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Tensions over religious site in Ayodhya contested by Hindus and Muslims threaten to stymie Delhi's economic program.
New Delhi: Under a rusty metal roof in one of India's oldest cities, Amrat Lal and a dozen other craftsmen carefully engrave thousands of slabs of sandstone. When finally put together, they threaten to reignite religious violence.
The stone pillars and ceiling tiles are the building blocks of a temple marking the birthplace of Hindu god Ram. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party, which took power in May last year, has championed a decades-long fight to build the temple on the same site where Hindu groups razed a 16th century mosque in 1992.
"We must rebuild for god the home taken from him by Muslims," said Mr Lal, adding that about 75 per cent of the Ram temple's pieces are complete. "This is our opportunity to take back what is rightfully ours."
Similar to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, the site in Ayodhya has become a flashpoint for religious divisions that have defined politics in India since its founding in 1947. While Mr Modi has focused so far on overhauling the economy, a clash looms with Hindu nationalists who backed his rise to power and want him to rectify their centuries-old grievances.
Religion has been an explosive topic in India for centuries, and remains so today. While the 2001 census showed that 81 per cent of Indians were Hindus and 13 per cent Muslim, the 2011 data on religion hasn't been released due to fears of violence. Sectarian murders grew more than fourfold to 71 in 2013 from a year earlier, according to the Home Ministry.
The holy place in Ayodhya is now guarded by thousands of commandos. On any given day, hundreds of people line up to pray at a makeshift temple in the enclosed area. To access it, they must clear seven security posts surrounded by meshed fencing, CCTV cameras and watchtowers.
"It will always be ground zero of India's religious conflict," said RPN Singh, a former deputy home minister. "As long as Hindus are trying to build that temple, Muslims will be fighting them for it, tooth and nail."
Tensions may rise again next month when an organisation linked to Mr Modi's party kicks off a nationwide "Hindu Awakening" in Ayodhya. The Vishva Hindu Parishad, or World Hindu Council, advocates an agenda known as "Hindutva," which includes winning converts and scrapping legal privileges for religious minorities in addition to erecting the Ram temple.
Inflammatory moves by Hindu groups give Mr Modi's opponents an excuse to delay his economic proposals in a parliamentary session that began this week, from passing a national sales tax to making it easier to buy land. Last year, opposition lawmakers in the upper house - the one house of parliament Mr Modi doesn't control - delayed a bill to allow more foreign investment in insurance to debate forced religious conversions.
According to Hindu nationalists aligned with Mr Modi , the entire subcontinent practised Hinduism before Muslim invaders started converting people and building mosques starting from the 11th century. Those accounts say the mosque in Ayodhya, known as the Babri Masjid, was built in the 1500s on a Hindu temple marking Ram's birthplace - a claim disputed by Muslim groups.
Legal possession of the land has been contested in courts for the last 125 years, resulting in rulings that have been challenged, overturned, appealed and outright ignored.
In 1990, BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani went on a month-long journey across the country to rally support for the Ram temple. Two years later, hundreds of Hindu protesters broke through police barriers and destroyed the Babri Masjid in a day. That led to riots that killed at least 2000 people.
Although Mr Modi has recently burnished his credentials as an economic reformer, his early years endeared him to the faithful. Before joining the BJP, Mr Modi served as a worker in the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, a Hindu nationalist umbrella organisation with ties to the BJP and the World Hindu Council, the group paying Mr Lal to help construct the Ram temple.
Days before the mosque's destruction, Mr Modi gave one of his first public addresses to a crowd of Hindu followers in Ayodhya. Ten years later, when he served as chief minister of Gujarat state, an arson attack against Hindus returning from a pilgrimage to Ayodhya triggered riots that killed about 1000 people, mostly Muslims. Mr Modi denied any wrongdoing.
On the campaign trail before his win last year, Mr Modi kept the message firmly on economic development. While acknowledging his identity as a Hindutva proponent, he told a rally he would prioritise "first toilets, then temples".
Some Hindus and Muslims are trying to resolve the temple dispute amicably with a settlement to divide the site with a 30-metre wall. The World Hindu Council, however, opposes any moves to share the grounds.
