India: sharing a Hindu temple with Muslims

Muslims and Hindus have been ordered by the Indian Supreme Court to share a disputed holy site which has caused riots throughout the country and the deaths of more than 3,000 people.

Hindus, Muslims to split site of former triumphal mosque built over destroyed Hindu temple

This compromise is likely to lead to more rioting and will of course satisfy no one, especially the Islamic supremacists who will continue to demand that the entire site be given to them. “Ayodhya verdict: disputed site to be split between Hindus and Muslims,” from the Telegraph, September 30 (thanks to JW):

A disputed Indian holy site in Ayodhya claimed by Muslims and Hindus is to be divided between the two religious groups, a lawyer acting for one of the Hindu litigants told reporters.Muslims revere the compound in Ayodhya, north India, as the site of the now-demolished 16th century Babri Mosque, while Hindus say it is the birthplace of the god Rama….

Typical mainstream media bias. Hindus say more than just that: there is a clearly historical reason why the site belongs to them. Even AFP acknowledged this a few weeks ago: “In 1992, the 16th-century mosque was razed by Hindu zealots who said it was built on the ruins of a temple marking the birthplace of the Hindu warrior god Ram.” It attributes the claim that the 16th-century mosque was a victory mosque built on the site of a destroyed Hindu temple to “Hindu zealots,” but it is noteworthy for a mainstream media source even to go that far into what mainstream reporters would ordinarily classify as “Islamophobia.”

That sentence comes from a story that contains some other revealing details: “Indian Muslim cleric urges calm over Ayodhya verdict,” from AFP, September 3

NEW DELHI (AFP) – India’s chief Muslim cleric appealed Friday for calm over an expected court ruling on a bitterly disputed religious site that triggered massive Hindu-Muslim riots in India 18 years ago….In 1992, the 16th-century mosque was razed by Hindu zealots who said it was built on the ruins of a temple marking the birthplace of the Hindu warrior god Ram.

The destruction triggered some of the bloodiest communal violence since the partition of the Indian sub-continent in 1947, leaving around 2,000 people dead.

“Whatever may be the verdict and whatever may be the provocations, I appeal to Muslims not to take the law into their own hands,” said Syed Ahmed Bukhari, the chief imam in New Delhi’s Jama Masjid mosque.

In a Friday sermon to thousands of congregants, Bukhari nevertheless argued that the Muslim claim to the site was indisputable.

“The Babri mosque was there and the court has to acknowledge that fact and so the site rightfully belongs to Muslims,” he said.

“We are also not willing to give an inch to anyone.”

That could be adopted as the motto of Islamic supremacists everywhere, from Ibrahim Hooper to Feisal Abdul Rauf.

A Muslim “community center” built after the Muslim conquest of India, as a place to “reach out” to other, non-Muslim communities. No gym, however, in the Babri Mosque.

Tagged as: Ayodhya, Hindu Temple to be shared with Muslims, mosque