Indians have reacted with outrage on social media after videos circulated showing Hindu nationalist protesters calling for the demolition of one of the country’s largest mosques.
Thousands of demonstrators descended on Delhi on Sunday, in the latest planned protest to demand the construction of a temple to Lord Ram, one of Hinduism’s most revered figures, at the site of a ruined mosque in the northern city of Ayodhya.
It was organised by two groups closely affiliated to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and saw Hindus marching into Old Delhi, a part of the city known for its historic Muslim community.
Witnesses described hearing “anti-Muslim slogans” along the route of the march, and videos posted online showed demonstrators shouting “Ek dhakka aur do, Jama Masjid tod do” – “With one more push, destroy the Jama Masjid.”
Built in 1656, the Jama Masjid is one of India’s biggest and most important mosques. It was the royal place of worship for India’s ruling Muslim emperors for two centuries before the British invasion.
“It’s not about temples … It’s about hating Muslims, the reasons and demands keep changing,” one user responded to the clip on Twitter.
Ravi Nair, a journalist, wrote: “Just imagine if a Muslim organisation [was] asking to demolish a temple, how Modi govt and Mainstream Media would have reacted.”
Another who responded to the video was Rajdeep Sardesai, a prominent TV news anchor and author of the book: “2014: The election that changed India.”
He told The Independent that while such chants by rightwing groups were not new, the fact they had been so emboldened since Mr Modi’s Hindu nationalist party came to power four years ago was “worrying”.
“Jama Masjid is part of the shared heritage of this country,” he said. “This is a country not only of temples, but also of mosques, gurdwaras, churches. So if someone talks about demolishing Jama Masjid, they are talking about demolishing the uniqueness of this country, which is its shared diversity.
“It is one thing to chant it [going] up the road, but these are the same groups who tomorrow – in the name of so-called religious nationalism – will murder others, or use violence, as we have seen in recent times.”
The Ram Mandir (Ram Temple) issue dates back decades, with both Hindus and Muslims claiming the right to worship at the disputed site in Ayodhya.
Many Hindus believe it to be the birthplace of Lord Ram, and that a temple in his name once stood there. A medieval mosque, Babri Masjid, stood at the site for hundreds of years until 1992, when it was torn down by a Hindu mob.
Eyewitnesses have said the violence started that day with a similar chant of “ek dhakka aur do, Babri Masjid tod do”. Around 150,000 people swept past police lines and demolished the mosque, before going on to target Muslim-owned shops and homes in the city.
Around 2,000 people were killed across the country in the communal violence that followed.
