ASSESSMENTS

In India, a Long-Running Religious Fight Nears a Crucial Day in Court

Oct 18, 2019 | 09:00 GMT

A Dec. 9, 2018, rally in New Delhi calling for the construction of a Hindu temple on the site of the demolished Babri Mosque.

(SAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP/Getty Images)

Highlights

India's ruling party will use its political dominance following its recent landslide reelection to advance the core objectives of the Hindu nationalist movement, which include building a temple on the site of a mosque demolished in 1992.
The government will seek to strike a balance between advancing its ideological objectives with minimizing societal fissures and avoiding denting its image abroad or harming its economy.
Still, the Indian Supreme Court's verdict on the contentious Babri Mosque dispute could trigger violence given the issue's religiously charged nature.

A landmark Indian Supreme Court decision due by Nov. 17 could advance a core goal of the Hindu nationalist movement at the cost of exacerbating Hindu-Muslim tensions. The case traces its origins to 1992, when thousands of Hindu activists razed the historic Babri Mosque in Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh, touching off nationwide riots that killed more than 2,000 people. The Hindu nationalist movement has long demanded the construction of a temple venerating the birthplace of the Hindu god Rama on the site of the former mosque....

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