Muslims, Hindus, Akhara declared joint holders of Babri Mosque
Thousands of paramilitary police have been deployed around the north Indian town of Ayodhya
home to the 16th century Babri mosque, which was razed by Hindu extremists in 1992, and is
claimed by both religious groups.The High Court in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh will
Thursday hand down its ruling on who owns the site, in a judgment which poses serious security
concerns for a government preoccupied with hosting the Commonwealth Games, which open in
New Delhi on Sunday.The destruction of the mosque sparked some of the worst communal
violence in India since the partition of the subcontinent in 1947, leaving 2,000 people, mostly
Muslims, dead.In 1992 the demolition of a 16th-century mosque on the Ayodhya site by Hindu
activists sparked riots that killed more than 2,000 people, mostly Muslims, in some of the worst
sectarian violence since partition of the Indian sub-continent in 1947.The process to divide the
site would begin in three months, the court said.A third will go to Muslims, a second part will
become a temple for Hindus who claim the spot as the birthplace of their god Lord Ram, while
another third will go to the Ayodhya-based Nirmhoi Akhara.Hindu lawyers said the court's
verdict backed Hindu beliefs that the site was the birthplace of the deity Lord Ram."I am very
happy the court has accepted the historic fact and this is a matter of great happiness for Hindus,"
Nritya Gopaldas Maharaj, president of Ram Janam Bhoomi trust, told reporters in Ayodhya.But
Maharaj said his group would appeal in the Supreme Court against the court's decision to give a
proportion of the site to Muslims."The court has respected the Hindu belief but we will take the
matter to the Supreme Court as the fight still remains," he said.Ever since the destruction of the
mosque 18 years ago the site has been cordoned off with barbed wire and steel fencing and
guarded by troops.“There are around 40,000 security personnel deployed at strategic Ayodhya
locations,” said the officer, who spoke on condition of anonymitySecurity has also been stepped
up in India’s financial hub Mumbai where religious tensions have spilled into violence in the
past.Hindus say the Babri mosque was built by the Moghul emperor Babur on the site of a
temple marking the birthplace of the Hindu warrior god Ram.The High Court judgement will
turn on three key questions: whether the disputed spot was Ram’s birthplace, whether the
mosque was built after the demolition of a temple and if the mosque had been built in accordance
with the tenets of Islam.Any ruling is likely to be challenged in the Supreme Court.Hindus want
to build a Ram temple on the site with some predicting a ruling against them would be greeted
with violence.“We will build our temple and if the verdict is against us Hindus, then no force on
Earth will be able to contain the reaction,” warned Ayodhya shopkeeper Shivan Gupta.“There
will be bloody riots again,” Gupta warned.V.N. Arora, who heads the department of strategic
studies in Ayodhya’s Saket College, tried to allay fears of a repeat of the 1992 carnage.“But there
is a possibility that a Muslim group could try and offer prayers at the site if the verdict goes in
their favour,” Arora told AFP.Since 1992, the site has been cordoned off and guarded by
troops.A Home Ministry advisory has requested all states to remain on high alert for Thursday’s
ruling, which could trigger “sharp reactions and communal passions among both Hindus and
Muslims depending on what way the judgement goes.”India has avoided any major outbreak of
Hindu-Muslim clashes since riots in the western state of Gujarat in 2002. APP.........
No comments:
Post a Comment