Following the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya on the premises of the demolished Babri mosque, a wave of fear was observed among Muslims for their religious sites. Such inaugurations can prove lethal for peace and can instigate deadly riots, as witnessed in 1992, which claimed several lives.
Similarly, these sensitive matters ramped up when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by Narendra Modi, assumed power in 2014. Since then, a large number of minorities have been facing religious persecution. The recent example is the Manipur violence between Hindus and Christians that claimed 175 lives, causing chaos in the country.
Coming back to the Ram temple, the 210 million minority Muslims feel a sense of insecurity in protecting their religious sites. In this context, after the building of the grand temple, a 600-year-old Akhunji Mosque was razed by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA). The destruction took place early in the morning, leaving worshippers in shock and grief.
In the same way, a court on January 31 ruled that Hindu worshippers can also worship in the part of the centuries-old Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi. After the verdict, various Hindu priests flocked to the mosque to say prayers. In another episode, a seminary was also demolished in the northern state of Uttarakhand.
The secular state of India should take some pragmatic measures to protect the religious sites of minorities and halt its moves to demolish the archaic religious sites. It must engage with the religious elements of all faiths to sort out complicated issues through dialogue and must not use religion to gain political fame.
SHEHZAD AHMED BROHI,
Larkana.
