Nation waits with bated breath for Ayodhya verdict

Lucknow, Sep 29 (PTI) India waited anxiously as the
3-judge Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court will
deliver its judgement Thursday on the 60-year-old
Ramjanambhoomi-Babri Masjid, amidst worries about the fall-out
of the verdict.

Security was ramped up across the country and leaders
cutting across political and religious spectrum appealed for
calm on the eve of the verdict on four title suits on the
ownership of the 2.7 acre land, the dispute over which changed
the course of politics in the last two decades.
With Supreme Court clearing hurdles, the verdict by the
3-Judge bench consisting of Justices S U Khan, Justices Sudhir
Agarwal and Justice D V Sharma will be delivered at 1530 hours
Thursday and the court has been turned into a virtually
impregnable fortress having been declared as a "no access
zone".
The first suit in the case was filed 60 years ago by a
Hindu seeking right to worship. After twists and turns the UP
Central Sunni Board of Waqfs moved to file a claim in 1961
followed by another civil suit in 1989 in the name of Lord Ram
for declaration and possession of the Masjid complex.
All the cases were transferred from a Faizabad court in
1989 to a special bench of the High Court.
As the issue was hanging fire, the BJP and sangh
parivar outfits mounted a campaign for building Ram temple in
Ayodhya at the dispute site claiming it was his birth place.
The campaign reached a crescendo in 1992 when the 500-year-old
Babri Masjid was razed to the ground.
BJP came to power in 1998 but the party has not not been
able to script a success since the 2004 elections and
observers believe the Ayodhya issue may have lost its its
steam down the years.
However, not leaving anything to chance Indian Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram appealed to the people to
accept the verdict and maintain peace and tranquility.
They stressed that no attempt should be made by any
section of the people to provoke another section after the
verdict. Leaders felt that tomorrow's verdict was not not the
final word as legal process was still available to parties to
approach the Supreme Court.
The BJP also made it clear that they respect the
judicial process and want peace and calm. PTI Team
PBL