Indian court rules to hand over Babri Mosque to Hindus for construction of temple
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Reuters
Published: November 9, 2019
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Policemen stand guard at a gate of Jama Masjid, before Supreme Court's verdict on a disputed religious site claimed by both majority Hindus and Muslim in Ayodhya. PHOTO: REUTERS
NEW DELHI: India’s Supreme Court on Saturday, ending the century-old dispute, has decided to hand over the historic site of Babri Mosque to Hindus for the construction of temple.
In a unanimous judgment, the bench has ordered that a temple must be constructed at the disputed site and the Muslims must be compensated with five acres of land at a prominent place in Ayodhya.
The court also ordered the government to formulate a scheme within three months to implement this order under the Ayodhya Act 1993.
According to The Hindu, the court ruled that the demolition of mosque in 1992 was a violation of law.
Thousands of paramilitary force members and police were deployed in the northern town of Ayodhya, where an ancient mosque was razed in 1992 by hardline Hindus who believe the site is the birthplace of Lord Ram, a physical incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu.
The destruction of the mosque triggered religious riots in which about 2,000 people, most of them Muslims, were killed across the country and led to a series of court battles with various groups staking claim to the site.
A final verdict was delivered by a five-judge bench was headed by the Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi.
Hundreds arrested ahead of verdict on India’s Babri mosque
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party has long campaigned on a promise to support the construction of a Hindu temple on the site of the razed mosque.
“It may seem to be just a piece of land but for us it is a pious place where our god was born,” said a senior Hindu leader affiliated with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party.
The court decision is likely to have a significant impact on fraught relations between India’s Hindus and Muslims, who constitute 14 per cent of its 1.3 billion people.
The government stepped up security not just in Ayodhya but in other communally sensitive areas and rapid action forces have been put on a high alert.
For more than seven decades, right-wing Hindu campaigners have been pushing to build a temple on the site, which they believe was holy for Hindus, long before the Mughals built the Babri mosque there.
A verdict in favour of building a Ram Temple at Ayodhya would be seen as a political victory for Modi, who won a second term in a landslide general election win this year.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh – parent organisation of Modi’s party – has decided against celebratory processions if the verdict goes in favour of the Hindus, to avoid provoking sectarian violence.
Muslim organisations have appealed for calm to prevent communal flare-ups.
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