In the name of God

The destruction of temples and other places of worship has been happening throughout recorded history. But there is a feeling that in the modern age, the majority of the world's population is civilized and that people dont sink to such barbarous acts. The destruction of the Buddha statues in Bamiyan provided a reminder to the world that this is clearly not the case. That particular case occupied centre-stage in the world media because the Taliban regime was in the midst of the American "war on terror". But other such occurences have gone unreported, both through censorship and indifference.

A good example of the latter is the surrent situation in Malaysia. In the leadup to elections in 2007, the Malaysian government has embarked upon a campaign to seek out and demolish as many Hindu temples, Christian churches and places of worship of other minority faiths in an attempt to appease Islamic fundamentalists and score their votes. The Malaysian press, which serves the majority muslim population, has not seen fit to cover this campaign. The forward elements in the Malaysian press are under censorship. And the international media is largely indifferent to such violations of human rights. The BBC website has some coverage, but they are more afraid of hurting fundamentalist sentiments than about spreading the truth about whats happening.

Sharanya Manivannan, an Indian living in Malaysia, has bucked this trend and is trying to raise awareness about the dire situation of Hindus and other minorities in Malaysia by writing about what the wider media has refused to do on her blog. So please click here to check it out and find out more about the terrible abuses being perpetrated by a supposedly liberal, open-minded Muslim country.