The authorities in India inaugurated in an official ceremony with the participation of the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, the Lord Ram temple in the city of Ayodhya, a temple built on the ruins of a Muslim mosque whose destruction caused riots among the Muslim community in India and ignited a conflict that divided and agitated the subcontinent.
"Today, our lord Lord Ram has arrived. After decades of waiting, our Ram has arrived. The idol of our Lord Ram will no longer remain in the tent, now the idol will be placed in a heavenly temple. The sun of January 22 has brought with it a magnificent aura. It is not just a date on the calendar but The beginning of a new cycle of time. Even in a thousand years, people will still be discussing this date and these times," Modi told thousands attending the ceremony.
Indian Prime Minister Modi at the temple inauguration ceremony in Ayodhya Reuters
The event was attended by hundreds of Hindu religious leaders from around the country, businessmen and billionaires and officials at all levels of government.
The state invested tens of millions of dollars in the visual restoration of the city of Ayodhya in preparation for the ceremony and a lot of money was invested in the construction of the temple, which is supposed to be a reconstruction of an ancient temple that existed on the site, considered by the Hindus to be the birthplace of Lord Ram.
"The Lord Ram is not a source of controversy, it is the solution to all our disputes," said Prime Minister Modi, making a single reference in his speech to the conflict that claimed human lives around the construction of the temple.
The main opposition party in the country, the Indian National Congress party, announced the boycott of the ceremony following outrage over the authorities' disregard for the feelings of the country's Muslim population.
Despite the criticism, the dedication of the temple became a national holiday with the participation of hundreds of thousands in different parts of the country.
Inauguration of Kadesh Ram in Ayodhya, India,
The controversy surrounding the construction of the temple, which was made possible by the ruling of the Supreme Court of India in 2019, crosses not only between Muslims and Hindus but also between different political views in India.
The Nationalist Congress Party, which ruled India continuously from its founding in 1948 until less than a decade ago, holds an inclusive national outlook that sees India's Muslim heritage as an integral part of the national identity.
On the other hand, Prime Minister Modi's party, the Indian People's Party, holds a Hindu national view that sees the Hindu heritage as the central basis for the country's cultural and political life.
It was the party supporters who took part in the riots in 1992 that led to the destruction of the Babur Mosque, the mosque that stood where the Hindu temple had been built since the 16th century, was completely destroyed and abandoned after the riots.
In the riots that took place, more than 2,000 people were killed and relations between India and its Muslim neighbors deteriorated significantly.
The police prevented the Hindu rioters from building a temple on the spot, but a tent with the image of the god Rama was put up near the ruins of the mosque.
In July of 2005, Muslims attacked a train carrying pilgrims to the site of the destroyed mosque in Ayodhya.
58 Hindus were murdered by the rioters.
In response, an angry mob attacked Muslim neighborhoods and approximately 1,000 Muslims were murdered.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi next to the image of Lord Ram in the temple in Ayodhya, photo: AFP
The bloody history surrounding the fight for the holy site and the Indian government's decision to build the temple on the ruins of the mosque as a political showpiece have left many Muslims in the country with a hard feeling.
Maulan Badshan Khan, a 65-year-old Muslim and a resident of Ayodah, says: "The wounds of the destruction of the mosque will always remain there. Even if many feel afraid to express them. Unfortunately, the new temple is meant to symbolize for Muslims their place in the new India."
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