"Evasion, concealment, have become a national habit. And they have terrible consequences... The fact that temples were broken and mosques constructed in their place is well known. Nor is the fact that the materials of the temples-the stones and idols--were used in constructing the mosque, news. It was thought that this was the way to announce hegemony. It was thought that this was the way to strike at the heart of the conquered-for in those days the temple was not just a place of worship; it was the hub of the community’s life, of its learning, of its social life. So the lines in the book which bear on this practice are of no earth-shaking significance in themselves. Their real significance- and I dare say that they are but the smallest, most innocuous example that one can think of on the mosque-temple business-lies in the evasion and concealment they have spurred. ... That is the significant thing; they have known them, and their impulse has been to conceal and bury rather than to ascertain the truth... Those who proceed by such cynical calculations sow havoc for all of us, for Muslims, for Hindus, for all. Those who remain silent in the face of such cynicism, such calculations help them sow the havoc. Will we shed our evasions and concealments? Will we at last learn to speak and face the whole truth?"
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Hideaway Communalism, Arun Shourie, Indian Express, February 5, 1989 The article discusses the Ayodhya debate and the censorship of passages about temple destruction in the English translation of a major book by Maulana Abdul Hai, a renowned Islamic scholar. (This was an early and influential article by Arun Shourie on the Rama Temple controversy [https://archive.is/JnxyE)
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Historical negationism
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