Today is the anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition…… it is also the anniversary of a particularly unpleasant personal failure, that was ignited by the demolition….

I was a student in London when the Mosque came down with a whole bunch of [tag]Hindutvadi’s[/tag] baying for blood. Do you remember [tag]Sadhvi Rithambra[/tag] screeching “ek aur dakha do …. [tag]Babri Masjid[/tag] Tod Do”.

I remember the sheer sense of numbness…. not just because I witnessed desecration, not just because a bunch of ‘civilized’ people were in the throes of a blood lust, but also because it was committed in the name of my religion. And, I have always been spiritual… and this action, for me, was as much blasphemy …… as someone breaking down a temple….

The reaction from assorted friends and family was diverse. There were those as appalled as me (and many of them were the older generation). But for others it was seen as ‘teaching them a lesson’. Many my age — cousins, brother, friends told me that i had become westernised because i lived ‘there’ and didn’t really see why the mosque had to go… Today 15 years later, i have been back for 13….. and am as desi as they come… and I still can’t see why..

Today, 15 years later … not much has changed….the views expressed by a whole bunch of guys on the Hindutvadi side has not changed…… except that today it is being justified in the name of terrorism..Read this and mourn the death of the Indian values of ‘tolerance’ and co-existence…..

Malhotra also criticised induction of Muslims in the Army and Paramilitary forces through special drive claiming that it gives terrorists a chance to penetrate into armed forces.

This was part of the press conference where Malhotra was defending Modi on his utterances on [tag]Sohrabuddin[/tag] .

Two very different posts on December 6th…. both worth reading:

Read Mohib on how to Get Ram back to Ayodhya; a readerwords on it is still 6th December and read about the loss of innocence here.