Subdued celebrations by Hindus after winning court battle

NEW DELHI

India’s top court on Saturday gave the disputed site of Babri Mosque to Hindus, but there were hardly any celebrations on the streets.

Over the past seven decades, the issue had been a source of communal discord in the country.

Hindus have been demanding a temple at the site where the Babri Mosque was demolished in 1992. After the verdict, subdued celebration was witnessed after an appeal by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Later addressing the nation, Modi said: “There is no place for fear in new India. The Supreme Court has shown the country that the most difficult of issues can be resolved under the law, under the Constitution.”

Elaborate security arrangements were made on Saturday ahead of the verdict across the country. No untoward incidents were reported from any part of the country.

The decision of the Supreme Court was welcomed by leaders of political parties and Hindu organizations.

Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), the ideological brain behind the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), while welcoming the decision of the apex court said that everyone should come forward for the construction of Ram Temple.

“Don't look at this verdict through the prism of victory or defeat. The solution arrived at through the churning of truth and justice should be looked at as a decision that will bring about unity and friendship of the entire Indian society," said RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat in a news conference after the verdict.

New Delhi-based Vishwa Hindu Parishad's (World Hindu Council's) working president Alok Kumar said the court order is a "decisive step toward construction of grand Ram Temple in Ayodhya", a city which right-wing Hindu activists claim was the birthplace of their god Ram.

“The government should take speedy steps on the directions issued by the Supreme Court, including creation of a trust to build the temple,” said Kumar.

Nirmohi Akhara, a Hindu sect which is one of the party in the dispute, has also welcomed the decision of the Supreme Court despite the apex court rejecting their claim of being a devotee of diety Ram Lalla (infant Ram).

“The Supreme Court has given the Nirmohi Akhara adequate representation in the trust to be set up by the government to build and manage the temple,” said Kartik Chopra, its spokesman.

- What's next for Hindu groups

But after the decision in the Babri Mosque case, what will be next for India’s Hindu fundamentalist organizations. The VHP, one of the largest Hindu organization, has been demanding that hundreds of Hindu holy places under alleged Muslim occupation should also be liberated.

These organizations have in the past made two other mosques in the Hindu religious towns of Mathura and Varanasi also an issue.

Although, the Places of Worship Act passed in 1991 says the religious character of a place of worship shall continue to be what it was on Aug. 15, 1947, the Babri Mosque was kept out of its purview.

When asked, VHP working president Kumar declined to comment on the issue.

He told Anadolu Agency: “We want that the government should immediately take steps for the construction of the huge Ram temple in Ayodhya.”

Vishnu Jain, lawyer of Hindu Mahasabha political party in Babri Mosque dispute, also declined to comment on this issue.

He told Anadolu Agency: “Today we have got justice. We are looking forward to a temple at the birthplace of Lord Ram. We will discuss other things later on.”

Meanwhile, RSS has said that it will not claim the Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi and the Shahi Idgah in Mathura.

Bhagwan said: “We don’t get involved in such issues. The circumstances were different in the Ayodhya case.”

The Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi shares a boundary wall with the Kashi Vishwanath temple and in Mathura. Shahi Idgah is adjacent to the Krishna Janmabhoomi (birthplace of Hindu god Krishna) temple complex.