Janaab (Gentlemen),
I will not insult you by greeting you with the words ‘Assalam-o-Aleikum’: that means ‘May peace be
upon you’. I know that this would hurt your sentiments because you are fiercely opposed to any notion of peace and well-being. Irrespective of which lashkar or army you may belong to, you cannot deny that your objective is not anyone’s welfare but bloodshed and destruction. You claim to be very brave and courageous but your bomb blasts and bloodbaths are always carried out surreptitiously. You justify your acts by saying that you are being subjected to brutal treatment, that you are being crushed. In this regard, I would like to ask you a simple question: Are you not perpetrating on the innocent people of this country the same barbaric acts that you claim to have yourself been subjected to? Where then is the difference between you and your tormentors?

This time you chose to target the ancient city of Benaras for your bloody deed. It is more than obvious that the decision to target Benaras could not have been a hurried or impulsive one. You must have settled upon it after a great deal of thought and careful strategy. Your intention must have been to teach Hindus a lesson. But you forget that in every corner of this country, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists and Jains live cheek by jowl. If traders from other communities put up their stalls outside Hindu temples, the same holds true outside mosques and dargahs. You may also be aware that in our country there are no separate railway stations and trains for Hindus and Muslims.

When you blasted your bombs at the Varanasi Cantonment railway station shortly before the departure of the Shivganga Express, it was not people of just one religion who bled. You should try making bombs that identify people by their faith before blasting them to bits. Only then can you hope to succeed with your barbaric ways. You cannot also deny that first in Delhi, and now in Varanasi, your jamaat has selected spots where ordinary innocent citizens are out on the streets. It is easy to infer, from your choice of targets, how little your sick minds care for your own people.

The city that you have chosen for your latest bloody act happens to be the city of Kabir and Munshi Premchand. This is the same Kabir whom the world remembers as a staunch opponent of religious fanaticism and casteism. Throughout his life Kabir never compromised with bigots, self-proclaimed guardians of faith or those who engaged in inhuman social practices. The renowned Premchand, who wrote in Urdu as much as in Hindi, pursued his literary activism from Lamhi, which is close to Varanasi. He, too, fought pitched battles against religious hypocrisy and blind faith.

Varanasi also enjoys the distinction of having been a centre of revolutionary resistance to British colonialism. Hindus and Muslims from this city stood together and shed their blood to battle the tyranny of colonial rulers. All this is part of the living tradition of Varanasi. You have targeted Varanasi presumably to teach Hindus a lesson. But you forget that despite the untiring efforts of communalists and despite all your blessings to them, Varanasi, unlike certain other parts of the country, has steadfastly refused to get polarised along Hindu-Muslim lines. Bismillah is still a proud resident of this city and the strains of his shehnai still resound at Hindu marriages and sacred sites.

Urdu poet Nazir Banarsi also comes from this very city and thus described the place: "Mauje Ganga ki tarah jhoom uthi bazm-e-Nazir/ Zindagi aayi Benaras ka jahaan naam aaya (Nazir’s gathering swayed like the mighty Ganga/ The very mention of the word Benaras is life-enriching)". And it was Benaras again that inspired his words: "Kaba-o-Dair-o-Kalisa sub me jaana chahiye, dar kahin ka ho mukaddar azmaana chahiye (One must go to the Kaaba, visit the temple and the church/ One should seek salvation from every quarter)".

Even after the ferocious assaults by Hindutva forces, Nazir wrote in 1991: "Mera man hai Gokul ki tarah saaf suthra, Meri saans aisi jaise koi bansuri bajaye/ Meri ek aankh Ganga meri ek aankh Jamuna, Mera dil khud ek sangam jise poojna ho aaye" (My mind is as clean and pure as Gokul/ My breath like the sound of the flute/ One of my eyes is the Ganga, the other the Jamuna, my heart is a Sangam where all worshippers are welcome").

