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December 6
Demonstrators tore the mosque down using just hammers and their bare
hands
1992: Mob rips apart mosque in Ayodhya
England have
A mob of Hindu militants has torn down a mosque and attacked other Muslim
targets in the north Indian town of Ayodhya, in one of India"s worst outbreaks
of inter-communal violence.
The gathering at the mosque began as a religious procession organised by
three right-wing Hindu groups, including the main opposition Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP).
Hindu extremists have been campaigning to get rid of the Babri mosque in
Ayodhya, a focus for Hindu-Muslim hostility for decades.
They want to build a Hindu temple in its place, to mark what they believe
to be the birthplace of the Hindu warrior king, Lord Ram.
A court has already ordered that the mosque be protected from
demolition.
The leaders of the three parties promised to stand by the court"s decision,
and said today"s demonstration would be limited to a religious ceremony
symbolising the laying of the first bricks of a Hindu temple.
But before the ceremony could start, the 200,000-strong crowd broke through
police cordons.
They used hammers to knock down the three domes of the mosque, and then
tore at the bricks with their bare hands until the building was totally
destroyed.
The government had brought in hundreds of extra police, but eyewitnesses
said they stood by and allowed the destruction to take place.
The mob also turned on Indian and foreign journalists recording the scene,
before moving on to attack Muslim houses and property in the area.
The violence has sent shockwaves throughout the country.
Security forces throughout the north are on high alert, fearing a backlash
from India"s 120 million strong Muslim population, and the government has sent
paramilitary reinforcements to the area.
The cabinet met in emergency session and dismissed the BJP-led government
in Uttar Pradesh for failing to protect the mosque.
The state - and its 150 million inhabitants - will be ruled directly from
New Delhi.
The Prime Minister, Narasimha Rao, has repeatedly appealed for calm in
radio and television broadcasts.
"What happened today is a matter of great concern and shame for all
Indians," he said.
The leader of the BJP, Lal Krishna Advani, described the incident as "very
unfortunate", and appealed to the crowd still at the Babri mosque site to
leave.
Staff at Harefield have been preparing for months
1983: Transplant makes British medical history
Artificially 1969:
The The first heart and lung transplant operation to be performed in
Britain was successfully carried out today.
Swedish journalist, Lars Ljungberg, underwent the transplant receiving the
organs of a woman from the south of England who died yesterday.
It took a team of 20 doctors and nurses at the specialist heart unit,
Harefield Hospital, in north London, more than five hours to carry out the
operation.
Mr Ljungberg is said to be recovering well from the operation and is
recuperating on an isolation ward in the intensive care unit there.
He is said to be conscious with his wife by his side.
The team of doctors was headed by renowned surgeon Magdi Yacoub.
Hospital administrator David Thomson said staff were delighted with the
outcome.
"The patient took the five and a half hour operation very well and is
recovering now on a ventilator in the intensive care unit," Mr Thomson said.
"Mr Magdi Yacoub has said that he is pleased with the operation and that it
went very smoothly."
Mr Ljungberg is likely to remain on the ventilator for another 48
hours.
He had been waiting for a transplant at the hospital, for more than a
month.
But staff have been preparing for the pioneering and intricate procedure
for several months.
The first operation of its kind in the UK, it is said be simpler to perform
than a heart transplant.
There are fewer small blood vessels to join and just three main areas where
the organs are sown into place.
Vocabulary:
intricate : complicated; difficult to understand(复杂的) |
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