India’s Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling today that enabled construction of a Hindu temple on the site of the 16th-century Babri Mosque, destroyed in 1992, then triggering sectarian violence that killed some 2,000 people.
The court also ruled that Muslims can rebuild the mosque on an alternative to the site in Ayodhya in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, revered as the birthplace of the Hindu god Ram.
How might this be received? Muslims fear a surge of Hindu nationalism, and the country is on alert, with rallies banned, schools closed and 4,000 security officers sent to the contested area.
