“During 1960s, I was an engineer in charge of preparing detail maps for the expansion of Port of Bombay. I submitted those detail maps to my senior engineer, a Brahmin. When he saw the maps, he was alarmed to see that there were several small and large temples in the project area. He conducted an inquiry and was told that idols of temples had popped-up from the ground and was a miracle. He didn’t believe that and wanted to demolish them but the Hindu laborers refused to demolish these temples; so he collected a Nau Buddhist labor team and got them demolished. There was lot of resistance and curses from those who were running these temples, yet they were removed.” Asghar Vasanwala)
by MARK MAGNIER
Muslims offer Friday prayers at the site of a mosque demolished by authorities in New Delhi. With land at a premium and donations sizable, activists in India say religion is good business. PHOTO/Adnan Abidi/Reuters
Mosques and temples encroach on sidewalks, schools and roads, despite court orders to stop them. Devotees help ensure the structures are hard to tear down once they are built.
They struck shortly after dawn on a weekday morning this month, taking bulldozers, backhoes and sledgehammers to the Noor Masjid mosque. But the stealth tactics by municipal workers fell short: Well before they finished razing the building, 1,000 Muslim protesters had gathered, and things got ugly.
Across town a few hours later, the city’s public works department was busy again, this time leveling the Hindu Pushp Vihar temple. Followers clashed with police, devotees sang to the gods and protesters blocked a main road, sparking massive traffic jams.
Los Angeles Times for more
(Thanks to Asghar Vasanwala)