The lavish inauguration on Jan 22, 2024 of the temple dedicated to the Hindu god Ram in the historic town of Ayodhya in north India was a global spectacle. But sadly it can also be seen as a dark day for India's Constitution that still rests of secular principles.

The inauguration's success came on the back of an unprecedented mass mobilisation of Hindus, from schools to neighbourhoods, to malls and all public institutions such as courts and hospitals. Celebrity film stars and sports personalities were invited to lend glamour to the multi-million dollar event whose chief priest was Narendra Modi, the Indian PM.

We need to remember that the temple has been constructed after Hindu fanatics brought down a 16^th century mosque in Ayodhya in 1992 that some historical sources say had been built by destroying a temple where god Ram was born. The 1992 demolition of the mosque had led to widespread rioting throughout the country, and had led to the loss of several Muslim lives.

Rebuilding the Ramjanmabhoomi (birthplace of Ram) temple on the land where the mosque had been destroyed has been a central election plank for India's PM Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist party the BJP. Hopefully it is not the final nail in the coffin of India's secular democracy.