This refers to "Shiva still weeps at Katas", a review of Reema Abbasi and Madiha Aijaz's book Historic Temples in Pakistan: A Call to Conscience (BS Weekend, August 9). It is appalling that the rights of minorities are not just trampled on but also completely disregarded and their places of worship are dying a slow death. That some temples and churches are still left, and the faithful can go to these institutions of divinity is a tribute to all the tolerant and saner elements in society. They do not want the declining numbers to be demolished or their usage transformed and the "syncretic culture" of the Greater India erased. India, like most developing countries, has a host of problems ranging from corruption and poverty to female foeticide. Fortunately though, religious intolerance and the demolition of places of worship are not on the list of issues that ail India. If the hearts of the Pakistanis open up to the plight of minorities, these attacks can come down. Their faith and places of worship can still be preserved.
H N Ramakrishna Novi, Michigan
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