An Indian-born academic says an event being held at an Auckland temple this evening is effectively a celebration of Islamophobia.
The event at the Bharatiya Mandir in Sandringham is being held to recognise the laying of a foundation stone at a temple at a contentious site in the Indian city of Ayodhya.
Photo: RNZ
In December 1992, a group of Hindu nationalists aligned to a minor political organisation called the BJP destroyed the 450 year old Babri Masjid - a mosque they claimed was built on the birthplace of their Lord Rama.
More than 2000 people died in the communal violence that followed, most of whom were Muslims.
Since then, the land where the Mosque once stood has been subject to court action - and was last year awarded to a Hindu organisation which is now in the process of building the new temple.
And that minor political organisation - the BJP led by Narendra Modi - is now the government.
Prime Minister Modi will lay the foundation stone at former site of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya later today.
Here in Auckland, Hemant Prashar, President of the Bharatiya Mandir, which is holding tonight's celebration, says while the issue of the Ayodhya Mosque has dragged on over the years, the laying of the foundation stone has the backing of the courts.
"Well there's always a small group that probably wants to hang on to what was there before, but the reality is that it is the birthplace of Lord Rama, and the Supreme Court of India which is the highest court in the land has confirmed that is the case and the people are just abiding the decision under the Constitution of India"
But Professor Mohan Dutta, from the School of Communication, Journalism and Marketing at Massey University says any celebration of the foundation of the temple needs to be seen in the context of recent history.
"We are at this moment, globally, that this entire history of hate has been erased and the building of the temple is articulated as an apolitical neutral celebratory religious ritual event, divorced from this grotesque history that is connected to it"
Professor Dutta says, since becoming government in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his BJP party has changed in the Indian political landscape.
"Not only the policy frameworks, the judiciary, the police have all been reorganised under this normative structure of Islamophobia"
However Prashar says the Supreme Court of India made a balanced decision in handing the Ayhodya site back to Hindus.
"What they've done is give the alternate a lot bigger site for the Muslim community to build their mosque and live peacefully and it has been a very fair decision so that both parties are well acknowledged and compensated for what has been lost and what has been obviously the historic birthplace of Lord Rama."
Dutta says the laying of the foundation stone at the site in India is being celebrated in Hindu communities worldwide.
"So when you connect that to the celebration in Auckland or the celebration in Times Square what that actually draws attention to is the Indian diaspora that is abroad is very much behind and aligned with this Hindutva agenda. In fact a large part of the funding of this right wing ideology comes from Indians abroad."
Prashar dismisses notions of Islamophobia, and while no members of the Muslim community have been formally invited to the Auckland temple's event, he says no one is excluded.
"So that is whatever faith you follow you're most welcome as long as they follow the protocols, so yes they're welcome to come to the celebration"
But Dutta says the Hindu community in New Zealand aren't naive to ideology of the Hindu far right in terms of the laying of the foundation stone.
"I think people are very well aware of the Islamophobic ideology when they are supporting the demolition of the Mosque and the building of the temple and the other kind of policies.
"To me the line is very clear - you cannot speak about addressing Islamophobia in New Zealand and be attending events such as this."
