Modi's party seeks big win as 2 key Indian states vote
Top Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, including Modi, have campaigned heavily to win West Bengal for the first time and dislodge the stateโs chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, as well as retain power in northeastern Assam state. The vote comes as tens of thousands of farmers have rattled Modiโs government with prolonged protests on the fringes of the capital, New Delhi. AdKailash Vijayvargia, a BJP leader, rejected Banerjee's criticism and said she was just rattled by the growing popularity of the BJP party in the state. In southern India, Modi's BJP party is vying for a third spot in Kerala, currently ruled by a Communist Party-led government. And in legislative elections in Tamil Nadu, both the BJP and Congress have allied with powerful regional parties as junior partners.
India's PM Modi faces big electoral test in Muslim areas
Modi and his Hindu nationalist party are making a serious bid for electoral victories in three states that have sizeable minority Muslim populations. In West Bengal, rival groups have attacked each other with sticks and rocks, and even set vehicles on fire. But in West Bengal and Assam, the BJP is banking on its strong Hindu nationalist ideology to draw votes. The test for Modi is likely to be the toughest in West Bengal, analysts say, where the political discourse has shifted from issues to personalities. โIts best hope remains in breaching West Bengal and consolidating its presence in Assam, its gateway to Indiaโs northeast,โโ said analyst Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
A year on, India's riot victims say justice still unserved
As the first anniversary of bloody communal riots that convulsed the Indian capital approaches, Muslim victims are still shaken and struggling to make sense of their struggle to seek justice. Many of the Muslim victims of last year's bloody violence say they have run repeatedly into a refusal by police to investigate complaints against Hindu rioters. AdMany believe the catalyst for last year's riots was a fiery speech by Kapil Mishra, a leader from Modiโs party. A year on, many Muslim victims of the riots are still cowering in fear of further bloodletting. The stories of many other Muslim victims follow a similar pattern.
Indian state outlaws religious conversion by marriage
Uttar Pradesh is the third Indian state ruled by Modiโs party after Haryana and Madhya Pradesh to approve such legislation to check what Hindu nationalist leaders call forced and unlawful religious conversions. Although Indiaโs constitution is secular and provides protection to all faiths, the issue of โlove jihadโ has gripped headlines and pitted Modiโs party leaders against secular activists. Indiaโs investigating agencies and courts have, however, rejected the โlove jihadโ theory, which many see as part of an anti-Muslim agenda by Modiโs party. They accuse the party of fanning religious passions and presiding over religious intolerance and sometimes even violence. The police complaint was registered in Madhya Pradesh state for allegedly offending the religious sentiments of Hindus.
32 acquitted in razing of India mosque that set off violence
An Indian court on Wednesday acquitted all 32 accused, including senior leaders of the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, in the case. Last year, Indiaโs Supreme Court ruled in favor of building a Hindu temple on the disputed site. The Supreme Court also ruled that the demolition of the Babri Masjid was illegal and ordered that the separate trial in the mosque demolition case be completed expeditiously. The four acquitted BJP leaders โ L.K. โWhen the Supreme Court said that the demolition of the mosque was an unlawful act, how can a lower court set free the accused?โ he said.
Supporters, opponents of Hindu temple meet in Times Square
People gather in Times Square after the groundbreaking ceremony of a temple dedicated to the Hindu god Ram by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2020, in New York. Hindus rejoiced as Modi broke ground on a long-awaited temple of their most revered god, Ram, at the site of a demolished 16th century mosque. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)NEW YORK A Midtown Manhattan celebration of a Hindu temple being built on disputed ground in India brought polarized groups into Times Square, where supporters of the landmark project were flanked by protesters calling it an offense to Muslims. Modi participated in the groundbreaking for the Hindu temple, which will be built where the Babri Masjid mosque stood, on Wednesday in the northeastern Indian city of Ayodhya. The organizers of the temple celebration in Times Square paid for billboards showing the planned Ayodhya temple, images the deity Ram and the Indian flag.
Indian PM to lay foundation of temple at razed mosque site
Wednesday's groundbreaking ceremony follows a ruling by India's Supreme Court last November favoring the building of a Hindu temple on the disputed site in Uttar Pradesh state. Hindus believe their god Ram was born at the site and claim that the Muslim Emperor Babur built a mosque on top of a temple there. Last week, a priest and 15 police officers at the temple site tested positive for the virus. Hindus believe their god Ram was born at the site and claim Muslim Emperor Babur built a mosque on top of a temple there. Repealing Kashmir's special status and building the Ram temple have been the BJPs core ideological planks.
Hindus in India set to build temple at razed mosque site
Wednesday's groundbreaking ceremony follows a ruling by Indias Supreme Court last November favoring the building of a Hindu temple on the disputed site in Uttar Pradesh state. Hindus believe their god Ram was born at the site and claim that the Muslim Emperor Babur built a mosque on top of a temple there. The Supreme Court's verdict paved the way for the building of a temple in place of the demolished mosque. The court also ordered that Muslims be given 5 acres (2 hectares) of land to build a new mosque at a nearby site. The Gyanvapi mosque in the Uttar Pradesh city of Varanasi is in the complex of the Kashi Vishwanath temple dedicated to Lord Shiva.
India's PM to attend temple groundbreaking at disputed site
FILE-In this Nov. 11, 2019 file photo, Hindu devotees pray while walking towards a temple, in Ayodhya, India. Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend a groundbreaking ceremony next month for a Hindu temple on a disputed site in northern India where a 16th-century mosque was torn down by Hindu hard-liners in 1992. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh, File)NEW DELHI Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend a groundbreaking ceremony next week for a Hindu temple on a disputed site in northern India where a 16th century mosque was torn down by Hindu hard-liners in 1992, according to the trust overseeing the temple construction. In November, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the temple trust, saying that Muslim petitions would be given five acres at an alternative site. Hindus hard-liners have long contended Mughal Muslim invaders built a mosque on top of an existing temple in the ancient city of Ayodya.