Fear And Triumph As Indian Holy City Mosque Dispute Heats Up

Hindus maintain that the Gyanvapi mosque was built over a shrine to the Hindu deity Shiva during the Mughal empire that ruled over much of India centuries ago (Credit: AFP)

As Hindus began prayers at a mosque in one of India's holiest cities, the building's elderly custodian Syed Mohammad Yaseen wondered how much longer he would be permitted to worship there.

Varanasi, where Hindus travel to cremate their dead by the Ganges river, is the latest flashpoint in a running battle to claim centuries-old Islamic monuments for the country's majority faith.