Monday, September 06, 2010
The international Mosque imbroglio
Much that US writers would prefer to localize the issue of Mosque at Ground Zero, or anywhere else on mainland US, there is a wider perspective that cannot be ignored if the drift of events have to be forewarned and foretold.
As I see it, the Mosque problem starts with Al Aqsa Mosque that is believed to be built over the Jewish Temple, destroyed by Romans. The Wall is still there for all the world Jewry to remind that there was once a grand Temple there. The Jews are reasonably aspiring to rebuild the old temple, preferably at the same site. The problem is that the site is now occupied for over a 1000 years by a Mosque that is the third most sacred Mosque for 1.5 billion Muslims of the world, after that of Mecca and Medina Harams(Mosque). The Aqsa Mosque was Muslim's first Qibla, the direction to which they faced while praying five times a day. Even though in 1967, Jordan lost control of the site, the city of Jerusalem; the holy sites of the 3 Abrahamanical religions are internationally recognized as disputed land. Short of getting outright and full effective control of the Al Aqsa Mosque, Israelis have to do with all kinds of ruse to make life difficult for Muslims of the city so that they should hopefully, eventually, leave the place and let Jews built its old Temple. That just is not possible in these times and age. Israel has big power, but it cannot withstand the backlash if any damaged to Al Aqsa Mosque is even rumored. Enter conspiracies. Jewish conspirators had spotted that India too has a similar case of a Mosque having been built supposedly on a site widely believed to be the site of the birth of Hindu avatar/God Ram. A doctoral thesis from US was sent over to L. K. Advani, a onetime Home Minister of a coalition government led by the extremist Hindutva politic0-religious group, who took the doctoral strategies to heart and converted 'aggression over the Mosque to translate into political power'. L. K. Advani, in one of his interviews with The Economic Times, has publicly acknowledged receiving the blue-print and adopted it to raise a grand nation-wide campaign to demolish the Babri Masjid. A big conspiracy between the two major political parties, allowed over a lakh of rabble-rouser to demolish the 500 year old structure, though in fact through implosions inside the old Mosque that caved in just like the two World Trade Center Buildings, all in heap and dust. The world media made it out that it was the sole work of demolition by an enraged mob, the Kar Sevaks. The civil suit over the ownership of the 500 year site is in the court for last decade and over, and a ruling is expected this month, September 16, 2010, probably. Big trouble is expected. But the political consideration in India may preclude major disaster, as that will deeply damage the ruling Congress Party's prospects in the coming general elections.
Zoom away from India and focus on Ground Zero. Nobody knows whose idea it was to build an 'Islamic Center' or Mosque near Ground Zero. An educated guess is that it has something to do with Democratic Party's effort to reclaim US goodwill with Muslim World, severely eroded during Bush/Cheney period. Imam Rauf is in full cooperation with US State Department and had made trips abroad pumping for US overtures to Muslim World. Naturally, all this is anathema to Republicans in general and American Jewish Neo-Cons in particular. They have wasted no time in making a big scandal about the Mosque project with a view to reposition Republicans once again in mainstream public gaze. The political fight between Democrats and Republicans has made Muslims a reluctant scapegoat and they have to assert their rights as American citizens to avail of the full freedom of religion.
It is worth noting, that in all the 3 centers of conflicts, Al Aqsa, Babri and Ground Zero, the legal land rights are all with the Muslims.
The media and mass agitation is organized and mobilized, especially by Jewish proxies, to scare Muslims in giving up their legitimate rights.
Both in India and in Jerusalem, Muslims have not given in to the arm-twisting. One hopes that American Muslims too would stand up for their constitutional rights and not be cowed down by the organized mob actions unleashed by their detractors.
Ghulam Muhammed, Mumbai
