UAE paper praises Ayodhya verdict

Abu Dhabi, Oct 1 (IANS/WAM) Dividing the Ayodhya disputed site among litigants was the only logical way out, said a United Arab Emirates (UAE) newspaper Friday, commending the judgment by an Indian court.

“After six decades, India’s judiciary attempted to certify that the country’s secular face remains unbroken with a long-awaited ruling on the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi dispute,” the Gulf News said editorially.

“In attempting to be fair, the three judges - two Hindus and one Muslim - from the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court delivered a three-part verdict which seemed to be inspired by three lines of logic - political, religious and legal.

“And the government pleaded for calm, patience and acceptance of the ruling,” it said. “For one of the judges, who retires today, it turned out to be the most important verdict of his life,”

The judges ruled that the entire disputed land in Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh should be divided among the Sunni Waqf Board, Hindus and the Nirmohi Akhara, a Hindu sect.

“A pro-Hindu ruling could have damaged the Congress party’s relations with India’s Muslims, thus denting their secular image and also their vote bank,” the paper said.

“A pro-Muslim verdict would have raised the possibility of communal violence as it would have threatened the Hindu groups at the site with eviction. This in turn would have boosted the prospects of the Bharatiya Janata Party,” it said.

The third alternative, or a split, was the only logical option under the circumstances, the paper said.

“India has travelled a long way since that fateful day in 1992 when the Babri Masjid was demolished by Hindu fundamentalists, triggering some of the worst communal riots,” it said. “That should never be repeated.”

–IANS/WAM