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The Babri Masjid Dispute: A Triumph of Fantasy over Reality
The 22nd of January 2024 saw the culmination of a decades-long pursuit by the Hindu Right to construct a temple upon the former site of the Babri Masjid to mark the birthplace of Lord Ram, a major figure in Hindu mythology. The ‘prana prathistha’ (consecration ceremony) was, perhaps curiously, not performed by a high priest of the Hindu religion but rather by the Prime Minister himself. This peculiarity, however, would only appear to be as such to those unaware of the historical context of that disputed site in Ayodhya, for Narendra Modi being in the foreground of this event is in congruence with the lamentable course that history has taken in this story.