BHUBANESWAR, India (AP) - A right-wing Hindu group said Sunday it would begin building a temple next year on the site of a mosque razed by zealots, defying government officials who oppose the plan.
The World Hindu Council, an affiliate of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's party, said it would begin constructing a temple to Ram, Hinduism's leading deity, by early 2002. Home Minister Lal Krishna Advani, also from Vajpayee's Bharatiya Janata Party, said last week he would not let that happen.
Advani is one of three Cabinet ministers accused of inciting the crowds that razed the ancient Babri mosque in the northern city of Ayodhya on Dec. 6, 1992, leading to clashes between Hindus and Muslims in which 2,000 people died.
The destruction was the climax of a campaign by Hindu nationalists who argued that the mosque was built in the 16th century by Mogul ruler Babur after destroying a Hindu temple. The site is the birthplace of one of Hinduism's most revered deities.
India's supreme court is now hearing a string of petitions on the rival claims. A criminal court case over the mosque's destruction is still pending in Uttar Pradesh, 350 miles east of New Delhi.
Giriraj Kishore, the Hindu group's vice president, said the construction material for the ground floor of the proposed temple was ready, and workmen were already making tiles and carvings for the other stories of the building.
India's constitution guarantees freedom of religion, but the pro-Hindu movement insists that India is a Hindu nation. It has sought to outlaw conversions and Christian proselytizing, and has demanded the repeal of laws that protect Muslim marriage.
AP-NY-05-20-01 2244EDT
Copyright 2001 The Associated Press.