India's culture of intolerance

In the aftermath of the Ayodhya riots earlier this month, Indian Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao announced that he would rebuild the Muslim Babri Mosque destroyed by fanatical Hindu fundamentalists. The implication is clear: The mosque would be rebuilt on the very spot where it once stood.

As stated in the Events column, "Further religious strife," Dec. 29, Mr. Rao's announcement on Dec. 28 that the government would buy land elsewhere in Ayodhya and build both a Hindu temple and a Muslim mosque, falls short of justice for Muslims. This comes as little surprise to Muslims, Sikhs, and other minorities who have long lived under Hindu India's culture of intolerance.

I can speak for Sikhs when I say that we can live without such intolerance. India is not one nation but a conglomerate of nations held together by the nexus of oppression. The facade of Indian secularism and democracy has crumbled, exposing the true face of the theocratic, fundamentalist Hindu state of India. India's oppression of minorities only fosters instability in South Asia. Freedom for all would solve this problem. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, Washington, President, Council of Khalistan

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