There used to be a mosque there: controversial temple inaugurated in India Six years after the terrorist attack in Carcassonne: trial begins against those linked to the perpetrators

Together with Hindu priests, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated an important but controversial temple.

The church in the northern Indian pilgrimage town of Ayodhya in the state of Uttar Pradesh stands on a site where a historic mosque was destroyed by radical Hindus decades ago. Modi celebrated the opening on Monday with several thousand guests, and millions of people watched the live broadcast of the festivities.

According to the beliefs of many Hindus, the popular deity Ram was born on the site of the temple. The destruction of the mosque led to serious riots in 1992 with thousands of deaths. In 2019, the country’s highest court finally ruled that Hindus had the right to build their temple on the disputed land.

Analysts also see the inauguration of the shrine as an unofficial campaign launch for the prime minister, who has been in office for a decade and hopes to win a third term in parliamentary elections in a few months. He wants to use the building to inspire the Hindu majority, which makes up 80 percent of the population in the multi-religious country. Critics also see it as a sign of increasing Hinduization in India, where religious minorities increasingly feel like second-class citizens.

“Beginning of a new era”

Modi said at the inauguration that this day was nothing less than the “beginning of a new era”. Among the guests were important business people and stars from the film and sports world. A number of states declared Monday a public holiday. However, the political opposition largely stayed away from the event as it criticized the mixing of religion and politics. Some Hindu believers also spoke out against the inauguration on Monday because the temple has not yet been fully built.

(hah/sda/dpa)