NEW DELHI – Tens of thousands of hardline Hindu protesters marched in NewDelhi on Sunday, calling for a grand temple to be built on the ruins of adestroyed mosque in a flashpoint Indian city.

Trident-waving devotees clad in saffron filled a huge parade ground in theIndian capital under tight security, where speakers warned Prime MinisterNarendra Modi they would not let up until the temple was sanctioned.

Some of Modi’s supporters feel the Hindu nationalist leader has not doneenough to raise a shrine at a site in Ayodhya, a city believed by many tobe the birthplace of the deity Ram.

The site was home to a medieval mosque for 460 years until Hindu zealotstore it down in 1992, kicking off riots across India that left thousandsdead, most of them Muslims.

Its future has been tied up in courts for decades but some hardliners wantModi, who is seeking reelection in 2019, to push parliament to guaranteethe temple by law.

“The gathering here is telling you that Hindus won’t sit back until thetemple is built, and our wishes are respected,” said Champat Rai, theleader of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) group that organised the protest.

Demonstrators chanting “Praise be to Ram” packed the Ramlila Maidan, a vastground capable of holding more than 50,000 people, and filled thesurrounding streets.

Some carried maces and tridents — weapons traditionally wielded by Hindugods — and travelled great distances by train and bus to reach the rally.

“We have come here to protect our religion and Hindu pride. We want atemple for our Lord Ram,” Hitesh Bharadwaj, a teacher from Delhi’ssatellite city Noida, told AFP.

The hardline VHP has applied pressure on Modi in recent weeks, staging ahuge show of force in Ayodhya itself last month.

A close ally of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the group isspearheading a push to raise the Ram temple, and is calling for moreprotests as the premier prepares to go to the polls by May.

The BJP was on the margins until the 1980s when its top leaders, includingModi, backed a growing movement for the construction of the Ram temple.

Its advocates want parliament to introduce a law bypassing legal hurdlesblocking the temple before Modi’s term ends.

The Supreme Court has delayed hearings into the disputed site buthardliners have vowed to lay a foundation stone next year regardless.

“We don’t care about the courts. A grand temple will be constructed in2019,” Sushil Chawdhary, a VHP leader, told AFP. – APP/AFP