We express deep concern and anxiety at the trend of socio-political developments which are eroding the image of India as the land wedded to tolerance, amity and cooperation among religious communities. It is a reversal of the integrative processes and a regression into a cult of fanaticism and religious bigotry.

The Indian nation has been recognised and respected all over the world for its hoary tradition of universal brotherhood, equal respect for all religions, compassion and tolerance. Interaction with diverse cultures and faiths for more than two millennia has contributed to reinforcement of these traditions and building up of the unique mosaic of Indian society and culture renowned for its unity in diversity. A catholicity of outlook preached by our seers and saints got a fillip in the mediaeval ages on account of the rich and popular Sufi philosophy and Bhakti movement which showed a path away from bloodshed and strife and propagated the message of love, peace and brotherhood. These saint-poets and reformers had such deep imprint on the minds of the common masses that even today millions of rural folk in various parts of the country recite with veneration the simple couplets and poems of Kabir, Baba Farid, Raidas, Tulsidas, Meera, Nanak, Dadoo, Khusro, Rahim, Namdeo, Chaitanya, Shankaradeva, Narasi Mehta, Jayasi and so many other great savants. Their teachings have inspired the common people of India to live in complete harmony, mutual respect and accommodation.

The composite culture which we Indians are proud of has been evolved over centuries through a spirit of give and take and has manifested itself in diverse fields of literature, music, art, painting, architecture and also in the pattern of living together. The religious and social reformers right from the inception of Indian history have ceaselessly fought against all kinds of bigotry, obscurantism, superstition and intolerance. In modern times the Renaissance of the nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries brought a new awakening and introduced modern outlook and a critical and scientific temper. To counteract the nefarious policy of divide and rule followed by the British rulers, who lost no opportunity to distort our history and encourage fissiparous tendencies, our leaders laid maximum importance on the programme of national unity and communal harmony during the freedom struggle. An instance of the magnetic influence of our national leaders of yore was the famous incident of Swami Shraddhanand being invited by the Muslims of Delhi to address their congregation from the pulpit of the Jama Masjid. Our history of freedom struggle has the distinction of such unique instances of comraderie and great sacrifices made by leaders like Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi for the cause of communal amity and peace. The martyrdom of the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, is not only an event of profound significance in India's history but it has also drawn unparalleled respect and admiration from the peoples of all the countries the world over, irrespective of their political or religious persuasions. For centuries people belonging to various faiths in India have been participating in each other  festivals and even religious ceremonies. Millions of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs visit Dargah of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti at Ajmer ... Hindus have been joining their Muslim brethren in their religious festivals like Id. Muslims have been reciprocating by joining their Hindu brethren in celebrating Holi and Diwali. The vivid description of celebration of Holi in Agra has been immortalised in Nazir Akbarabadi's poetry ... Muslim poets like Raskhan wrote devotional poetry in the praise of Krishna ... Iqbal called ... Ram as Imam-e-Hind.

We draw inspiration from the fact that time and again voices have been raised in our country protesting against inequities in our society and seeking to restore the beauty of the fabric of our civilization woven out of diverse and yet universalist thought processes. Jainism and Buddhism and, later, the entire Bhakti movement are part of that rich heritage of our country

There were also movements of social protest represented by Narayana Guru movement in Kerala and ... Phule movement in Maharashtra. There have been several such movements at various times of our history. In modern times Rabindranath Tagore and Subranmanya Bharati gave passionate expression both to pluralism and universalism and Iqbal proclaimed his faith in our common destiny .. As we transit from turbulence of the 20th century into the 21st century our generation has a sacred duty to generate once again a movement upholding the flag of pluralistic humanism.

The unique religious and cultural spectrum of India's unity in religious and cultural diversity may appear bewildering to outsiders. The same Ayodhya where the most unfortunate and barbarous act of destruction of the Babari Masjid took place on 6 December, 1992 has also the distinction of having a Muslim Manager of an old Hindu temple ..

It is deplorable that, unmindful of the glorious cultural and religious traditions of India, some communal organisations with a narrow political objective, are bent upon destroying this common national fabric built by people of all religions for centuries. Most often, in the name of religion, the very antithesis of religion is practised because it pays to do so. This has strengthened the divisive forces in the country. In fact, it is growingly becoming fashionable to excite communal sentiments. There is proliferation of vulnerable areas where mafia gangs of various denominations have grown in league with other vested interests. A painful feature of the communal conflict is that even educationists, social scientists, media persons and other intellectuals have found themselves helpless to fight out the inhuman manifestation. Horrifying immunity and insensitivity are developing to incidents of lawlessness and terror Unfortunately even the common man, the worst sufferer, is gradually getting insensitized and dehumanised. We do not propose to present a compilation of all the major communal disturbances that have taken place in the post-Independence era. These have been studied and analysed in great depth. But some recent events have got to be highlighted. The unprecedented and organised killing of Muslims in Bhagalpur and adjoining areas during 1989 was most shocking. It inspired some right thinking persons of Lucknow and Delhi to organise a National Convention on Communal Disturbances at New Delhi on 17 March 1990. Dr. B.N. Pande, MP, a veteran freedom fighter, presided over the Convention and the keynote address was delivered by Maulana Syed Abul  Hasan Ali Nadwi, an international authority on Islam and founder of Payam-e-Insaniyat, Lucknow ... The Convention adopted a Statement which included a 15-point Action Programme to curb and eradicate the menace of communal virus.

In pursuance of the decision of the Convention a body under the nomenclature of FOCUS (Forum for Communal Understanding and Synthesis) was set up soon thereafter under the presidentship of Dr. B.N. Pande, MP. FOCUS held a successful conference at Lucknow on 2 July, 1990 ... FOCUS also held an important seminar in Parliament House Annexe on 22 December, 1990 in which several eminent intellectuals, leaders and journalists participated.

The nomenclature of the organisation was changed from FOCUS to 'Society for Communal Harmony' which was registered on 1 September 1992 under the Registration of Societies Act, 1861.

The Society for Communal Harmony was deeply concerned over the Ayodhya incident and the resultant violence, bloodshed and other heinous crimes at Bombay, Surat, Ahmedabad, Kanpur and other places ... The role of the Bombay police came under severe criticism during the communal carnage as it was allegedly openly abetting the lumpen elements to commit crimes, if not participating therein themselves.

... There is urgent need to mobilise public opinion against the communal forces and trends because as a result of the vitiated atmosphere there had recently been an outburst of communal violence in a totally unexpected corner of the country, viz., Manipur, where in the past communal disturbances had never taken place. The communal forces tend to spread their tentacles menacingly at every conceivable opportunity.

It is necessary to record that all the right thinking people in the country who include the bulk of the majority community expressed themselves against communal frenzy and even in the darkest moments of the communal holocaust instances of members of one community giving shelter and protection to members of the other community represent a silver lining in the midst of enveloping darkness. It is time that all those who believe in the ideals of secularism, democracy and communal harmony should join together and consolidate the positive and sane sections and forces of the society.

We accept the challenge of communalism in all forms -religious, social, caste, regional, language and economic; we accept the challenge of disintegration; we accept the challenge of disharmony; we accept the challenge of fanaticism. We express our firm resolve to fight them all ...

To counter the grave threat posed by the divisive forces, we call upon all our countrymen to join the noble cause of restoring the vision of a united, forward-looking, tolerant and compassionate India. ..