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A north Indian town is preparing for a mega event next week, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate a grand Hindu temple that symbolizes the country’s surging Hindu cultural nationalism, a movement also known as Hindutva. The inauguration of the grand temple in Ayodhya, India is set for Monday, January 22. The temple is dedicated to the Hindu deity Lord Ram and stands on the site of a demolished 16th-century mosque. Some Hindu leaders have begun calling the town a "Hindu Vatican." Many Hindus claim that Ram was born in Ayodhya, in the state of Uttar Pradesh — exactly...

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised to unite the country on Thursday after a big election win, with his party on course to increase its majority on a mandate of business-friendly policies and a tough stand on national security. Official data from the Election Commission showed Modi’s Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead in 300 of the 542 seats being contested, up from the 282 it won in 2014 and more than the 272 seats needed for a majority in the lower house of parliament. That would give it the first back-to-back majority for a single party since 1984. “Together...

Indian officials have begun relocating some 300 crocodiles from a reservoir next to the world's tallest statue to allow a seaplane service for visitors. The animals, some around 3m (9ft 9in) long, are being lured into metal cages and sent elsewhere in the western state of Gujarat. The 182m statue of independence hero Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was inaugurated last October. The bronze-clad statue sculpture, located some 200km (125 miles) from the state's main city of Ahmedabad, has become a popular attraction. Indian farmers fume at cost of statue But there are no train services and most tourists reach the site,...

Pakistan's leading Islamist daily Roznama Ummat has alleged that extremist Hindu groups have taken over Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and argued that that extremist Hindu organizations are forging close alliances with Zionist groups with the aim of establishing a new world order. .....