Indian court allows Hindus to pray inside disputed mosque

An Indian court heard one of the country’s most sensitive religious disputes on Wednesday, allowing Hindu worshipers to pray inside a mosque in the city of Varanasi.

The Gyanvapi mosque is one of several Islamic houses of worship that Hindu activists, backed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party, have been trying for decades to reclaim their religion.

It was built in the 17th century by the Mughal Empire in a city where devout Hindus from across the country cremate their loved ones in the Ganges River.

The court in Varanasi ruled that Hindu worshipers – who believe the mosque replaced a destroyed temple of the deity Shiva – could pray in the basement of the building.

His verdict ordered the district authorities to “make appropriate arrangements within the next seven days” to facilitate the worshippers.

The decision is the latest in a long-running legal saga over Gyanvapi’s future.

This month, India’s official archaeological agency said a survey of the site appeared to confirm the belief that it was originally home to a temple, according to local news reports.

Read also: Hindu group hardens stance on India’s mosque-temple disputes

Bold right-wing Hindu groups have laid claim to several Muslim places of worship that they say were built over ancient temples during Mughal rule.

Last week, Modi presided over a grand opening ceremony in the nearby city of Ayodhya of a Hindu temple built on the site that once housed the old Babri mosque.

Hindu zealots had demolished that mosque in 1992 in a campaign led by Modi’s party, sparking sectarian riots that killed 2,000 people across the country, mostly Muslims.

The ensuing decades-long legal battle over the future of the Babri site ended in 2019 when India’s highest court allowed the construction of a temple to the deity Ram, who according to Hindu scripture was born in the city.

Members of Modi’s party commonly refer to India’s history of Muslim rule under the Mughal emperors as an era of “slavery”.

The prime minister described the opening of the temple last week as “the dawn of a new era”.

Calls for India to enshrine Hindu supremacy have grown rapidly louder since Modi took office in 2014, making the Muslim minority of about 210 million increasingly anxious about its future.