Ayodha ruling a triumph for Hindus, says Pakistani paper

ISLAMABAD - The judicial verdict allowing the construction of a Ram temple at the site of the razed Babri mosque in Ayodhya is a victory for “Hindu fanaticism”, a Pakistani Urdu newspaper said Saturday.

Thursday’s ruling by the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court is not conducive for peace in the long run, the influential Nawa-i-Waqt said.

“How did the court accept the claims of two other parties over the land on which the Babri Masjid stood without dispute for more than 500 years? Can a temple come up besides a mosque,” it asked.

“The situation will continue to be a headache for the government,” it said.

Saying the judgment favoured “Hindu fanatics”, the editorial said the verdict came “under the government’s supervision and overwhelmingly kept political considerations in mind”.

The editorial’s viewpoint contrasted the opinion of English-language Dawn newspaper which argued that the Ayodhya ruling was the only tenable answer to a dragging dispute.

The high court ruled that the place where the Babri mosque stood until Hindu mobs razed it in 1992 was indeed the birthplace of Hindu god Ram. A makeshift Ram temple now exists there.

The court also divided the entire disputed land between three of the litigants: the Hindus, the Nirmohi Akhara and the Sunni Central Waqf Board. The issue is now expected to be taken up at the Supreme Court.