Narendra Modi's plans to modernise India threatened by religious disputes
New Delhi: Under a rusty metal roof in one of India's oldest cities, Amrat Lal and a dozen other craftsmen carefully engrave thousands of slabs of sandstone. When finally put together, they threaten to reignite religious violence.
The stone pillars and ceiling tiles are the building blocks of a temple marking the birthplace of Hindu god Ram. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party, which took power in May last year, has championed a decades-long fight to build the temple on the same site where Hindu groups razed a 16th century mosque in 1992.
"We must rebuild for god the home taken from him by Muslims," said Mr Lal, adding that about 75 per cent of the Ram temple's pieces are complete. "This is our opportunity to take back what is rightfully ours."
Similar to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, the site in Ayodhya has become a flashpoint for religious divisions that have defined politics in India since its founding in 1947. While Mr Modi has focused so far on overhauling the economy, a clash looms with Hindu nationalists who backed his rise to power and want him to rectify their centuries-old grievances.
Religion has been an explosive topic in India for centuries, and remains so today. While the 2001 census showed that 81 per cent of Indians were Hindus and 13 per cent Muslim, the 2011 data on religion hasn't been released due to fears of violence. Sectarian murders grew more than fourfold to 71 in 2013 from a year earlier, according to the Home Ministry.
The holy place in Ayodhya is now guarded by thousands of commandos. On any given day, hundreds of people line up to pray at a makeshift temple in the enclosed area. To access it, they must clear seven security posts surrounded by meshed fencing, CCTV cameras and watchtowers.
"It will always be ground zero of India's religious conflict," said RPN Singh, a former deputy home minister. "As long as Hindus are trying to build that temple, Muslims will be fighting them for it, tooth and nail."
Tensions may rise again next month when an organisation linked to Mr Modi's party kicks off a nationwide "Hindu Awakening" in Ayodhya. The Vishva Hindu Parishad, or World Hindu Council, advocates an agenda known as "Hindutva," which includes winning converts and scrapping legal privileges for religious minorities in addition to erecting the Ram temple.
Inflammatory moves by Hindu groups give Mr Modi's opponents an excuse to delay his economic proposals in a parliamentary session that began this week, from passing a national sales tax to making it easier to buy land. Last year, opposition lawmakers in the upper house - the one house of parliament Mr Modi doesn't control - delayed a bill to allow more foreign investment in insurance to debate forced religious conversions.
According to Hindu nationalists aligned with Mr Modi , the entire subcontinent practised Hinduism before Muslim invaders started converting people and building mosques starting from the 11th century. Those accounts say the mosque in Ayodhya, known as the Babri Masjid, was built in the 1500s on a Hindu temple marking Ram's birthplace - a claim disputed by Muslim groups.
Legal possession of the land has been contested in courts for the last 125 years, resulting in rulings that have been challenged, overturned, appealed and outright ignored.
In 1990, BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani went on a month-long journey across the country to rally support for the Ram temple. Two years later, hundreds of Hindu protesters broke through police barriers and destroyed the Babri Masjid in a day. That led to riots that killed at least 2000 people.
Although Mr Modi has recently burnished his credentials as an economic reformer, his early years endeared him to the faithful. Before joining the BJP, Mr Modi served as a worker in the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, a Hindu nationalist umbrella organisation with ties to the BJP and the World Hindu Council, the group paying Mr Lal to help construct the Ram temple.
Days before the mosque's destruction, Mr Modi gave one of his first public addresses to a crowd of Hindu followers in Ayodhya. Ten years later, when he served as chief minister of Gujarat state, an arson attack against Hindus returning from a pilgrimage to Ayodhya triggered riots that killed about 1000 people, mostly Muslims. Mr Modi denied any wrongdoing.
On the campaign trail before his win last year, Mr Modi kept the message firmly on economic development. While acknowledging his identity as a Hindutva proponent, he told a rally he would prioritise "first toilets, then temples".
Some Hindus and Muslims are trying to resolve the temple dispute amicably with a settlement to divide the site with a 30-metre wall. The World Hindu Council, however, opposes any moves to share the grounds.
Narendra Modi's plans to modernise India threatened by religious disputes
