May 28, 2022

Religious tensions flare over India’s mosques

topic:	Islamophobia
located:	India
editor:	Tish Sanghera

In the ancient city of Varanasi in the north of India, Hindus and Muslims have been praying side by side for centuries. However, a new dispute over a 17th century mosque threatens to derail this delicate balance, with Hindu nationalist groups filing a high court claim to gain possession of the building, which they say contains a holy Hindu relic. 

That the Gyanvapi mosque stands on the ruins of a former Hindu temple is not in question and historians agree that the mughal emperor Aurangzeb demolished the temple and built a mosque in its place. But the court’s recent actions - seriously entertaining the claims from a politically motivated Hindu group, sealing off the mosque and banning large prayer gatherings while it considers the issue - has caused controversy. 

There are fears that the Gyanvapi mosque could be the next ‘Babri masjid’. In 1992 ultra-nationalist Hindu groups razed the Babri masjid (hindi word for mosque) to the ground, claiming it had been built on Ram’s birthplace, an important Hindu god. The Vishva Hindu Parishad held political rallies for weeks before the event, stirring up hatred and unleashing violence across the country. As tensions were high in Varanasi this week, armed police were seen patrolling the streets in anticipation of a similar conflict. 

For decades, right-wing Hindu groups have tried to reclaim high-profile Hindu mosques on the basis of their historical origins and desecration by muslim rulers. With communal tensions reaching a zenith under the nationalist BJP-led government (who openly talk of turning India into a Hindu rashtra, or Hindu-only country) such disputes have returned. The Babri masjid issue, for example, featured prominently on PM Modi's 2019 manifesto. His party promised to resolve the issue once and for all. In November 2019, months after his re-election, the Supreme Court handed the land to Hindus, paving the way for a palatial temple to be built in its place. 

Such court decisions and continuous claims to muslim places of worship send a strong signal to India’s islamic minority. “For Hindu nationalists, there is no place for muslims in India’s future except as oppressed, second-class citizens whose rights are routinely denied,” said Audrey Truschke, a professor of South Asian history at Rutgers University.

This latest dispute in Varanasi has triggered a wave of similar petitions laying claim to some of India’s oldest and most recognisable Islamic heritage sites. Even the Taj Mahal - the marble mausoleum built by Emperor Shah Jahan as tribute to his beloved wife - recently featured in a court case, where it was claimed the monument was in fact a Shiva temple named “Tejo Mahalaya.”

The Gyanvapi mosque case has become a national talking point, with pro-government national TV channels broadcasting the claims that a Hindu relic was undisputedly found on the site, hence advocating for the mosque’s end. In Bangalore, a cosmopolitan city far away in India’s south, a private school circulated an email to alumni requesting that everyone change the name of the Gyanvapi mosque to ‘temple’ on Google maps. It read, “you are requested to do it and ask our Hindu brothers and sisters to do it till Google updates this change." 

For now, it seems, as long as such divisive and communally-charged issues are elevated to prime importance, petitions reclaiming muslim spaces for the hindu majority will continue to appear. Ultimately Indians will have to decide if this is what they wish their high-court judges to spend time and resources on, or whether true development lies in looking to the future and not in digging up the past.

Image by Mayur Sable

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