NEW YORK: A float featuring Ram Mandir in India’s Sunday Independence Day parade in New York has drawn objections from Indian Muslim and other organizations, APP reported.
They have asked the organizers to remove the float as it is considered a symbol glorifying the destruction of mosques and violence against the Muslims in India.
The float depicts the controversial Ram Mandir, which was consecrated earlier this year in Ayodhya, claimed to be the Hindu god’s birthplace. But its site has long been bitterly contested between Hindus and Muslims, and in the early 1990s the Babri mosque that stood there was razed by a Hindu fundamentalist mob.
The mosque’s destruction was followed by nationwide riots that killed some 2,000 people, mainly Muslims. In 2019, the Indian Supreme Court handed over the land to Hindus.
However, the parade organizers have rejected calls to remove the float, saying it celebrates the inauguration of a sacred landmark that is significant to hundreds of millions of Hindus.
Several U.S.-based organizations have written a letter to New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York Governor Kathy Hochul, calling the float anti-Muslim and saying it glorified the mosque’s destruction.
Among groups who signed the letter were the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC), the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), and Hindus for Human Rights.
“This float’s presence represents these groups’ desire to conflate Hindu nationalist ideology with Indian identity…” the letter said.
“We implore you to take immediate and decisive measures to prevent inclusion of a polarizing and divisive float in this parade.”
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