Source: indiatoday.intoday.in
INDIA, October 1, 2010:
[HPI note: Before and after the Ayodhya verdict, the Indian media published a flood of articles about the peaceful, positive coexistence of Hindus and Muslims. To give the HPI reader the feel of the county’s attempt to bring to the media this less loud, but more prevalent and benign, side of religious relations, HPI today includes the summary of a few of those pieces.]
Sixty-year-old Shahjahan is in the business of making garlands since she married 45 years ago. Like her, 100-odd Muslims, mostly women and children, have been plying this trade in Ayodhya since decades. So what’s so special? The buyers. Hindu devotees who throng the ancient town from across the world offer these garlands while they pray at scores of temples dotting Ayodhya.
The community claims that there is a harmony between Hindus and Muslims. “It is only the outsiders who create disturbance every time. The entry of any outsider, be it a politicians or media, should be banned in Ayodhya”, Kaiser Jahan, a garland maker said.