Ayodhya: India Narendra Modi to lay foundation stone for divisive Hindu temple despite coronavirus fears

Modi is due to lay a 40-kilogram (88-pound) silver brick at the site Wednesday in a ceremony attended by 175 dignitaries in Ayodhya, a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

For decades, Hindu groups campaigned for a temple to the god Ram to be built on the site of a 16th-century mosque before it was demolished by right-wing groups in 1992.

The destruction of the Babri Masjid by Hindu extremists sparked some of the worst violence seen in India since independence, with more than 2,000 people killed in riots nationwide.

But Wednesday’s ground-laying ceremony continues as coronavirus cases in India soar, with around 50,000 new infections recorded every day for the past five days.

India has recorded the third highest number of coronavirus cases in the world, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, and several high-level politicians from Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have tested positive for the virus, including Home Secretary Amit Shah, who was scheduled to take the stage on Wednesday with the prime minister.

A priest who conducts daily rituals at the Ayodhya site and four security guards have also reportedly tested positive ahead of Wednesday’s ceremony, according to CNN Affiliate CNN News18.

And Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is expected to take the stage with Modi despite the death on Sunday of Kamal Rani Varun, a minister in his cabinet who died from Covid-19.

Adityanath said in a statement Monday that “the main objective was to keep Covid-19 in mind and strictly enforce the guidelines” and that only guests should attend. “All measures are taken to ensure their safety, I call on all the faithful to stay where they are, in their homes, in their temples,” he said.

Ahead of the event, Ayodhya District Magistrate Anuj Kumar Jha sought to allay fears of the spread of the virus, saying, “We will run this program without Covid.”

“If a person is positive, we will isolate and remove them, and disinfection and disinfection will be carried out continuously during the program,” Jha said in a statement on July 30, adding that everyone working at the event is monitored.

During the ceremony, Modi will perform a prayer while nine foundation stones are laid to mark the coordinates of the temple’s innermost shrine. Holy water from 2,000 locations across the country has been sent by worshipers and will be used in the prayer ritual, according to the temple building group, the Ram Janmabhoomi Trust.

In the run-up to the ceremony, Ayodhya underwent a makeover, with freshly painted houses and saffron flags placed around the city.

The Ram Janmabhoomi Trust, said the event “will be the most historic moment in the history of independent India.”

Others say it was the culmination of years of politics by Modi and his BJP government that pushed a Hindu nationalist agenda over secular India and polarized Hindus and Muslims.

Cultural significance

The Babri Masjid was built on a disputed site in Ayodhya in the 16th century and the city has been a religious flashpoint for over 400 years.

For Hindu groups, the laying of the foundation stone of the temple is important, as it is believed to be where Lord Ram, one of Hinduism’s most revered deities, was born.

However, Muslims have also prayed at the site for centuries. Both communities lodged complaints and lawsuits for decades until the Supreme Court ruling in favor of the Hindu temple.

The move was seen as a blow to India’s Muslim minority, estimated at 200 million people, many of whom accuse the government of treating them as second-class citizens after the BJP’s apparent approval of Hindu nationalist policies.

At the time, Asaduddin Owaisi, chairman of the Muslim political party AIMIM, said the judgment authorizing the construction of the temple was a “victory of faith over facts” which the BJP would use to carry out its “poisoned agenda”.

Laying the stone is a victory for Modi’s BJP as it fulfills a key election promise to build Ayodhya Temple.

It was Ayodhya’s question that first helped the BJP gain significant electoral ground. The dispute over the religious site was seized by the BJP to help secure more than half of the seats in Uttar Pradresh’s state election in 1991, a year before the deadly riots.

While India is a secular nation in its constitution, the BJP has its roots in the Hindu right-wing movement of India and many followers view India as a Hindu nation.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath a Hindu priest known for his nationalist views and provocative rhetoric against Muslims, called Wednesday’s Ayodhya event “a historic and moving moment, as well as an opportunity to set a precedent for a new India.”

Wednesday also marks a year since the prime minister took the surprise decision to remove a constitutional provision granting the state of Jammu and Kashmir relative autonomy – another major election promise.

The move gave New Delhi more control over the affairs of the predominantly Muslim state and threw the already turbulent region into turmoil as tens of thousands of new troops were deployed and residents plunged into a communication breakdown, with Internet services suspended, curfews and roadblocks put in place. in place. A year later, Internet services are partially restored and international rights groups repeatedly called the government to end the restrictions.

CNN’s Akanksha Sharma contributed to this report.

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