VOA新闻杂志2022--印度清真寺争端

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India’s Mosque¹ Dispute²

In the city of Varanasi, India, Muslims and Hindus have shared a place of prayer for almost three hundred years which is separated by only a wall.

On one side, there is a mosque for Muslims. On the other side, there is a Hindu temple. Until a month ago, the place was considered an example of how the two religions can exist together in an area marked by conflict.

Now groups of Hindus want to pray inside the Gyanvapi mosque area. They have asked a local court to hear their case. Their argument is that the mosque was built on the ruins of an old Hindu temple that was destroyed by a Mughal emperor hundreds of years ago. They say the mosque area has Hindu statues inside. But the mosque's leaders disagree.

The legal case is the most recent example of nationalist Hindu groups demanding land that they say belongs to them. They believe thousands of mosques³ were built on top of Hindu temples. Historians⁴ say that these numbers are overstated. They say only a small number of temples were destroyed for political reasons, not religious ones.

India is officially a secular⁵ country. But Hindu nationalists have tried to make India into a religious country. Religious minorities, like Muslims, have come under attack.

Legal cases have increased fear within Muslim populations about their religious centers.

In 1992, a crowd of Hindu nationalists destroyed the Babri mosque built in the 1500s. The destruction⁶ led to violence between Muslims and Hindus, leaving more than 2,000 people dead. Most were Muslim.

Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay is an Indian political expert. He said that bringing many cases before the courts is a way to keep the Muslims from showing their religion in public and that their faith is no longer accepted.

The two communities in Varanasi disagreed, but they did not let the disagreement worsen until last week. The local court ordered the Gyanvapi mosque to be inspected after five Hindu women asked the court for permission to pray there.

The lawyer of the five women, Hari Shankar Jain, said there was video evidence that a stone object inside the mosque was a representation⁷ of the Hindu god, Shiva. It was found inside a water pool used by Muslims to purify⁸ themselves before prayers.

"The land on which the mosque is built belongs to Hindus and should be returned to us," Jain said.

The local courts ordered the mosque blocked off and banned Muslims from gathering⁹ there. India's Supreme¹⁰ Court overturned¹¹ the lower court's ruling. But it still blocked the area where the stone rests, leaving part of the Mosque unavailable to Muslims.

Now a higher court in Varanasi has taken up the case.

The leaders of the mosque have questioned the legal claims and said that the stone area was the base of a fountain. Lawyers for the Muslim side have said that these actions against the mosque are illegal because of a 1991 law called the Places of Worship¹² Act. It says any religious area should be kept as such and not changed from the day that India won its freedom from Britain, on August 15, 1947.

More and more cases end up in court as Hindu citizens ask to pray in mosques around the country. This has helped Prime¹³ Minister Modi's nationalist party in their campaign to support Hinduism.

A lawyer for the Gyanvapi mosque, Nazim Pasha, said these actions are a careful pattern meant to gain the support of Hindu nationalists.

Words in This Story

mosque — n. a building that is used for Muslim religious services

temple –n. a building for worship or religious observance

emperor -n. a man who rules an empire

secular – adj. not religious: of or relating to the physical world and not the spiritual world: of, relating to, or controlled by the government rather than by the church

faith – n. the belief that something is good, right and able to be trusted; also in reference¹⁴ to a religion

fountain – n. a structure or device¹⁵ that provides water that, in some cases, sends a stream of water into the air

worship – v. to show respect and love for God or for a god especially by praying, having religious services, etc.

pattern– n. something that happens in a repeated way

1 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

2 dispute   

n.争端，分歧；v.争论，争吵，辩论，辩驳

参考例句：

• They are trying to find a way of settling the dispute.他们正设法寻找解决争端的办法。
• The parties to the dispute should be more polite to each other.争执双方应相互礼貌些。

3 mosques   

清真寺； 伊斯兰教寺院，清真寺； 清真寺，伊斯兰教寺院( mosque的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Why make us believe that this tunnel runs underneath the mosques? 为什么要让我们相信这条隧洞是在清真寺下？
• The city's three biggest mosques, long fallen into disrepair, have been renovated. 城里最大的三座清真寺，过去年久失修，现在已经修复。

4 historians   

n.历史学家，史学工作者( historian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Historians seem to have confused the chronology of these events. 历史学家好像把这些事件发生的年代顺序搞混了。
• Historians have concurred with each other in this view. 历史学家在这个观点上已取得一致意见。

5 secular   

n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的

参考例句：

• We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
• Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。

6 destruction   

n.破坏，毁灭，消灭

参考例句：

• The enemy bombs caused widespread destruction.敌人的炸弹造成大面积的破坏。
• Overconfidence was his destruction.自负是他垮台的原因。

7 representation   

n.表现某人（或某事物）的东西，图画，雕塑

参考例句：

• The painting is a representation of a storm at sea.这幅画描绘的是海上的暴风雨。
• All parties won representation in the national assembly.所有政党在国民大会中都赢得了代表资格。

8 purify   

vt.使纯净，提纯，使纯洁

参考例句：

• They open the windows to purify the air of the room.他们打开窗户清涤室内空气。
• You should purify the water before drinking it.喝水前，你应使之净化。

9 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

10 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

11 overturned   

adj. 倒转的 动词overturn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The car skidded and overturned. 汽车打滑翻倒了。
• When a bird's nest is overturned, no egg can remain intact. 覆巢之下无完卵。

12 worship   

n.崇拜，礼拜；v.崇拜，敬仰；做礼拜

参考例句：

• The Greeks used to worship several gods.过去，希腊人崇奉好几种神。
• Blind worship must be ended.盲目崇拜必须停止。

13 prime   

adj.首要的，主要的；最好的，第一流的

参考例句：

• The prime minister spoke of the general insecurity in the country.总理谈到了全国普遍存在的不安全。
• He met with the Prime Minister of Japan for an hour.他和日本首相会见了一个小时。

14 reference   

n.提到，说到，暗示，查看，查阅

参考例句：

• We spent days going through all related reference material.我们花了好多天功夫查阅所有有关的参考资料。
• I like to have my reference books within my reach.我喜欢把参考书放到伸手可取的地方。

15 device   

n.器械，装置；计划，策略，诡计

参考例句：

• The device will be in production by the end of the year.该装置将于年底投入生产。
• The device will save much time and effort for us.这种装置会使我们节省大量时间和气力。