Since India's Supreme Court delivered its verdict in favour of building a Ram temple on the site of the demolished Babri mosque in Ayodhya, new clouds of fear have gathered over Kashi, Mathura and Agra.

Ever since the verdict came, questions have been raised about what effect it will have on the many other "disputed religious sites" in various parts of India.

The campaign by India's hardline Hindu organisations to have mosques removed from pilgrimage sites such as Kashi and Mathura, and the whole site handed to the neighbouring temple, is long-standing.

Even a claim that the Taj Mahal, one of the seven wonders of the world, was built on top of an ancient Shiva temple is now being made loudly.

Against this background, are Muslim places of prayer and Islamic monuments in Kashi, Mathura and Agra now under threat?

In fact, India has many pilgrimage sites where temples and mosques have stood side by side for hundreds of years, sometimes even sharing a wall.

For many such towns, such as Kashi or Mathura in Uttar Pradesh or Bhojshala in Madhya Pradesh, the Ayodhya verdict is an ominous sign that challenges that coexistence.

Even the Places of Worship Act passed in the country in 1991 cannot fully reassure them.

Referring to that law, the noted Indian historian Mridula Mukherjee told BBC Bangla: "That law exempted only the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri mosque dispute, because the movement over it was at its peak at the time."

"But at the same time it was clearly stated that at every other religious site in India apart from Ayodhya, worship would continue as it is now, and that could not be changed under any circumstances."

Source: BBC Bangla. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.