Team Clarion
NEW DELHI — The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) — a 57-member bloc of Muslim countries — on Tuesday denounced the construction and inauguration of the “Ram Temple” built on the site of the five-century-old Babri Masjid in Ayodhya.
In a statement issued on social media platform X on Tuesday, the OIC expressed “grave worry” over the construction and inauguration of the temple at the site of the razed Babri Masjid.
“In line with the OIC position expressed by the Council of Foreign Ministers in its previous sessions, the General Secretariat denounces these actions aimed at obliterating the Islamic landmarks represented by the Babri Mosque, which has stood tall at the exact location for five centuries,” it said.
At an event attended by some 7,000 guests on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi consecrated the idol of Lord Ram at the new temple built on the site where the Babri Masjid stood for centuries before it was demolished by a Hindutva mob in 1992.
Built in 1528 under the rule of the first Mughal emperor Babur, the mosque, along with 2.77 acres of land, became the centre of a dispute in the latter half of the 19th century, when a group of Hindus said it was the birthplace of Ram, who is said to have ruled the region somewhere between 869,108 to 18.14 million years ago.
The demolition of the mosque triggered violent clashes between Hindus and Muslims, resulting in the death of hundreds of Muslims.
The decades-long dispute between Hindus and Muslims about the ownership of the site was settled by the Supreme Court in 2019 when it handed over the site to Hindus and allowed the construction of a temple.
The court directed authorities to allow a separate area on the outskirts of Ayodhya to the Sunni Central Waqf Board to build a new mosque.
