Ayodhya verdict will shape 'political and social landscape of India', says WSJ; Washington Post calls ruling 'major victory for Modi'

Washington: The Supreme Court’s judgment in the Ayodhya case will shape the political and social landscape of India, the US media reported on Saturday, noting the steps taken by the Indian government to maintain law and order in the country after the verdict. The apex court in a unanimous verdict on Saturday cleared the way for the construction of a Ram Temple at the disputed site at Ayodhya and directed the Centre to allot a 5-acre plot to the Sunni Waqf Board for building a mosque. In one of the most important and most anticipated judgements in India’s history, a 5-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi put an end to the more than a century-old dispute that has torn the social fabric of the nation. [caption id=“attachment_6604251” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Supreme Court of India. Reuters[/caption] For all the case’s historical origins, “its judgment will help shape India’s political and social landscape,” The Wall Street Journal, which has been following the case closely, said in a news dispatch from New Delhi. Most of the mainstream American media, which reported about the verdict, underscored that the ruling by the five-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi was unanimous. It also noted the steps taken by the government to maintain law and order in the country and across the board for the overall acceptance of the apex court’s judgement in this regard. The Union home ministry kept a “constant and engaging” vigil across the country with central paramilitary forces, intelligence agencies and state police forces in toe. An overwhelming presence of men and women in ‘khaki’ on the ground, intensive patrolling and monitoring of various social media platforms were the drill followed by state police forces to check any inflammatory or mischievous act in the wake of the Supreme Court verdict that cleared the way for the creation of a Ram temple in Ayodhya. The Wall Street Journal said the court, in its ruling, focused on the merits of the suit filed on behalf of the idol of Lord Ram that was placed on the disputed site in 1949. The dispute over the site of Babri Masjid, a three-domed mosque built by or at the behest of Moghul emperor Babur, dates back centuries with Hindus contending that the invading Muslim armies had razed an existing Ram temple to erect the mosque. However, it turned into a legal dispute in 1885 when a mahant went to court seeking permission to build a canopy outside the mosque. The plea was dismissed. In December 1949, unidentified miscreants spirited an idol of Lord Ram into the mosque. The structure was destroyed by a large mob of _kar sevak_s on 6 December, 1992. The Washington Post, in a news dispatch from New Delhi, said that the “unanimous verdict” by the Supreme Court “sets the stage for the construction of a grand Hindu temple” at the site. “The verdict awarded the land at the heart of the clash to a Hindu litigant over Muslim objections and represents a major victory for Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” The Washington Post reported. “The judges upheld the claim of one of the Hindu petitioners to the land at the centre of the dispute — less than three acres in size — and ordered that it be held in a trust overseen by the government. At the same time, it granted five acres of land at an alternate location to Muslim litigants,” the daily said.