Lashkari gentlemen, allow me to give you a little background of the Sankat Mochan temple. I am talking of the temple that you selected for your beastly deed and whereby you transformed a marriage ceremony into a funeral wake. This famous temple in Varanasi was founded by none less than Goswami Tulsidas, the author of the Ramcharitmanas. This is the same Tulsidas who invited the wrath of self-anointed defenders of the faith by scripting the story of Ram in Avadhi, the language of the masses. It is said that because of the social boycott imposed on him by Hindu bigots he used to sleep inside mosques.

The Sankat Mochan temple is one that has opened its doors to followers of all faiths. I, myself, will never forget those days in the 1980s when social activists had full permission to rehearse their nukkad-natak (street theatre) in the compound of this very temple. No one ever questioned the religious background of the theatre activists who rehearsed there.

You also cannot but be aware that Varanasi is a city of weavers where Hindus and Muslims depend critically on one another. If Muslim weavers weave the cloth, it is Hindu traders who reach it to markets across the country and the world. They are tied together by a common bond.

You obviously cannot abide any of this. Not only do you wish to destroy a city that is a symbol of common heritage, you want to demolish the very ideals of peaceful coexistence, fraternity and brotherhood that are major obstacles in the path of your malevolent project. It is also true that you are not alone in the pursuit of your dirty designs. In our country, too, there are certain forces who want your efforts to be successful, for that would also mean the success of their own divisive agenda.

There exist individuals and organisations in our country whose slogans might sound different but whose objectives are very similar to yours. In Hindu majority India, Hindutva is finding it difficult to flower and bloom. History is witness to the fact that soon after the demolition of the Babri Masjid, the BJP was dislodged from power in Uttar Pradesh. And despite the use of all manner of communal tricks, the saffron-led alliance government lost the Indian people’s vote of confidence in 2004. Hindutva had fallen on bad days but renewed Lashkari action has revived hopes of their resurgence.

You yourself can see that even those leaders from the Hindutva camp who claimed to have taken sanyas have rushed back to the political arena after your bomb blasts in Varanasi. This time there will be not one but two rath yatras to hit the road simultaneously. There is a newfound joy in the Hindutva camp. Their offices, which used to shut long before nightfall, are now beehives of activity until late into the night. Hindutvavadis are not in the least perturbed by the fact that a city which is a symbol of our common heritage has been attacked. Instead, ‘religion is in danger’ is their battle cry.

Your slogan, too, is the same. Do you not recognise that despite the noises that you make against each other, both of you are part of the same malady? Thanks to the Lashkari attack, Hindutva has managed to put another of its internal problems on the back-burner; it was starting to look as if there were as many agendas as there were swayamsevaks. They are all very thankful to you now for having given them a common purpose.

Lashkari gentlemen! You must surely have learnt by now that President Bush too is mighty pleased with your recent actions. Despite the efforts of the Indian government, the overwhelming majority of ordinary Indians saw Bush as a muscle-flexing warmonger bent on terrorising others. When in India recently, he was greeted with protest demonstrations from all corners of the country. Through these protests, our people cautioned the national government to steer clear of Bush’s evil designs. Through their opposition, people of diverse faiths demonstrated their unity.

It is only natural that all this greatly displeased all Bush supporters and America lovers in the country. But the blasts in Varanasi have raised new hopes in the hearts of the America lovers. Bush’s warmongering is no longer the subject of debate in the country; the communal divide, riots and ‘religion is in danger’ are the main issues of discourse. You and you alone deserve full credit for this turn of events.

Finally, let me tell you that your criminal deed has brought a lot of relief for the powers that be in our country. The government that came to power in 2004 promised to address the issues of unemployment, hunger, poverty and price rise. But all these promises have been conveniently forgotten. In the past two years starvation deaths, price rise and unemployment have scaled new heights. Fed up with this state of affairs, people were beginning to stir.

But your acts of wanton terror aimed at heightening communal tension have pushed all the basic issues pertinent to the everyday life of ordinary people to the background. Instead of waging a war on price rise, unemployment, oppression and atrocities, our country is being turned into a battleground for holy wars. Leaders who never keep their promises should indeed be very grateful to you.