India confronts divide over new Hindu temple

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday spoke at the opening of a temple in Ayodhya, dedicated to the Hindu deity figure “Lord Ram.” Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party has described the temple’s consecration as a symbol of a reemerging Hindu supremacy in India. Observers also view Monday’s consecration ceremony, which occurred before builders had finished the temple’s construction, as a bid to woo Hindu voters’ support for Modi and his party before the country’s general election this year.

Why is this so divisive? The temple sits atop the ruins of an old mosque that Hindu mobs tore down decades ago. Muslims in India had used the mosque for centuries before its destruction. Riots erupted after the mosque’s destruction in 1992, resulting in the deaths of roughly 2,000 people. About 80 percent of India’s population is Hindu. The next largest religious group is Muslims, at around 14 percent of the population.

Dig deeper: Listen to Myrna Brown’s conversation with Alexandra Ellison on The World and Everything in It podcast about alleged attempts by the Indian government to assassinate Sikh activists.