Violent days after the local administration in Barabanki in Uttar Pradesh state demolished a mosque, claiming it to be an “illegal structure”. The Muslim organization in charge of land endowments, Sunni Central Waqf Board, said the demolition was an illegal act and that they will seek “restoration of the mosque, a high-level judicial inquiry, and action against the guilty officers” setting the scene for another long, protracted legal battle ahead.

The scene of the current contest is close to Ayodhya where In 1992, a Hindu mob razed another old mosque to the ground, leading to riots in several parts of India. The current surge of Covid-19 has ravaged rural Uttar Pradesh.