Indian Hindus begin prayers at mosque after court order

Varanasi, India – AFP

Hindu worshippers on Thursday began praying inside a mosque in the Indian city of Varanasi just hours after a court order gave them the go-ahead at the deeply sensitive site, media reported.

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

A Varanasi court ruled Wednesday that Hindu worshippers could pray in the building’s basement, and ordered authorities to “make proper arrangements” for worshippers within a week.

Broadcaster NDTV reported that family members of Hindu priests started praying in the mosque’s basement on Thursday.

The Gyanvapi mosque was built in the 17th century during the Muslim Mughal empire in a city where Hindus from across the country cremate relatives by the Ganges river.

Hindu worshippers believe the mosque replaced a temple to the Hindu deity Shiva.

Right-wing Hindu groups have laid claim to several Muslim sites of worship they say were built atop ancient temples during Mughal rule.

Last week, Modi presided over a grand inauguration ceremony in the nearby city of Ayodhya for a Hindu temple built on grounds once home to the centuries-old Babri mosque.

Hindu zealots had torn down that mosque in 1992 in a campaign spearheaded by members of Modi’s party, sparking sectarian riots that killed 2,000 people nationwide, most of them Muslims.

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