‘The Ayodhya order will help maintain communal harmony in country’

The verdict pronounced by the Lucknow Bench of Allahabad high court on the Ayodhya title suits case was welcomed by all fraternities in Surat.

The decision was termed as a process by the court to maintain and foster communal harmony in the country.

Leaving aside some incidents of celebration at few places, no untoward incident was reported from the city.

From 3 pm, Surtis began to gather in front of the television eagerly waiting for the verdict. Citizens danced to joy after the court gave its decision on the disputed land and burst crackers at many places.

However, to prevent any ugly situation from cropping up, police intervened in the matter and urged people to stop celebrating. The Hindus welcomed the decision, and so did the Muslim community, who termed the verdict as balanced and based on facts.

Even religious leaders, advocates and intellectuals welcomed the court's verdict. They urged people from both the communities to respect the judgement of the court and work towards spreading communal harmony in the society.

“High court's verdict on the Ayodhya case is based on the principles of Indian Constitution and Indian judicial system. This is an incredible decision, where all parties have been judged properly by court. People should respect the decision and should avoid playing politics over the issue,” said, Mahant Batukgiri, head of Atal-Ashram in Surat.

“None of the complainants can claim that the court verdict is against them. The court has given a decision in which nobody has won and nobody has lost. If any of the complainants feel that justice has not been delivered, there is still the option of moving the Supreme Court. Otherwise, this is a very balanced decision by the bench,” Manoj Khernar, a city based advocate, said.

Devkishan Mangani, president of FOSTAA, said that the court's verdict has brought an end to a long pending dispute. Looking at the decision, there is no room left for any hatred between people. The law has provided a perfect solution that was so much related with the lives of common man.

Prior to the court's verdict, there was curfew like situations at Bhagal, Cinema Road, Chowk-Bazaar, Rander, Jahangirpura, Salabatpura, and Saiyedpura. Majority of the shops remained closed throughout the day, while there was hardly any vehicular movement all the day in these areas. To prevent any untoward incident post verdict, heavy security was deployed in the city.
Few youths tried to break into a shop owned by a person belonging to a minority community at Limbayat on Thursday evening. However, police arrived at the spot and foiled the plan. Except this, no incident was recorded in the city till late in the evening.