It is not simply about Hindus getting justice. It is also about the healing needed for a wounded civilisation. It is also about the Muslims recognising that the invaders who converted them were indeed a cruel, barbarous people. It is not just a clash of Hindus and Muslims over temple and mosque but a clash of civilisations, between a regressive, non-progressive, exclusive religion and a progressive, assimilative, inclusive way of life. We see this happening everywhere, in Turkey, the Middle East, Iran, an intense churning is going on in the Muslim world. In Europe, serious concerns and voices are being raised, challenging the brutal Islamic ideology that has so far been deceptively passed off as a Religion of Peace. In Myanmar, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, the entire Muslim world is being pushed in different ways to either change or to perish. The question of whether Hindus should reclaim the temples or not is the question that the liberal, ignorant human mind is asking. But it is not the time for Hindus to be examined. They have gone through their trying time for centuries and paid the price and learnt and evolved. The Time Spirit is asking a question to the Muslims. The Hindus too must ask this question, – do you think that Islamic ideology will bring Peace and Harmony? Was the destruction of temples, the forced conversion of the ancestors by the fear of the sword, right? Is the usurping of land by fraud under unilateral religious law a correct thing to do? Let the Muslim world answer and based on that, the Hindus should respond. If the Muslim world accepts that much injustice happened and accepts incorporating certain changes consistent with the evolving world and its need for harmony and unity, then the claim should be dropped because its purpose is achieved. Otherwise, it is bound to continue to be pushed by the Spirit of Time, whether we want it or not.
Affectionately,
Alok Da
