Medevial india

[J.B. Sharma]

J.B. Sharma said:
> 
>  To begin wih, I wish point out a couple of errors. The two volume 
> work by Sita Ram Goel is primarily a compilation of the works of the 
> muslim scribes who witnessed the era of the coming of Islam in India 
> and its subsequent control of the sub-continent for over eight 
> hundred years. A lot of these works are in libraries all over the 
> world. Nowhere in his book does he advocate the breaking of mosques.

Yes he does, in fact.  In the introduction and in the cover blurb which
quotes from the introduction.

Dominik Wujastyk
------------------------------

 I looked thru the introduction in the cover blurb, and could not 
find an exhortation for breaking mosques. There is one sentence which 
refers to the movement of restoration of temples being bogged down 
due to the Ramjanmbhoomi-Babri-masjid issue. This movement is not the 
creation of Sita Ram Goel and has been around for a very long time. 
If such extrapolation of words renders the work invalid, the critique 
is very poor.

 In my mind, the contribution of Shri Goel is to simply present the 
happenings of the times as recorded by eyewitnesses. The extent of 
death and destruction that is described as befalling the idol 
worshipping infidels is staggering. These are things which are not 
discussed in Indian academia, and as I now see in western academia as 
well. Centuries of this iconaclastic activity has built up vast banks 
of resentment which remain pent up in in the subcontinent.

 My basic point is 'awareness is transcendence'. If a way can be 
found to discuss these happenings in a civil manner, it pre-empts the 
destructive power of suppressed history. Otherwise it can wreck a lot 
of havoc in the hands of demagouges. Competing histories breed and 
sustain the conflict. For the first time in the history of the planet 
can intellectuals all over the world have the means to carry on 
discussions in real time on these contentious issues. Judicious use 
of the medium has the potential of inmparting a healing impulse to a 
very sordid situation on the subcontinent.

 And last but not the least, it is thru this forum I have been 
introduced to the literature under discussion. In general free speech 
has been upheld here and calls for censorship resisted; This is to be 
credited to the energy of Dominik, philosophical differences 
notwithstanding.

All the best,
J.B. Sharma