_WORLD WATCH______________________________
____________________ INDIA ________________

Religious confrontation averted
But Hindu militants still cause tensions
Catholic Church leaders in India heaved a sigh of relief as Hindu groups backtracked on their threats to hold a prayer service in March on a site that has been the focus of bitter and sometimes bloody disputes between Hindus and Muslims.

Hindu groups had announced plans for a large prayer service at Ayodhya. Defying court orders, in 1992 Hindu volunteers had razed a 16th-century mosque in Ayodhya, provoking nationwide religious riots that claimed over 2,000 lives. Hindu groups claimed that the demolished Babri mosque was itself built upon the ruins of an ancient Hindu temple, which had been destroyed by Muslim conquerors.

Hindu-Muslim tension has been escalating in India in recent weeks after Hindu groups announced plans to start construction of a grand temple on the spot, which they say is the birthplace of the Hindu deity Ram. The government had reportedly stationed 20,000 soldiers in and around Ayodhya in anticipation of a clash.

However, instead of going through with their plans for a mass meeting, Hindu priests observed the day by handing a symbolic stone pillar over to government officials, as a token of their legal claim on the site. The Indian Catholic bishops’ conference welcomed the peaceful gestures, and the relief—at least temporary—of fears about new religious violence.

At the same time, the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) has joined widespread protests over the statement by a leading Hindu nationalist group that religious minorities live at the mercy of the Hindu majority in India.

The protests followed the release of a public statement by the Rashtryia Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a leading Hindu group. The RSS, which has close ties to India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, said: “Let the Muslims understand that their real safety lies in the good will of the majority.” Such a statement, the Indian bishops pointed out, could raise “grave concerns, even in normal times.” But in the charged atmosphere of today’s India, after recent religious clashes, the RSS position is particularly dangerous. The bishops, who have called upon the government to provide adequate security for religious minorities, said that the RSS statement “goes against the pluralistic traditions of India.”