The mosque at the center of India’s battle over religious identity

VARANASI, India — On a sweltering Friday afternoon last week, outside an imposing sandstone gate leading to the Gyanvapi mosque, the road teemed with dozens of policemen, some armed with tear gas. There were swarms of television cameras and reporters thrust mics in the faces of prayer-goers.

The 17th-century mosque in Varanasi, Hinduism’s holiest city, has emerged as the latest flash point in the escalating struggle between India’s Hindu nationalists and its Muslim minority. After a controversial court survey claimed to find the relic of a Hindu deity on its premises, the area was sealed by the court and large prayer gatherings were banned.