i only know that two wrongs do not make a right. i also know that things that were done in the past may be considered impermissible in the present. even if your assertion is right that many muslim invaders and kings demolished hindu temples does that give people to the right to go pull down mosques four hundred years later? invaders pulled down places of worship all over the world. hindu rulers did it too, vaishnavs did it to shaivs and vice versa. they also did it to buddhist shrines. so if buddhists got together and wanted to pull down a temple would aor should it be allowed?

just because there were 'head hunters' in the past does not mean some people can go around beheading the progenies of those whose fathers or ancestors beheaded their ancestors. till the 1950s at least head hunting was known to exist in India. so can the descendants of those people, whose ancestors were beheaded, go kill those whose ancestors indulged in such acts? the practice has been abandoned now and it must be accepted that things have changed.

i find such arguments, the one you make by implication, very silly

people chnage with time. religious attitudes change. with modernity and more social interaction comes tolerance and understanding. five hundred or three hundred years ago there was no Constitution. no democracy. now there is. there is supposed to be rule of law, not of some king or queen.

so answer girish mishra's question, did advani and company do the right thing in defying the SC orders? or lying to parliament to be elected to which they do such things? this same advani today aspires to become PM through elections under the same Constitution that he insulted by insulting the institutions set up by that very Constitution.

when there are major problems like poverty and unemplyment inequality to be dealt with this constant harping on the past and remedyng it today shows nothing but a mindset that can't live in the present. if the past matters so much to you stop using the computer and the net and wear bark and live in the forest on wild fruits and let others lead modern lives which does not mean just electricity and internet but means a modern mindset, with tolerance, compassion and respect for other's lives and opinions. (which i am sure you will now accuse me of not having because i am asking you to go away into the forest, but no, if i had no respect i would not be responding to you. it is just that i have no patience for silliness. grow up man!).

anjali deshpande