot of followers. They have used their influence in the past and convinced people, that getting a temple/mosque constructed at this site is of prime importance for hindu’s/muslim’s respectively.
All of us have to understand that tit for tat is will never give you a solution. It can be compared with a very simple situation where a person shouts at you and you shout back. We have to understand that shouting back is never going to help. Instead of helping solve the problem on hand, it will further complicate things.
Demolition of a temple to construct a mosque (if it ever happened) was wrong . Destroying the mosque to construct a temple is again wrong. Tit for Tat didn’t solve the problem. It just made matters worse. All of us know what happened next.
This was followed by communal violence of the highest magnitude that India has ever seen.
I do not know if there ever was a temple at the disputed site. But I do know that a lot of people lost their lives in the ’93 riots. Children were orphaned, women widowed, girls raped. My cousin sister who was a kid at that time had once told me that during ’93 riots, she had seen burning cars from her house’s window. The situation was so bad that govt. had given shoot at sight orders. People were totally confined to their houses. They were not even allowed to come into their balconies. Imagine experiencing the riots shown in the movie Bombay in your real life. I feel a chill running down my spine even today when I think about such a situation. Thousands of Innocent people, who neither cared about the mosque, nor about the temple were killed. Hundreds of families were destroyed.
It has been 17 years since that incident. Even after 17 long years, the verdict tomorrow is delivered in highest possible security. Bulk sms’s have been blocked since 22nd of this month. Schools and colleges are closed. The firm that I work has declared a half day holiday in Bangalore and a full day holiday in Delhi. I feel awkward when I think that a verdict, which is of least importance to majority of people in indian community has this huge an effect! Most of the people in India, be it a hindu or a muslim will want a hospital to be built at the disputed site.
I would like a park to be built there, as a memorial for all those innocent people who died in the ’93 riots. A park, where small children can play forgetting the man made barrier and discrimination called religion or caste and hence spread the message of communal harmony.
Demolition of a temple to construct a mosque (if it ever happened) was wrong . Destroying the mosque to construct a temple is again wrong. Tit for Tat didn’t solve the problem. It just made matters worse. All of us know what happened next.
This was followed by communal violence of the highest magnitude that India has ever seen.
I do not know if there ever was a temple at the disputed site. But I do know that a lot of people lost their lives in the ’93 riots. Children were orphaned, women widowed, girls raped. My cousin sister who was a kid at that time had once told me that during ’93 riots, she had seen burning cars from her house’s window. The situation was so bad that govt. had given shoot at sight orders. People were totally confined to their houses. They were not even allowed to come into their balconies. Imagine experiencing the riots shown in the movie Bombay in your real life. I feel a chill running down my spine even today when I think about such a situation. Thousands of Innocent people, who neither cared about the mosque, nor about the temple were killed. Hundreds of families were destroyed.
It has been 17 years since that incident. Even after 17 long years, the verdict tomorrow is delivered in highest possible security. Bulk sms’s have been blocked since 22nd of this month. Schools and colleges are closed. The firm that I work has declared a half day holiday in Bangalore and a full day holiday in Delhi. I feel awkward when I think that a verdict, which is of least importance to majority of people in indian community has this huge an effect! Most of the people in India, be it a hindu or a muslim will want a hospital to be built at the disputed site.
I would like a park to be built there, as a memorial for all those innocent people who died in the ’93 riots. A park, where small children can play forgetting the man made barrier and discrimination called religion or caste and hence spread the message of communal harmony.
India today is blessed with people who think before acting. When the verdict is announced tomorrow, there will be a set of people who will try to disrupt peace. These people are either power hungry corrupt politicians or religious leaders or fools for whom monuments are more important than human lives.
Let us together pledge that we will not be involved in any activity which is unlawful. India has a huge population, and it will definitely take a lot more than a few power hungry religious leaders and politicians to disrupt peace and harmony.
H I N D U and M U S L I M, both the words are incomplete without U and I.
H I N D U S T A N is incomplete without U and I.
Jai hind
Jai hind
nice :)
ReplyDeleteReshmi
ReplyDeletenice buddy for your first one i must say gud effort but a little wrong on facts .Delhi was all working no hoilidays.
Second one was nice but tell me one thing u said that the guy and the girl are least important but is it so? You have to decide in 2 mins but aren't our parents happy .atleast my parents are they don't have even those 2 mins.one of my friend's father just saw her mothers feet that's it and he said a yes and touch wood they are so happy with each other.what is bidding dude??
no hard feelings but there are two things which i think u cant deny that is trust in our parents
and secondly somethings are divine.
Hey Sangeeta and Reshmi,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments. They are very important as they encourage me to write :).
If i rmember right, then didnt say that delhi was not working. I meant that my firms branch in delhi was closed. My colleagues over there in delhi are working on 9th october instead. If i have written it in a way that gives a message that Delhi was closed, then i apologise. That was not my intention.
I agree with what you said about trust in parents. There are instances wherein people live happily after an arranged marriage. There are cases when the guy and the girl dont even see each other before getting married, but still move on to live happily. But just because it works for my neighbours and your parents (mine had a love marriage), doesnt mean that it works for everyone.
Parents will be happy, true. But I believe that parents will be more happy to see you living happily with a person of your choice than seeing you suffering with a person of their choice.
I am not against arranged marriages. What i am against is the way it is being done. Let parents show you people who are worthy of becoming your life partner. But the onus of making the decision must lie with the couple getting married.
Coz lets face it, its your life. You will be living with your better half, not your parents. Parents are there to guide, they are there to advice and support you, not to force you to take decisions they want you to do. Its very important to understand that you can arrange everything, but love.
Marriage be it love or arranged, the most important people in it are the couple getting married. Its neither your parents nor the society.
People have married the way you have said. But then, I believe that it was a different age. An age when men hardly came in touch with women before marriage. An age when women, more often than not used to take the role of a home maker. Times have changed. Today women take an equally important role in the society. Interaction between men and women is a lot more than 70's and 80's. So there is every chance that you like someone at work or in college.
You are right.. some things are devine, but divinity is there even if the child choses his/her better half. I am not arguing, but looking at a lot of marriages that have happened around me, i have formed this opinion. Particularly a lot of marriages that happened in the last couple of years or are scheduled to happen this year. Everyone has his/her own perception and views. These are mine.