Albania hosts MWL chief for Eid sermon at largest mosque in the Balkans    Saudi Arabia launches pavilion at Bologna International Book Fair 2025    Rare Kaaba interior coverings showcased at Islamic Arts Biennale in Jeddah    Haramain High-Speed Railway transports over 1.2 million passengers during Ramadan    Marine Le Pen sentenced to prison, barred from office over EU funds embezzlement    UK returns over 24,000 migrants as Starmer scraps Rwanda deportation plan    Missing US soldiers' armored vehicle recovered from Lithuanian swamp    Myanmar declares seven days of national mourning after devastating earthquake    Saudi Transport Authority says passengers can ride for free if taxi meters are off    Ministry of Education forms 425 community partnerships with SR653 million impact    Defense, interior, and national guard ministers extend Eid greetings, praise efforts of military and security personnel    Mexico bans junk food in schools to fight childhood obesity epidemic    Elon Musk's xAI acquires X in all-stock deal    Sweet sales surge ahead of Eid as Saudi chocolate imports top 123 million kg in 2024    Saudi creatives shine at Jeddah's Fawanees Nights with art, fashion, and storytelling    100 Thieves claim Marvel Rivals Invitational NA crown as 2025 scene heats up    T1 CEO confirms Gumayusi's return for LCK Spring after lineup shakeup    Bollywood actress vindicated over boyfriend's death after media hounding    Saudi Arabia hold Japan to goalless draw in Saitama to stay in World Cup hunt    NewJeans announces hiatus after setback in court battle    George Foreman, heavyweight champion and cultural icon, dies at 76    Grand Mufti rules against posting prayers and preaching in mosques on social media    King Salman prays for peace and stability for Palestinians in Ramadan message King reaffirms Saudi Arabia's commitment to serving the Two Holy Mosques and pilgrims    Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan 'out of danger' after attack at home in Mumbai    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Indian Muslims anxious as court prepares to rule on destroyed mosque
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 04 - 11 - 2019

In the Indian town of Ayodhya, minority Muslims are feeling under siege as they await a Supreme Court ruling on a centuries-old religious dispute that has cast a shadow over their relations with the majority Hindu community.
After a tangle of legal cases, the Supreme Court in August decided to hear arguments every day in an effort to resolve the dispute over what should be built on the ruins of the 16th-century Babri Masjid, destroyed by a Hindu mob in 1992.
The uproar over the mosque triggered some of India's deadliest riots, in which nearly 2,000 people, most of them Muslim, were killed.
The bloody controversy raised lingering questions about the role of religion in the officially secular country, and the place of Muslims in it.
Last month, Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi finished the hearings and is expected to pronounce his verdict in the next couple of weeks.
Whichever way it goes, the decision is likely to have a significant impact on the fraught relationship between India's Hindus and Muslims, who constitute 14 percent of its 1.3 billion people.
While most Muslim religious leaders want the mosque to be rebuilt, Hindus say there is evidence there was a temple on the site before the mosque was built in 1528 by a commander of Babur, the founder of the Mughal dynasty.
Construction of a "grand temple" in Ayodhya has long been an election promise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which won a second term with a landslide this year.
Fearing tension after the court decision, Mohammed Shahid, 48, the grandson of the mosque's last Imam, or prayer leader, has decided to move his family away.
He has reason to be afraid.
Shahid's father, Mohammed Shabir, was killed by a mob of Hindus who rampaged through Ayodhya before tearing down the mosque on Dec. 6, 1992.
"In 1992, we decided to stay put - a decision that we live to regret," Shahid said, sitting in the courtyard of his run-down, two-storied house.
"Other than killing my father, they set ablaze our house and a sawmill, our only source of income."
Shahid said he was glad that his grandfather, who had died in 1990, did not see the destruction of the mosque.
Unlike Shahid, Haji Mahboob Ahmad, a 66-year-old Muslim community leader who lives near the site, doesn't plan to leave.
But he shares Shahid's anxiety.
"We're conscious of the fact that some bad elements can try to foment trouble by taking advantage of the situation and that's why I've requested authorities to ensure the safety of Ayodhya's Muslims," Ahmad said.
Ahmad said India's founding fathers established it as a secular democracy, and it must remain that.
The day Shahid's father was killed, Hindu Hajari Lal, 57, escaped death.
Lal was among the hundreds of Hindus who destroyed the mosque with shovels, hammers and their bare hands, bringing down its domes before the whole structure collapsed.
Unfortunately for Lal, part of the building fell on him, trapping him in the rubble with broken bones.
"Since that fateful day of 1992, the only objective of my life is to see a permanent temple on the site. I can die in peace if I get to see the temple," Lal said.
That's because Lal and millions of other Hindus believe the mosque was built at the birthplace of deity Ram, one of their most revered deities.
Lal helps to guide a steady stream of pilgrims who come to see a model of what they hope will become a new temple.
Visitors can also look at an open field of masonry, in pink sandstone, including piles of ornately carved columns. Concrete pillars and blocks for foundations are also ready.
"Once the court green-lights construction of the temple, we can quickly move these concrete blocks from the workshop to the temple site," said Sharad Sharma, spokesman for the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, or World Hindu Council.
Top politicians, including some cabinet ministers, regularly visit Ayodhya to pay their respect to Nritya Gopal Das, an influential monk and chairman of a trust committed to building the temple.
"I'm sure Modi ji is aware of the sentiments of millions of Hindus who have been endlessly waiting to see the Ram temple," said Das, using an honorific for Modi. — Reuters


Clic here to read the story from its source.