By: Kayhan Int’l Staff Writer

Desecration and destruction of a religious site, anywhere in the world, is not just a crime against national heritage but a sacrilege of humanitarian values, and in such a case it is the duty of the government of that country to rebuild the revered place in order to sooth the injured sentiments of those holding it sacred.
The sooner this is done the better for wounds to heal, and for peace and prosperity to prevail in that particular country through positive interaction among the citizens professing different beliefs but striving together for the progress and development of the nation.
Only irrational regimes and those devoid of any roots or resolved to divide and rule, oppose restoration of the desecrated site, despite the earnest appeals of the followers of that particular religion to rebuild it themselves.
The fact cannot be denied that the glaring examples of such regimes which ride roughshod over religious sentiments of the masses and continue their blasphemous policies, are the illegal Zionist entity which violates the sanctity of the al-Aqsa Mosque almost daily, and Saudi Arabia whose founder Abdel-Aziz had criminally destroyed the Sacred Baqi Cemetery in Medina 90 years ago, while his successors deny permission to the followers of the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt to rebuild it.
It is now 29 years since the sacrilegious demolition by anarchist elements of India’s historic Babari Mosque, which instead of being rebuilt on the very spot it had been constructed on a vacant spot of land in 1528, has been subjected to a doctored decision of the apex court that a couple of years ago gave permission for the building of a temple on the site of the historical Muslim place of worship to the One and Only Creator of the universe.
It is indeed a matter of regret in view of the fact that India’s almost 300 million Muslims – the country’s second largest majority – resent the injustice done to them and to their role in selflessly striving for national solidarity and development, even if it required the sacrificing of their life.
It is still not too late for the government to rectify this wrong and heal the wounds of its citizens by allowing them to reconstruct the Babari Mosque on its original site, since the proposed temple can be built anywhere on any scale.
It will be not out of context to note that neighbouring Pakistan is all set to reopen the famous Jain Temple in Lahore, which two days after the demolition of the Babari Mosque in India on December 6, 1992, was attacked and damaged by similar anarchist elements.
If after 29 years Pakistan can reconstruct, renovate, and restore to the followers of the Jain religion their sacred temple why can’t India do the same?
It is also worth noting that Pakistan has also rebuilt the century-old Shri Param Hans Ji Maharaj Temple in Teri village in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Karak district that was vandalized and demolished by anarchists last year.
Recently on the occasion of Diwali festival, Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed had attended a grand function at the rebuilt temple to express solidarity with the members of the Hindu community.
Anarchists who masquerade as religious nationalists should not be allowed to harm national unity by calling for demolition of historical religious sites, and it is the duty of the elected government to ensure justice to all its citizens, irrespective of their religious beliefs.
Hopefully, India will take the historical step to overturn a dubious court verdict by permitting its Muslim citizens to rebuild the Babari Mosque on the same spot where it stood prior to its demolition, since according to authentic historical accounts as well as archeological excavations, no temple ever stood at that place in the distant past.