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ICNY advises India Day Parade organizers to reconsider Ram Temple float
The organization suggested that in the current times with religious tensions already on the rise it is better the parade doesn’t inflame local divisions.
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ICNY suggests the parade not to inflame divisions / ICNY
The Interfaith Center of New York(ICNY) has called upon the Federation of Indian Associations, the Indian Consulate, and other sponsors of the upcoming NYC India Day Parade to reconsider the inclusion of a float celebrating the Ayodhya Ram Temple.
According to the organization, the float will be viewed as a public display of Islamophobia by Muslim New Yorkers who will witness and participate in the parade.
“While the history is complex, the newly (re)built Ram Temple sits at the heart of Hindu-Muslim communal conflict. The temple site is widely seen as the birthplace of the Hindu deity Ram, and for centuries was also home to a mosque honoring the first Mughal emperor Babur. The historic Babri Mosque was destroyed by Hindu activists in 1992, triggering deadly riots throughout the Indian subcontinent, ICNY said.
They noted that given the contentious history of the temple, a celebration of that even in the form of a parade-float replica thousands of miles away in New York City may be seen as an effort by Hindu nationalists to “efface the presence of India’s approximately 200 million Muslims.”
ICNY clarified that the organizers of the parade have the legal right to celebrate religious and cultural heritage as they deem appropriate but the organization hopes that they will exercise sound judgment and sensitivity towards their religiously diverse neighbors.
The organization suggested that in the current times with problems in the Middle East, Islamophobic riots in the UK, and attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh on the rise it is better the parade doesn’t inflame local divisions.
In conclusion, ICNY said, “Given the extraordinary wealth of India’s religious and cultural heritage, a celebration of Indian-American and Hindu identity need not risk inflaming religious animosity at a moment when New York’s diverse faith communities are working to repair the frayed civic fabric of the city.”
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