Islamabad, A recent analytical report highlights an alarming trend in India, where Hindutva groups, buoyed by government and judicial support, are targeting numerous mosques for demolition, aiming to replace them with Hindu temples.

According to Kashmir Media Service, the report sheds light on the increasing threats to Islamic heritage sites in India, particularly under the governance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi city has become a focal point, symbolizing the broader campaign by Hindutva forces to transform historical mosques into Hindu temples. This initiative marks a continuation of the contentious demolition of the Babri Masjid, a move that has since emboldened Hindutva advocates to challenge the legality of other longstanding mosques across the country.

The report further documents the demolition of the historical Shahi Masjid in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, on January 15, 2024, ostensibly for a road-widening project, but perceived as part of a wider effort to erase Muslim heritage in India. Legal battles spearheaded by Hindutva lawyers have increasingly put mosques at risk, leveraging the 2019 Babri Masjid case verdict to assert Hindu claims over Islamic sites.

This aggressive push to reconfigure India’s cultural and religious landscape has extended beyond mosque demolitions. The Modi administration’s policies have led to the renaming of Muslim-named institutions, places, and highways, reflecting a concerted effort to diminish Muslim presence and influence in the country.

The report concludes that these actions against Muslim religious sites and heritage, undertaken with apparent impunity, reveal the stark realities of religious intolerance and marginalization in India today. It underscores the growing concern among Indian Muslims about the future of their religious and cultural identities in the face of an emboldened Hindutva movement.