I appreciate your article on the Demolition of the Babari Masjid in the BJP Today, December 16-31, 1998.

I fully endorse your view that the Demolition was no more, no less than an exercise of power by the Hindu Indians and that the Babari Masjid Question is about Power not Faith.

Having said this, may I add that the point at issue is whether power was transferred on 15 August, 1947, to all Indians or to Hindu Indians only and whether the Republic of India is a de facto (if not de jure) a Hindu state. The 'secularists' are out of court, if power was indeed transferred to the Hindu Indians and India is indeed a Hindu State.

As a Muslim I would like to correct your misconception about the sanctity of a Masjid. The Masjid is the site, not the structure. A site once consecrated to Allah for worship is a Masjid forever; the structure is merely a convenience and a facility for the worshippers and can be demolished and rebuilt. Therefore, there is no such thing as a 'relocation' for a Masjid. It may go into ruins, it may be abandoned; it may be taken over, by force. But it cannot be shifted.

Historians will tell you that Buddhism had already been "embraced-and-absorbed" by Hinduism before the Muslims arrived on the scene. Nalanda was in ruins and had been reduced to a village when Bakhtiar Khilji overran the area in 1215 AD. I may add that it is the tradition of "embrace-and-absorb" which worries the followers of other religions in India.