Just six months after sweeping to re-election, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has delivered on two major promises of his Hindu-first agenda, electrifying his base but sowing unease among liberals and the nation's Muslim minority.

The latest boost for Modi came Saturday, when the Supreme Court handed Hindu groups control of a contested site where a 16th-century mosque was razed over two decades ago, paving the way for the construction of a temple there that has long been an election promise of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

That followed New Delhi's move in August to strip Muslim-majority Jammu and Kashmir of its special status as a state in what Modi's government said was a bid to integrate the restive region with the rest of predominantly-Hindu India.

In 1992, a rally led by the BJP and affiliate organizations spiralled out of control and a Hindu mob destroyed the Babri Masjid or mosque in the city of Ayodhya.

Two college students -- one Hindu, one Muslim -- in Uttar Pradesh's capital Lucknow separately said after the court verdict that they hoped the government would now focus on economic issues.

...