Page 201 - Islam and Far Eastern Religions
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                 The Indian government promised to rebuild the destroyed mosque
            in 1992 in order to diffuse the situation but ten years later, no steps have

            been taken in that direction. Worse yet, the government remained silent
            when plans emerged to build a Hindu temple on the site. In 2003, radi-
            cal Hindus, taking heart from the government’s stance in this matter,
            moved to begin the construction of this temple. Quite understandably,
            Muslims would not let them, and in the subsequent clashes a further 700
            people died.
                 One of the most respected human rights organizations, Human

            Rights Watch, revealed detailed information about this attack on
            Muslims and other similar cases in India. One of the HRW reports, pub-
            lished in 1994, stated that the attack on the Babur mosque in Ayodhya
            took place as a consequence of the BJP government and other radical
            Hindu nationalist groups’ campaign, and that neither the police nor the
            other security forces intervened to stop the massacre. The following in-
            formation is from this report:

                 “Despite promises by BJP state government officials that the mosque would be
                 protected, police at the site reportedly refused to intervene to prevent either the de-
                 molition, or subsequent attacks on journalists and others. More than 1,000 died in
                 the violence that followed in cities across northern India. A disproportionate num-
                 ber of those killed were Muslims shot by police. In some cases, those shot dead were
                 pulled from their homes and summarily executed. In Surat, in the state of Gujarat,
                 attacks on Muslims included the gang-rapes of women. In January, Muslims in
                 Bombay were again the principal target during nine days of violence in which
                 more than 700 people were killed. The Bombay police, many of whom reportedly
                 support the Hindu militant Shiv Sena organization, deliberately targeted
                 Muslims or stood back while mobs burned Muslims’ homes.” 95

                 From time to time the tensions calm, but the conflict goes on.
            Repeated attempts at building the Hindu temple on the mosque’s site



                                  Harun Yahya (Adnan Oktar)
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