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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lane3 who wrote (7155)	3/2/2001 2:19:17 PM
From: Neocon	Respond to of 82486

Cherishing such artifacts is a central characteristic of a civilized people. I am appalled......

To: Lane3 who wrote (7155)	3/2/2001 4:58:38 PM
From: one_less	Respond to of 82486

I was told over lunch that hundreds of men women and children located on the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan(attempting to leave Afghanistan) are dying each day. It is cold there now and many have nothing but a thin garment like a sheet. World Relief is an organization that I have been involved with for a while and is devoted to helping out. I donated enough money to buy 100 blankets. I wish I could do more.

To: Lane3 who wrote (7155)	3/7/2001 10:26:57 AM
From: 2MAR$	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 82486

India's Hindus, Muslims Clash Over Afghan Statues ;-( NEW DELHI (AP)--India's tough-talking Hindu fundamentalists Wednesday threatened to storm the country's main mosque and "teach a lesson" to a top Muslim cleric who justified the destruction of Buddha statues by Taliban troops in Afghanistan. Imam Syed Ahmed Bukhari, the influential high priest of the Jama Masjid in New Delhi, said he supported the destruction of the statues as they were the Taliban's response to the razing of an ancient mosque in northern India by thousands of Hindu zealots in 1992. Bukhari also warned India of an "unimaginable" reprisal from the Islamic world if it continued what he called the "oppression of Muslims." The Hindu chauvinist Shiv Sena party, a member of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's ruling coalition, asked the government to arrest Bukhari. "The government should send him to Tihar jail in a week, otherwise we will deal will him our way. We will surround the mosque," Jai Bhagwan Goel, the party's chief for northern India, told The Associated Press. Tihar is a high security prison in the capital. Asked whether his party members could storm the mosque, Goel said: "We will go to any limit to teach him a lesson. We are not responsible for what happens." The Taliban's reclusive leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, has ordered all pre-Islamic statues in the country destroyed, including the two towering Buddhas hewn from a cliff face in central Bamiyan in the third and fifth centuries. Their destruction, as well as thousands that of other relics, including a 2,000-year-old seated bodhisattva, has generated international outrage. In Buddhism, bodhisattvas are people of great spiritual awareness who help others reach enlightenment. "Afghanistan is speaking out in our favor, and the Taliban are absolutely right," Bukhari said in a telephone interview. "Western countries are also speaking out (against Taliban). Where were the Western leaders sleeping when the Muslim monument was destroyed?" he said. India has slammed the Taliban move. Vajpayee called it an insult to all religions, and said the Taliban "don't appear to be Muslims." It was also criticized by Home Minister Lal Krishna Advani, whose role has been alleged in the mosque destruction. Thousands of Hindu fundamentalists armed with truncheons, hammers and crowbars razed the 16th century Babri mosque in Ayodhya, a town 550 kilometers east of New Delhi, on Dec. 6, 1992. The destruction sparked riots across India between Hindus and Muslims that killed 2,000 people. Hindu prayers are now held in a makeshift temple at the site. Hindu nationalists claim the mosque was built by Babar, a medieval Muslim king, to desecrate the site revered by Hindus as the birthplace of Rama, the religion's principal deity, in Ayodhya. Hard-line Muslim leaders deny this. The dispute is now before the Supreme Court. "The United Nations has sent an envoy to the Taliban. What did the U.N. do on Dec. 6?" Bukhari asked. The cleric said Muslims would honor the court's decision but until then, the government should order the Hindu rituals to stop and the removal of Hindu idols from the site. In return, Bukhari said he would talk to the Taliban leader Mullah Omar and persuade him to send the remaining Buddhist statues to India. "They (Muslim leaders) are becoming bolder and challenging the government. It seems they are in collusion with the Taliban," said Goel, the Shiv Sena official. Bukhari retorted: "The Islamic world will not remain quiet. India cannot imagine what is going to happen to it if this oppression of Muslims continues. It will be unimaginable." (END) DOW JONES NEWS 03-07-01 10:25 AM * end of story *