We shouldn’t celebrate these sad developments

Jan 26, 2024 Letters

Dear Editor,

Please allow me to respond to a letter titled, “A momentous occasion for Hindus who came across those treacherous seas,” which appeared in your January 23 edition, and written by Mr. N. Sahadeo.

Mr. Sahadeo wrote, “What made our family even more happy is that one of our very own – a scion for all Guyanese was part of the audience witnessing this in person. Pujjya Swami Aksharananda Ji was invited to attend the Pran Prathista of the Sri Ram Lala murti in Ayodhya. This great son did not boast and advertise this tremendous honour.”

What is very alarming is that there is a trend in India by the current RSS Government to erase Christian and Muslim history and symbols across India by mobs. This very temple that Mr. Sahadeo is emotionally excited about was constructed on the site of a 16th Century Babri Masjid which they claimed was the site where the Hindu God, Lord Rama was born at and that an alleged Hindu temple stood there. Yet no hard evidence proves so. The one-sided excavation team has published no hard evidence after their findings. The mosque is not ancient history and it’s not hard to prove but the archeological team and the Supreme Court of India did what the ruling government and the public wanted.

Progressive International, a human rights publication on January 22 wrote, “Today, the Modi government has made a decisive move to overthrow India’s secular constitution in the name of a new Hindu supremacist nation,” the statement continued. “As prime minister, Modi has pushed this Hindu nationalism as India’s dominant political force: banning the hijab in schools, introducing ‘anti-conversion’ laws, abusing municipal forces to demolish Muslim households and shops in cities, and pushing for a ‘uniform civil code’ in law.” Many more mosques since the past decade have been demolished across North India.

“Now, in open defiance of India’s secure constitution, Modi fuses ‘prime minister’ with ‘chief priest’ to conduct the consecration of this controversial temple,” the publication wrote.

This terrible precedent has led to more radicals alleging that all the mosques in Mathura and Varanasi and even the Taj Mahal were Hindu Temples. They have brought these actions to the court. They have threatened to raze all mosques in Mathura and Varanasi. They have also threatened to tear down the Taj Mahal.

We shouldn’t celebrate these sad developments. They will lead to more violence, ethnic cleansing, and destruction of democracy. These developments are not at all good for Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad. This sort of politics uses religion to divide and demonize in order to win elections. The repercussions will be felt in our region and bad examples are being set by the government of India.

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