‘Hope Govt Focus Will Now Return to Livelihood Issues’

New Delhi: As a precautionary measure to prevent untoward incidents after the judgment in the Ayodhya case was pronounced, all schools, colleges, educational institutions and training centres in Uttar Pradesh have been closed till November 11. Section 144 (prohibits an assembly of more than 4 people in an area) has also been imposed in the state.

Amid all this, most people Newsclick spoke to welcomed the verdict, and hoped the ‘dispute settlement’ would now lead to government focus shifting on livelihood issues.

In Western UP, the sugarcane belt that has seen various farmer protests in recent days, Rajvir Singh Mundet, a Shamli-based social worker and state president of Bharatiya Kisan Mazdoor Sanyukt Union, said, "It's good that the decades-long controversy is coming to an end. This means the politics would shift from mosque-temple to other issues.”

However, there were some guarded reactions, too. Sheetla Singh, a veteran journalist and former editor of the local daily Jan Morcha, based in Ayodhya, told Newsclick, "Several people are not satisfied with the verdict because of the evidence used to give land to Hindu is based on religious sentiments."

Singh recalled that several Muslims were killed in Ayodhya in the aftermath of the demolition. “The police conducted their post-mortem and the administration arranged for their burial. But till today, there has been no investigation into the violence, no one was ever questioned or booked under any government,” he added.

Noted Hindi writer Asghar Wajahat sounded resigned. "It was expected that the verdict will be like this only. Nothing surprises me neither it should to any common person. What else can be said in such circumstances. But a lot of questions arise on this verdict."

Accepting the Supreme Court verdict in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute case, professor of Hindi Jamia Millia Islamia, Abdul Bismillah, told Newsclick, "As citizens of India, we have a duty to abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals and institutions.”

He added that over the past few years, circumstances of the country had changed and it was obvious that all this would affect everything, even this verdict. “The verdict should not shock anyone. The victory or defeat may be significant for every party, but protection of India and its sovereignty is more important," he added.

Bismillah, however, said that the "judgment by the Allahabad High Court in 2010 to the three-way division of the disputed area between Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla was much better than this judgment but people didn't agree on that."

Nadeem Naiyaar, a social activist based in Lucknow, said: "In my opinion, this is not a very balanced verdict. Though, one of the biggest hurdles has been overcome today…and finally both a temple and a mosque will be built in India."