Hindu women press for access to Indian mosque, in latest dispute

FILE PHOTO: Rakhi Singh, Sita Sahu and Laxmi Devi, three of the five petitioners who filed a plea to pray every day before the idol of a goddess and relics inside the Gyanvapi mosque, speak with the media after they leave the mosque in Varanasi, India, May 14, 2022. Picture taken May 14, 2022. REUTERS/Stringer

MUMBAI/LUCKNOW, India (Reuters) - A court case started by five Hindu women in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's political constituency has become the latest battleground in India between the Hindu majority and minority Muslims over access to historically contested religious sites.

The women, backed by an influential hardline Hindu group linked to Modi's party, said they were determined to secure the legal right for Hindus to pray daily to the idol of a goddess and relics that they say are inside a prominent mosque in Varanasi.