India votes 2024: ‘A constant fear’ for Ayodhya’s Muslims

In January this year, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a vast Hindu temple dedicated to the god Rama at what is believed by Hindus to be his birthplace in the city of Ayodhya. For many of his supporters, it was a moment of celebration and a sign of how Modi and his Hindu nationalist government have put the country’s majority religion at the forefront of the political agenda. However, the controversial temple was built on the site of a centuries-old mosque, torn down in 1992 by Hindu zealots amid riots that killed around 2,000 people, most of them Muslims. Now, as the country votes in national elections, some Muslims in the city fear tensions may fray once again.