Indian Government Rebuked Over Mosque Issue.

The upper chamber of India's parliament voted in December to censure the Hindu-led government for failing to dismiss three cabinet ministers who backed the destruction of a Muslim mosque eight years ago.

The attack on the mosque, a structure dating back to the 16th century, sparked a riot that led to pitched battles between Hindus and Muslims. In recent years, Hindu nationalists have been pressing for the right to build a temple on the ruins of the mosque, located in the city of Ayodhya.

Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee rejected the demand that the ministers resign on Dec. 6 and went a step further by issuing a statement that many Hindu nationalists interpreted as an endorsement of their plan to build a Hindu temple in Ayodhya. Vajpayee, a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, considered a moderate Hindu party, has denied he meant that. Alongside his own party, Vajpayee's fragile coalition government consists of secular parties and extreme Hindu nationalist parties.

Fundamentalist Hindus insist that the Ayodhya spot must feature a Hindu temple. They regard the site as the birthplace of Ram, a manifestation of the Hindu god Vishnu. The Indian Supreme Court has issued an order blocking temple construction, but hard-line Hindu nationalists have vowed to ignore it and have already commissioned workers to carve stone pillars designed to hold up the temple.

Muslims are a minority in India, accounting for about 12 percent of the population. Hindus make up about 82 percent, and tension between the two groups is on the rise. In mid-December, Bal Thackeray, leader of an extreme Hindu party called Shiv Sena, urged the government to deny Muslims the right to vote so Hindu politicians will stop trying to appease them.