New Delhi, Twenty-two Indian diaspora organizations have united in expressing grave concerns over the inauguration of the Ram Temple at the site of the demolished Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, asserting that it sets a dangerous precedent for minorities in India.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the joint statement by the diaspora groups criticizes the move by the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government. The organizations contend that this act politicizes faith and religion for electoral gains and undermines India’s secular constitution. The statement, released four days before Republic Day, alleges that the inauguration marks the beginning of the BJP’s election campaign and represents an effort to sideline and replace the secular Constitution, which was drafted by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.
The Ram Temple was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and has been constructed on the site where the 16th-century Babri Masjid, destroyed by Hindu extremists in 1992, once stood. This event has been viewed by these organizations as a signal towards implementing the RSS’s long-term goals of establishing India as a Hindu Rashtra (State) and replacing the Constitution with the Manusmriti, an ancient Hindu text that the statement describes as Brahminical, anti-Dalit, and patriarchal.
The signatories of the statement include various diaspora organizations from the UK, the US, France, and Australia, such as the South Asia Justice Campaign, Alliance Against Islamophobia Australia, Hindus for Human Rights – UK, and the Indian American Muslim Council, among others. They criticize the timing and intention behind the temple inauguration and allege that it is part of the RSS mission to turn India into a Hindu Rashtra.
The statement also addresses the broader context of discrimination and violence against religious minorities in India, particularly Muslims. It highlights the BJP’s efforts under Modi’s leadership to erase traces of Muslim heritage in India, citing examples such as the revision of school textbooks and the rewriting of history in popular media.
Furthermore, the statement notes that the Supreme Court’s verdict on the Babri Masjid in 2019 has led to similar claims and campaigns against Muslim places of worship elsewhere in India, raising concerns about the appropriation of Muslim religious sites and the legal challenges to the Places of Worship Act 1992.
As India approaches its General Election, the inauguration of the Ram Temple is seen by these diaspora groups as emblematic of the BJP’s disregard for minority rights in the public sphere and an attempt to appropriate minorities’ cultural and religious heritage.
The statement concludes with a call for solidarity with those in India resisting the Modi regime’s actions against minorities, casteism, misogyny, persecution of dissenters, and attempts to undermine the secular Constitution.