India court rules for Hindu temple

Mosque to be built on alternative site

NEW DELHI — India’s Supreme Court on Saturday ruled in favor of a Hindu temple on a disputed religious ground in the country’s north and ordered that alternative land be given to Muslims to build a mosque — a verdict in a highly contentious case that was immediately deplored by a key Muslim body.

The dispute over land ownership has been one of India’s most heated issues, with Hindu nationalists demanding a temple on the site in the town of Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh state for more than a century.

The 16th-century Babri Masjid mosque was destroyed by Hindus in December 1992, sparking Hindu-Muslim violence that left some 2,000 people dead.

Saturday’s verdict paves the way for building the temple in place of the demolished mosque.

It is expected to give a boost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, which has been promising the majority Hindus a temple of their most revered god Ram in Ayodhya as part of its election strategy for decades. The minority Muslims fear that the court verdict will embolden Hindu hard-liners in the country.

As the news broke, jubilant Hindus poured into Ayodhya’s streets and distributed sweets to celebrate the verdict, but police soon persuaded them to return to their homes.

The five Supreme Court justices who heard the case said in a unanimous judgment that 5 acres of land will be allotted to the Muslim community to build a mosque, though it did not specify where.

The court said the 5 acres is “restitution for the unlawful destruction of the mosque.”

The disputed land will be given to a board of trustees for the construction of a temple.

Ajit Solanki The Associated Press Supporters of the World Hindu Council celebrate outside the organization’s office in Ahmadabad, India, on Saturday following a ruling by India’s Supreme Court in favor of constructing a Hindu temple on disputed religious ground.