Respecting stand of the Supreme Court : Decades old issue

The verdict of the Supreme Court of India on the decades old Ayodhya dispute need not be seen as a ruling along the Hindu-Muslim divide, but more as settling an issue which has dogged the country for decades. The Supreme Court did observe that the Hindus consider the demolished structure as the birthplace of Lord Ram with even the Muslims not objecting to it and held that the existence of Sita Rasoi, Ram Chabutra and Bhandhar Grih at the site are the testimonies of the religious fact of the place. However the Supreme Court was clear that the title of the site cannot be established on the ground of faith, belief and they are only an indicator for deciding the dispute. This should about sum up the stand of the Supreme Court but it is interesting to see how a site considered to be the birth place of Lord Ram had driven the two major communities of the country so further apart. Those who can still recall but do not have the records will still recall vagule the build up to the demolition of the Babri Masjid with LK Advani taking out a Rath Yatra, championing the cause of Lord Ram’s birth place and which ultimately led to the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992. After the then VP Singh Government fell following the withdrawal of support by the BJP with its 88 MPs, it was the Congress under which PV Narasimha Rao came to power and this was when the demolition of the Babri Masjid took place. Uttar Pradesh or rather Ayodhya burnt, and the after effects could be seen across the country leading to a series of violence, including the Bombay serial blasts. From records that can be culled from different sources, the total number of people killed in the after effects of the demolition of the Babri Masjid stood at 2000 across the country.
There were repercussions in the neighbouring countries of Bangladesh too and in some Arab countries back then. The interesting question is what are the precursors of the ‘Hindu awakening.’ As Rahul Verma wrote on BBC Culture, days before the Supreme Court delivered its verdict,  many believe that the path for a National Hindu consciousness was paved by the adaptation of the epic Hindu poem, the Ramayana for a modern audience in 1987-88 on Doordarshan, significantly when India was yet to open her sky to other broadcasters. Rahul Verma recalled how Ramayana’s special place in India’s cultural space helped the serial become a phenomenon, becoming a sort of a weekly act of devotion. After the serial wound up after 18 months in 1988, it was veteran BJP leader LK Advani, who rose to the occasion and took out the Rath Yatra, to build a Ram Temple where the Babri Masjid stood. As the Yatra gathered steam, Advani was detained at Bihar, but then thousands of Kar Sevaks had proceeded up to Ayodhya where the demolition took place. This was in 1992 and the memories of what happened later must still be fresh in the minds of those who kept records of the happenings. However as the Supreme Court has ruled, it is not about a victory for the Hindus and a loss for the Muslims, but is about settling an issue which has dogged India for decades, even dating back much earlier than 1992.