(NY Times) A float slated to appear in New York City’s India Day Parade this weekend is causing an uproar, with community groups calling it a symbol of anti-Muslim hate, parade organizers defending its inclusion and elected officials scrambling to respond.
The planned float will include a large-scale model of the Ram Temple, which was built on the disputed site of a 16th-century mosque in the Indian city of Ayodhya. The mosque was destroyed in 1992 by Hindu nationalists, which set off widespread violence in the country that killed thousands of people, primarily Muslims.
The new temple was dedicated this past January by Narendra Modi, India’s hard-line Hindu nationalist prime minister, at a ceremony that was also followed by widespread anti-Muslim violence.
Read more (alt: full cached text).
