By: Kayhan Int’l Staff Writer

Today is the anniversary of a sad day in contemporary history when 26 years ago the civilized world was shocked at the desecration and destruction of one of the symbolic houses of the One and Only Creator of the universe by frenzied mobs misled into belief by Godless elements that the historic Babri Mosque in the north Indian city of Ayodhya in Faizabad District of Uttar Pradesh State was allegedly built on a temple dedicated to the Hindu deity Ram.
The destruction of the large three-domed mosque, which was an architectural wonder, led to riots throughout India resulting in the death of over two thousand Muslims.
No true Hindu, believing in ‘ahimsa’ and the lessons of peaceful coexistence learned from the legend of Ram, will ever endorse violence against Muslims or demolition of any mosque, and these are the principles by which the majority of Indians abide but have sadly been relegated to the sidelines by anarchist elements fanning flames of hatred nationwide.
December 6 is thus marked as "Black Day” by India’s estimated 250-million strong Muslim population whose demand for rebuilding of the Babri Mosque has unfortunately been given communal colour by politicians playing the temple card and pressuring the Supreme Court to allow construction of a temple at the site.
It is rather unfortunate that in this age of scientific progress and unravelling of realities, including those pertaining to religious belief, there are people in our world who instead of proper cognition of the fundamental concept of monotheism on the basis of a rational reading of history and evaluation of historical facts, cling to myths mainly because of the propaganda dished out by pseudo spiritualists and politicians with an eye on the unsuspecting people’s pockets and, of course, on votes to legitimize their dubious rule over them.
If in 1992 the central government of India had prevented mobs from desecrating the sanctity of the magnificent structure built on a vacant plot of land in 1528 by Mir Baqi Tashqandi, a general of Mohammad Zaheer od-Din Babar – Founder of the mighty Moghal Empire of the northern subcontinent and eastern Afghanistan – the late 19th century mischief of the British colonialists in speculating ruins of a temple underneath the mosque, would never have become the major divisive and destabilization issue that the Babri Masjid is today.
It is a matter of deep regret that the Mosque-Temple controversy has become the centerpiece of agenda of communal parties currently contesting elections in several states, thereby dividing the nation along communal lines rather than strengthening the "unity in diversity” for which democratic India stands unique with its respect for all religions, schools of thought, cultures, languages and ethnicities.
The interesting point is that despite organized efforts to doctor archaeological evidence, no trace of any temple material has been found by excavation teams below the ruins of the Babri Mosque.
It is also worth noting that neither any ancient Sanskrit text nor any medieval work including ‘Ram Charit Manas’ composed by the famous Hindu poet, Tulsidas, in 1575, within 50 years of the construction of Babri Mosque, have mentioned the demolition of a temple to make way for a mosque.
Moreover, from what we learn from the ancient scholar Valmiki’s lore ‘Ramayana’, Ram was a civilized person and thus an obedient servant of the One and Only God, which means his soul is definitely grieved today at the mockery of his values by his self-styled followers.
So the onus is on the government of India, or more properly its Apex Court to take bold decisions to rectify the wrong of 1992 by closing once and for all this vexing issue, and allowing reconstruction of the Babri Mosque on its original site.