Clarion India
WASHINGTON – A group of 20 American human rights organisations from diverse religious and ethnic communities including Indian-Americans strongly condemned the groundbreaking ceremony in Ayodhya by the Indian government to build a Hindu temple on the ruins of the 450-year old Babri mosque.
The mosque was demolished in 1992 by right-wing Hindu zealots associated with the RSS and its sister organisations including the BJP that is in power in India now.
The group also held a large public protest against the said event in India at the famed Times Square in New York on Wednesday.
Kaleem Kawaja, Executive Director of Association of Indian Muslims of America, Washington DC, deplored the fact that even though India’s Supreme Court declared last year that the demolition of the Babri mosque was a violation of the law, the Indian government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have created an anti-Muslim hate frenzy in India by hyping this ground breaking ceremony.
Several Hindu human rights workers, including Sunita Viswanath of Hindus for Human Rights of New York, also spoke for the protesters and condemned the fact that the name of Lord Rama is being exploited and sullied by the BJP and PM Modi for political gains.
Several protesters expressed shock at the BJP’s brazen violation of India’s secular and tolerant constitution, in transforming the country into a Hindu nation. The protesters appealed to the nations of the world to pay attention to these awful happenings and stop India from oppressing its Muslim minority.
