Hindus win court case over temple

India’s Supreme Court on Saturday ruled in favour 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 Hindu hardliners in December 1992, sparking massive Hindu-muslim violence that left some 2000 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 town as part of its election strategy for decades. The minority Muslims fear that the court verdict will embolden Hindu hardliners in the country.

As the news broke, groups of jubilant Hindus poured into Ayodhya’s streets and distributed sweets to celebrate the verdict, but police soon persuaded them to return to their homes. As night fell, a large number of Hindus in the town lit candles, lamps and firecrackers to celebrate, and police faced a tougher time in curbing their enthusiasm.

The five Supreme Court justices who heard the case said in a unanimous judgment that 2ha of land will be allotted to the Muslim community to build a mosque, though it did not specify where. The court said the land is ‘‘restitution for the unlawful destruction of the mosque.’’

The disputed land, meanwhile, will be given trustees.

Hindu hard-liners have said they want to build a new temple to Ram on the site, which they revere as his birthplace. They say the mosque was built after a temple dedicated to the Hindu god was destroyed by Muslim invaders. – AP to a board of