Peace: The Summum Bonum

versions. If it was implementable in Saudi Arabia, then it could have been implemented in India as well. So, the issue which would have been resolved amicably was not done so. The court of law cannot resolve this matter. In 1991, the Indian Parliament passed a legislation called the Places of Worship Act, 1991. According to this Act, the Government of India was bound to maintain the status quo of all places of worship on the Indian soil as they stood in 1947. But there was an exception to the Babri Masjid of Ayodhya. The Act maintained that the Babri Masjid issue was in court, so the government would have to wait and it would be its duty to implement the verdict of the court when it was given. In a nutshell, what is needed is an objective evaluation of the case to see what is possible and not what is ideal. This was the theme of my article on this topic in The Hindustan Times, which was titled Acceptance of Reality. The message remains the same – we must accept what is possible as well as practical and not run after unrealistic ideals. What method of condemnation should be adopted by the Muslims to condemn violence? Real condemnation is condemnation from the heart and not the condemnation done from stage as rhetoric. We must condemn violence in unequivocal terms and tell the perpetrators of such acts that their actions go against both Islam and reason, and we should not be afraid to do so. Mere stage activism is futile and would not yield any positive outcome. If Muslims disown and condemn from the bottom of their heart, then the outcome of every condemnation would be in the right direction. This is the only way Muslims around the world can condemn violence – by first condemning it in their hearts. There can be no double standards in this regard. The conversation and discussions we engage in on public platforms should be the same as the view we express privately in our homes and believe in from our hearts. What is your view on a statement made by a Pakstani writer that ‘today a person is more afraid of going to pray in Pakistan than in Israel’? T his is because while the Jews progressed, Muslims remained behind in a ghetto mentality. The mindset of Jews changed as they went into Diaspora. If the ulema would not have deprived Muslims of modern education, their mindset would have changed and such a situation