India: Hindu temple built on ruined mosque helps Modi strengthen political position

NEW DELHI (AP) — Three decades after Hindu mobs demolished a historic mosque, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend consecration of a grand Hindu temple at the same venue on Monday in a political move to boost his party ahead of a decisive national vote.

Temple dedicated to Hinduism’s most revered deity Lord Ram to be cemented, experts say Modi’s legacy — durable but also controversial — as one of India’s most significant leaders, seeking to transform the country from a secular democracy to an avowedly Hindu nation.

“Right from the start, Modi was driven by marking his permanence in history. He has ensured that with the Ram temple,” said Nilanjan Mukopadhyay, an expert on Hindu nationalism and author of a book on Modi.

Many see the opening of the temple as a campaign launch for Modi, an outspoken nationalist who has been widely accused of supporting Hindu supremacy in officially secular India. Modi’s Hindu nationalist party is expected to again use religion for political gains in the upcoming national elections in April or May and secure a third consecutive term in power.

Made a national event by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, the opening of the temple in Ayodhya – a small town in northern India that has been a historical flashpoint – is expected to resonate deeply with Hindu voters.

Many of Modi’s supporters hold him responsible for restoring Hindu pride in Indiawhere Muslims make up just over 14% of the population.

“What is being done in Ayodhya, the kind of scale on which it is being built now, will actually make it look like the Hindu Vatican and that is what will be publicized,” Mukopadhyay said. “Modi will miss no opportunity to try to sell the achievement of having built a temple.”

Built at an estimated cost of $217 million, the Ram Temple is central to Hindus who believe that Lord Ram was born on the exact spot where the Muslim Mughals built the Babri Mosque in the 16th century on top of the ruins of the temple. The mosque was destroyed by Hindu mobs in December 1992, sparking nationwide riots that killed more than 2,000 people, mostly Muslims. It set in motion events that redefined social identity politics in India and catapulted Modi’s BJP from two parliamentary seats in the 1980s to its current political dominance.

In the early 1990s, then a little-known local leader in his home state of Gujarat, Modi also helped organize a public agitation that aimed to build support for the construction of what is now a Ram temple on the site of the former Babri Mosque.

Muslim groups have been waging a decades-long legal battle over the restoration of the Babri mosque. The the dispute ended in 2019 when, in a controversial ruling, India’s Supreme Court called the destruction of the mosque a “flagrant violation of the rule of law” but granted the site to Hindus. The court granted the Muslims another plot of land in an isolated area.

This sordid history is still an open wound for many Muslims, and some say the temple is the greatest political testament to the supremacy of Hinduism.

“There is a fear that this government and all its affiliates want to wipe out all traces of Muslim or Islamic civilization from the country,” said Zia Us Salam, author of the book Being a Muslim in Hindu India.

Indian Muslims have more and more come under attack in recent years by Hindu nationalist groups and at least three historic mosques in northern India have been embroiled in litigation over claims made by Hindu nationalists who claim they were built on temple ruins. Hindu nationalists have also filed numerous cases in Indian courts seeks ownership of hundreds of historic mosques.

“On the one hand, they want to change the names of all the cities that have a Muslim-sounding name. On the other hand, they want to get rid of almost every mosque and the courts are happy to accept petitions under any pretext,” Salam said.

Restoring the temple at the disputed site has been part of the BJP’s campaign strategy for decades, but it was Modi, who came to power in 2014 on a wave of Hindu revivalism, who finally made good on the promise after attending groundbreaking ceremony in 2020

Ahead of the inauguration, Modi asked people to celebrate across the country by lighting lamps in homes and at local shrines, saying the temple would be a symbol of “cultural, spiritual and social unity”. His government also announced a half-day closure of all its offices on Monday to allow employees to take part in the celebrations. Modi has released postage stamps for the Ram temple and live telecasts of the ceremony are planned across the country.

In many cities, saffron flags, a symbol of Hindu nationalism, have become ubiquitous. A number of other politicians, high profile movie stars and industrialists are also expected to attend.

But the event will also be marked by some conspicuous absences.

Some opposition leaders boycotted the ceremony, while denouncing it as a political stunt and accusing the government of using religion for political gain. Four key Hindu religious authorities refused to go to the inauguration, with two of them saying that consecrating an unfinished temple goes against Hindu scriptures and that Modi is not a religious leader and therefore not qualified to preside over the ceremony.

Salam said Modi has erased the line between state and religion by making his faith a public display, which has energized his hardcore supporters.

“When was the last time he was prime minister? There are so many instances where he has just behaved as a BJP leader or a Hindutva mascot, rarely as a Prime Minister of India,” Salam said.