Narendra Modi was the chief architect of Advani’s rath yatra which triggered the seminal communal frenzy in India that resulted in the demolition of Babri Masjid , said Gujarat’s Minister of State for Home Pradeep Singh Jadeja on Friday. Babri’s demise at the hands of parivar hooligans made India hang its head in shame. Newspapers wrote searing editorials condemning the outrage. Conscientious citizens swore to guard against further assaults on the nation and its constitution. Tragically, they all failed.
But hardly have the people of India noticed that Modi govt. under the tutelage of RSS has been systematically decimating one masjid after another. Let me draw your attention towards one of the most prominent masjid (also known as Arab Sarai Masjid ) in the famous Humayun tomb campus in Nizamuddin Delhi.
In the above picture did you notice that the stand-alone tomb next to the Masjid in the Humayun Maqbara campus has been cunningly repaired and facelifted while the Masjid where weekly Jumma prayers are held for centuries has been deliberately left to crumble and collapse. Archaeological Survey Of India in collaboration with Agha Khan Trust for Culture which has apparently been given this million dollar renovation contract seems to be toeing the RSS line of the systematic destruction of all historical mosques in India. World Monument Fund USA which has partially funded this covert venture of Modi govt. is being informed about such a gross violation of Muslims’ rights in this multinational operation. We are used to the media toeing the government line. However, for the first time, an international trust and a global contractor seems to have become complicit in the government’s ideological agenda of destroying everything that represents Islam in India.
Is “Leave the masjid to pulverize” one of the clauses in the covert contract given to Agha Khan Trust for Culture that fixed the centuries old Humayun tomb in return for hundreds of crores of taxpayers rupees, is a question that is being raised by the Muslims of Delhi and elsewhere. Even the victors to the tomb from across the globe are surprised at the obvious apathy of the right wing govt. towards the masjid that could have easily been repaired along with Humayun Tomb.
Modi “who had mocked Muslims in Gujarat in the aftermath of the 2002 Godhra carnage. In September 2002 at Becharaji, he made jokes about Muslim population growth: “Hum paanch, hamare pachees (me and my four wives, and our 25 children’,’ he laughed. He hadn’t even spared the relief camps set up for the victims, many of whom had seen their entire families hacked and burnt to death: “Should we run relief camps or child producing centres?” can’t be trusted to secure our masajid. He’d rather demolish them all.
I therefore appeal to the Muslims of India to join hands in protecting and preserving all the masajid that is on the hit list of the sangh parivar of which India’s prime minister is a leading member.
is a Kuwait based Indian writer
