Why eminent historians are displeased with the Ayodhya verdict?
By Dr. Koenraad Elst Romila Thapar, most eminent among India’s
eminent historians, protests against the Court verdict
acknowledging the historical evidence that the Babar mosque in
Ayodhya had been built in forcible replacement of a Rama temple.
After two decades of living on top of the world, the eminent
historians are brought down to earth. In 1858, the Virgin Mary
appeared to young Bernadette Soubirous in Lourdes, France.
Before long, Lourdes became the most important pilgrimage site
for Roman Catholics and other Mary worshippers. France prided
itself on being a secular state, in some phases (esp. 1905-40)
even aggressively secular, yet it acknowledged and protected
Lourdes as a place of pilgrimage. Not many French officials
actually believe in the apparition, but that is not the point.
The believers are human beings, fellow citizens, and out of
respect for them does the state respect and protect their
pilgrimage. For essentially the same reas