Why India should not remain silent on Hagia Sophia's decision

Hagia Sophia was born as a church, then converted into a mosque, a pride of the Ottoman Empire, and later declared into a museum.

In modern times, it was considered a symbol of Turkish secularism.

However, now it is witnessing yet another transformation as it has once again been declared a mosque.

On July 24, this monument will open its doors to worshippers as Friday prayers will be held inside this structure.

This decision has shaken the foundations of Turkey's secular credentials and the world is openly speaking up against it.

However, India has opted to remain silent. This report will tell you why New Delhi needs to take a stand and object to the conversion of the structure as a mosque.

Three days ago, Turkey's highest administrative court, unanimously revoked a 1934 cabinet decision, which made the Hagia Sophia a museum.

Later, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed a decree, ordering the conversion of this museum into a mosque.

As the news spread, there was condemnation from many parts of the world, with UNESCO, European Union, Russian Orthodox Church marking their protest.

UNESCO called this decision "regrettable" and a committee of this UN body said they were not informed about this decision.

It now wants Ankara to start a dialogue immediately, otherwise, preservation of this heritage site will be subject to a review.

This suggests that Hagia Sophia may lose its status as a World Heritage Site.

The European Union has also expressed disappointment with its foreign policy chief saying, "The ruling by the Turkish Council of State to overturn Turkey's landmark decisions and Erdogan's decision to place the monument under the management of the religious affairs presidency is regrettable".

Religious bodies are also speaking up like the Russian Orthodox Church, which expressed its "dismay" over Erdogan's decision.

"The concern of millions of Christians has not been heard. The court ruling shows that all calls for the need for extreme delicacy in this matter were ignored," it said.

Even Pope in his short message expressed his disappointment over the decision.

Countries such as the US, France, Russia, Cyprus and Greece have slammed the decision.

The list however doesn't include India.

On the contrary, The Turkish president has never missed an opportunity to criticise India, questioning its secular credentials.

And now when the world is speaking on the undermining of secularism in Turkey, why shouldn't India also join them?

Here are some recent examples of Turkey's approach towards India.

A few months ago, there were communal riots in New Delhi, where people from both communities were killed.

However, for Erdogan, it was the "massacre" of Muslims.

"A country which will fail to make global peace a possibility. A country which calls itself strong because of its large population, but is not," were his words on India.

Erdogan's activism on Kashmir is much-talked and written about.

In the same month of February, the Turkish president travelled to Pakistan and justified Islamabad's cross-border terrorism in Kashmir while addressed a joint session of the Pakistan Parliament.

He also said India is making Kashmiris suffer.

On both these occasions, the Indian foreign ministry came down heavily on the Turkish president.

"These remarks reflect neither an understanding of history nor the conduct of diplomacy...They distort events of the past to advance a narrow-minded view of the present," New Delhi said.

The remarks made by Indian foreign ministry are relevant now too in the context of Hagia Sophia controversy.

The decision to convert this monument into a mosque is "distorting of the past".

Erdogan indeed is advancing a "narrow-minded view of the present".

This is a new shift in Turkey's politics from being secular in nature to an authoritarian Islamic region.

This leaves Erdogan no moral right to point fingers at others.

And India must not remain silent on this issue and a statement or two may go a long way in setting the record straight.