Indian town anxiously awaits landmark Babri mosque-temple verdict
Al JazeeraIn Ayodhya, Hindus dream of Ram temple while Muslims call for ‘practical’ solution as top court set to announce verdict. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party rose to political prominence in the early 1990s on the back of the Ram temple movement that culminated in the demolition of the mosque. “The court must respect Hindu sentiment and clear the way for a temple.” As the deadline draws nearer, most people, particularly the youth in Ayodhya, hope for a resolution so their town can move on. A Hindu godman-turned politician, Ram Vilas Vedanti, recently announced that construction of the temple would start on December 6, the anniversary of the Babri mosque demolition – a day Muslims mark as “Yaum-e-Gham”, or day of mourning, and right-wing Hindu groups celebrate as “Shaurya Diwas”, or victory day.