At Site Of Razed Mosque, India's Modi Lays Foundation For Controversial Hindu Temple
The 1992 destruction of the Babri mosque in Ayodhya by Hindu extremists sparked riots that killed thousands of Muslims, leaving a deep rift between the country's religious communities.
Nearly 30 years ago, Hindu extremists armed with pickaxes tore down a 16th century mosque in the northern Indian town of Ayodhya, sparking riots that killed thousands of Muslims.
Today, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi fulfilled a campaign promise to his Hindu nationalist base by laying the cornerstone of a grand Hindu shrine on that very same spot. The ceremony coincides with the first anniversary of India's revocation of special rights in Kashmir, its only Muslim-majority state.
Under Modi, both Ayodhya and Kashmir have become symbols of Hindu nationalist dominance over India, despite the secularism
