Posted on 01/22/2024 12:07:32 PM PST by RandFan
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated a grand temple to Hindu god Ram in the flashpoint city of Ayodhya.
He said it heralded "a new era" for India - the temple replaces a 16th-Century mosque torn down by Hindu mobs in 1992, sparking riots in which nearly 2,000 people died.
Top film stars and cricketers were among guests at the event in Ayodhya.
But some Hindu seers and most of the opposition boycotted it, saying Mr Modi was using it for political gain.
General elections are due in India in the next few months and Mr Modi's political rivals say the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will be seeking votes in the temple's name in a country where 80% of the population is Hindu.
Critics have also accused the government of exploiting a religious celebration in a country which - according to its constitution - is secular. For Muslims, India's biggest minority, the event evoked fear and painful memories, members of the community in Ayodhya told the BBC in the run-up to Monday's ceremony.
Televised live, it showed Mr Modi performing religious rituals inside the temple's sanctum along with priests and Mohan Bhagwat, head of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) - the ideological fountainhead of Hindu nationalist parties.
"Today's date will go down in history," Mr Modi said after the event. "After years of struggle and countless sacrifices, Lord Ram has arrived [home]. I want to congratulate every citizen of the country on this historic occasion.
The building of the Ram temple in Ayodhya fulfils a decades-long Hindu nationalist pledge. Many Hindus believe the Babri mosque was built by Muslim invaders on the ruins of a temple where the Hindu god was born.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
The long smoldering fight in the region is Muslims and everybody else. There is no situation where Muslims behave themselves, even with each other. It is always jihad, rape, kidnap, and murder with them.
This makes sympathizing with everybody else much easier.
Relativists *always* want to “declare today the starting point”, but that makes no sense when conflicts have been going on for years, decades, or centuries. It makes what they say sound like Hippy logic.
Gotta admire the in-your-face chutzpah of this move by Modi.
LOL !
If I ruled the world, there'd be no (p)islam.
E Pluribus Fubar
I hear India won't even let Paki's cross the border into the country w/o a special card.
I wouldn’t be surprised. We’ll be surprised by some who will
back the U. S., and a larger than ever contingent that have
bought up the propaganda against the U. S., and will be
very problematic. It didn’t have to be this way.
Yes, I’m partial to that logic.
I think there needs to be a 30-40 year pause on immigration,
to allow things to settle and then revisit normal levels of
legal immigration again.
At the same time our education system needs to be revamped
so U. S. policies are understood by the general public.
Over 90% Leftists who hate our way of life, should never
be in control of anything in our nation, except self
deportation.
“Going to be a huge problem in Britain in the near future”.
Will Britain restrict bomber pilots? They ARE a nuclear-armed country.
...well, u don’t know the HISTORY
ALL of BABAR (Mughal Ruler’s) court ministers were upper caste hindus
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.