2024-01-22 01:37:31
In India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated an important and controversial temple in the pilgrimage town of Ayodhya in the state of Uttar Pradesh on Monday. The temple was built on a site where the popular Hindu god Ram is said to have been born and where a historic mosque once stood. Radical Hindus destroyed these more than three decades ago, which led to major unrest with hundreds of deaths.
Critics also see the event with religious rituals as a sign of increasing Hinduization in the country, where religious minorities increasingly feel like second-class citizens. Modi will celebrate the opening of the church with several thousand invited guests – including important business people and big stars from the world of film and sports. At the same time, the event will be broadcast live on television throughout the country. A number of states have declared Monday a public holiday.
The construction of the temple is also an election promise of Modi’s Hindu nationalist ruling party. He is now making good on this – just a few months before the parliamentary elections this year. India is the most populous democracy in the world with around 1.4 billion inhabitants – around 80 percent are Hindus and around 14 percent are Muslims.
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