Shahabuddin's Response, 4 Dec., 1999

Mr. Saeed Naqvi's article "The Aesthetics of Faith" has an ominous ring. Is it a prelude to the take over and demolition of the Shahi Idgah Masjid in Mathura and the Gyan Vapi Masjid in Varanasi?

Cultures (with its aesthetic expressions) is not static but dynamic. Therefore, practically no religious place on earth, with the exception of Mecca and Medina, has remained unchanged with time. For at least 800 years, Ayodhya was a centre of Sufism; and a seat of Islamic learning; consequently many Islamic myths have become associated with Ayodhya. That is why, it has acres of graveyards and more than a score of Masjids and Maqbaras, apart from other.Islamic shrines. What should Ayodhya express? India as it stood before the advent of Islam? Or, as it stood before Jainism and Buddhism was overlaid by Hinduism? Or as it stood on 15 August 1947 at the advent of independence? And will Mr. Naqvi endorse violence to hearts, minds and structures, to restore the 'original' religious character of a place?

In hundreds of places in India, we see places of worship of different religions standing in dignity by the side of each other. That is our glory. For at least 200 years, Ram Janambhoomi Mandir stood north of Babari Masjid in Ayodhya till the latter was demolished.

I will not go into the history of Varanasi and Mathura because the Masjids there are protected by the Law of 1991, as all the other places of worship in the country against any move to 'convert' them! It is not relevant how Mr. Naqvi felt when he visited them. Suffice it to say that the Krishna Janmasthan Mandir with the backdrop of the Idgah means the essence of India.

The inner harmony of the composite culture, of which Mr. Naqvi often writes, is based on the co-existence of Masjids, Mandirs, Gurudwaras and Girjas, on mutual respect and tolerance, and not religious exclusivity.