Kudos to the Supreme Court’s verdict on the decades-long Ayodhya–Babri Masjid dispute for reaffirming the independence, transparency, and farsightedness of our judiciary” and for increasing the citizens’ faith in the system. The Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi-led Bench of Justices Sharad Arvind Bobde, Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S. Abdul Nazeer and archaeologist K K Mohamed, a member of the first team who carried out excavation at the Babri site deserves big kudos for taking all necessary safety measures before articulating much awaited and sensitive verdict on Ram Janmabhoomi. The Supreme Court has rightly held the rights of Ram Lalla Virajman, the presiding deity of the disputed site. Ram Janmabhoomi has been the site of religious dissent and much bitterness all through history. In 1992, however, clashes between Hindus and Muslims escalated to unprecedented levels causing disturbances all over the country and affecting the lives of many hundreds. This Ayodhya land dispute had started in the way back 1853-1860.
The controversy began in the year 1853 after the construction of the mosque and the Hindus alleged that the place where the mosque was built was earlier the temple of Lord Rama, which was demolished, and the mosque was constructed. Ayodhya dispute had affected almost all the sections of Indian society. It is very sad that so many lives have been lost for this and now the Indian people would finally realise that all religions should try to unite people and not divide. Hindus consider Ayodhya as the birthplace of Lord Ram. They have religious sentiments. Hindus have faith and belief that Lord Ram was born under the dome. The verdict has brought joy and relief to the people of both the communities. The way all have treated this judgement with balanced opinion keeping in view of national interests is highly appreciable.
Ram Janmabhoomi is one of the major pilgrimage centers for the Hindus of India. In Ramayana the mythical granth of Hindus, it is said that Ram’s birthplace is on the banks of the Sarayu River in Ayodhya town. Ayodhya has been in the midst of a dispute and controversy, since last many decades, which has only increased since late 1980s. The controversial issue of Ram Janambhoomi and Babri Masjid has always been a big influence on Indian politics for several decades. We all are aware of the fact that the disputed land at Ayodhya in Faizabad district of Uttar Pradesh has always played major role in disturbing the communal harmony of India. In a unanimous judgement, a five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court delivered a historic verdict in the decades-old Ayodhya’s Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case, directing that Hindus will get the disputed land for the construction of a Ram temple while a suitable plot of land, measuring five acres, will be given to Sunni Waqf Board. In 1992, the demolition of Babri Masjid by Hindu nationalists gave birth to widespread Hindu-Muslim violence. Archaeological excavation has indicated the presence of a temple under the mosque’s debris. According to the reports from 2003, the Archeological Survey of India has found proof of the Ram temple’s existence predating the mosque at this site.
(This is the first part of the article and the remaining portion will continue tomorrow)
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
