People of Ayodhya hope verdict ends cycle of uncertainty

People of this temple town hope that the high court verdict in the 60-year-old Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit tomorrow would end the cycle of uncertainty and help restore normalcy in their daily routine.

"We have suffered a lot because of this issue with our schools, colleges, businesses and other activities being affected and now that the verdict is to be announced tomorrow we hope it would help the people here move ahead", Anil Singh, a professor at the Saket Degree College here told PTI.

The once quaint town sprung up on the world map about 18 years ago when a mob demolished the Babri Masjid located here. 

Life had virtually come to a stand still here and in neighbouring Faizabad as uncertainty crept in their daily routine with locals forced to carry identity cards on their person and produce it on demand by security forces.

A priest of the famous Kanak Bhawan temple, Baldev Chaturvedi hoped the verdict would help people roam freely without identity cards given to those living in some parts of the disputed site.

An uneasy calm prevailed in the twin towns ahead of the verdict as security forces patrolled the streets and carried out searches in some places where they anticipated trouble. 

The impact of the tight security measures could be felt along the roads leading to this town which were lined by security personnel who outnumbered people venturing out for their every day chores and visits to temples. 

The pilgrims from outside who would otherwise have frequented the ghats and temples during the "pitra paksh" period for performing "pind daan" ritual in memory of their ancestors, have stayed away and those who had come here had left yesterday itself. 

Nirmala Mahant and Mohini Jangam of a group from Maharashtra which also left yesterday want the verdict to end the uncertainty so that the district could make strides on the path of development.

Trains and buses are running almost empty and as per information available, reserved tickets worth over Rs50,000
have been cancelled since September 28.

Also, there were virtually no takers for tickets in the normally busy trains for Mumbai and New Delhi. Bus services have also been hit.

The district magistrate and police chiefs have been making rounds of all the streets since early morning, especially in Ayodhya stopping at all barricades and passing necessary instructions to security personnel present.

Security arrangements would be further tightened, police sources said adding that though schools and colleges are open today nothing was known about tomorrow.

The impact of the court verdict on Ayodhya slated to be pronounced tomorrow could be felt on bathing ghats of the temple towns of Ayodhya and Faizabad and the various temples which today witnessed a very low turnout of devotees.

The government appointed chief pujari of the makeshift Ram
Temple, Acharya Satyendra Rai admitted that the flow of devotees to the temple has been very low. 

"The majority of those who made it to the temple today have been the security personnel deployed in the area as a negative publicity has been made outside about the security here," he said.

Common people, however, have been seen making last minute shopping of daily needs fearing that strict security measures or any problem might not allow the markets to open tomorrow, a
local trader, Raj Kishore Maurya said.

Though the locals of temple town looked sure that the situation in these twin towns would not get affected by the verdict tomorrow, the uneasy calm is suggestive of apprehensions in the hearts of the locals, who have been witness to the bloodshed.