NYC: Group Says Hindu Temple Float Planned for India Day Parade Is Anti-Muslim
The Indian American Muslim Council and other faith-based groups have urged parade organizers to remove the float featuring the Ram Mandir, arguing it symbolizes the destruction of mosques and violence against Muslims in India.
Hindus constitute about 80% of India's population, while approximately 200 million Muslims live in the country and have often faced attacks by Hindu nationalists.
In a letter to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Eric Adams, the organization stated, “This float presence represents these groups’ desire to conflate Hindu nationalist ideology with Indian identity. This is not merely a cultural display, but a vulgar celebration of anti-Muslim heat, bigotry, and religious supremacy.”
Parade organizers have refused to remove the float, stating it commemorates the inauguration of what they said is a significant landmark for millions of Hindus, ABC News reported on Friday.
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The Ram Mandir, constructed on the site of the 16th-century Babri mosque destroyed by Hindu nationalist mobs in 1992, began construction in 2020 after a lengthy legal battle in Ayodhya.
Addressing the controversy, Mayor Adams emphasized, “I want to send the right symbolic gesture that the city’s open to everyone and there’s no room for hate. If there is a float or a person in the parade that’s promoting hate, they should not.”
Source: Agencies
