Modi opens Ram Mandir paving the way for demolition of other mosques in India

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday inaugurated a grand temple to the Hindu god Ram in the flashpoint city of Ayodhya, BBC reported.

The incomplete temple is built on the ruins of the 16th-century Babri mosque razed by Hindu mobs in 1992. The attack ignited nationwide riots in which nearly 2,000 people mainly Muslims were killed.

The demolition was followed by a legal battle regarding the ownership of the land. However, it was forcefully resolved in 2019 when the Supreme Court ruling gave it to Hindus. In return, Muslims were given a plot outside the city to build a mosque.

Thousands of guests, including top film stars and cricketers including Amitabh Bachchan, Alia Bhatt, and Sachin Tendulkar attended the event in Ayodhya.

In Ayodhya, some Muslims told the BBC before the event that the day evoked fear and painful memories for them. 

Some said they would send their children out of the city, fearing tensions might be stoked when the streets filled with Hindu devotees from around the country.

The events in Ayodhya are emboldening people to foment similar tensions elsewhere. In recent years, multiple heritage sites, particularly mosques, have come under threat from Hindu nationalists.

In early 2019 Hindu nationalists attempted to bury a statue of their goddess Nandi in Gyanvapi mosque in Uttar Pradesh, Al Jazeera reported.

 A similar incident happened in 2023 when four people tried placing a statue of their goddess Saraswati in the Kamal Maula Mosque in Madhya Pradesh state.

Several cases have been filed against many mosques in India alleging that these Mosques are built on land where the Mandir used to be, such as the Sunehri Bagh mosque in Delhi and the 800-year-old Shamsi Jama mosque in Uttar Pradesh.

Last week, the Supreme Court put on hold a High Court judgement ordering a study of the 17th-century Shahi Idgah Mosque in Mathura to see if it was built over the remains of a temple.