STATEMENT

Washington DC. August 04, 2020. The Federation of Indian American Christians organizations of North America (FIACONA), an advocacy group dedicated to the religious freedom of the minority Indian Christians in India strongly objects to the ill-advised celebration and gloating by extremist Hindutva supporters during the occasion of the laying of foundation for a controversial temple in a place called Ayodhya, in Northern India.

The proposed temple construction is held on a site where a 500 year old mosque known as Babri Masjid was illegally tore down by extremist elements in 1992 causing the rioting and killing of thousands of people.

The scheduled celebration is to take place in Times Square on August 5th, 2020, masquerading as a ‘Bhoomi Pooja’ for the proposed Ayodhya temple. The Hindutva supremacists groups in the U.S. who support Prime Minister Modi’s policies of polarization and division have become so bold in their approach and so cavalier in their attitudes at a point where they are even ready and willing to promote policies so contradictory to the values and principles of their adopted land.

By scheduling this celebration, they are conveying to the American public that trampling the rights of the minority religious populations such as Muslims, Christians, Dalits and others in India should be an acceptable norm. These activities of neo-fascist groups pose a grave danger not only to the non-Hindu citizens in India but also to United States policies rooted in fundamental human rights and individual liberty.

FIACONA accepts the verdict by the Supreme Court of India on this matter so that this simmering dispute can be finally put to rest. However, historians would always wonder the veracity of a judgment that sided with the Hindu majority contradicting its own previous rulings.

However, it has become an emotional issue for millions of majority Hindus in India. Therefore, a solution other than awarding the disputed land to the construction of a Hindu temple would only have allowed the conflict to fester.

FIACONA believes in the separation of Religion and State, and the matters relating to religious faiths should be left with concerned communities to decide.

FIACONA expresses its sincere appreciation also to the agency that runs the NASDAQ advertisement boards for their thoughtful action in canceling the digital display of the event on their Time Square billboards at the urging of hundreds of Americans.

For further comments or press interviews, please call Mr. Koshy George, President, FIACONA at 202-738-4704. or President@stage.fiacona.org 

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