Saturday, Oct 09, 2010

Mosque and temple

To most Muslims, a mosque is a sacred place. One of the tactics used by land-grabbers in Pakistan is to build a mosque on empty plots, knowing full well that no Muslim would ever think of demolishing it. While there have been a few instances in Saudi Arabia of mosques being pulled down and rebuilt, they are very rare in other Muslim countries. Secondly, if we accept that any property built on the ruins of a temple is illegal, almost all mosques, churches and gurdwaras are at a risk of destruction. Anyone can plant idols in the vicinity of any property owned by a non-Hindu and claim that it was built over a ruined temple.
The first judgement in March 1886 (by an Englishman), “It is most unfortunate that a Masjid should have been built on land specially held sacred by the Hindus. But as the event occurred 358 years ago, it is too late now to remedy the grievance,” was the correct one, although it is not known how the judge concluded that the mosque was built on sacred land.

Shakir Lakhani,
Karachi
The Hindu, Oct 09, 2010

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