Mandir Wahi Banega?
The Ayodhya appeal hearings in the Supreme Court ended on October 16, two days before the deadline. The special five-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Indian, Ranjan Gogoi is likely to give its verdict before November 17. The CJI had conducted a 40-day marathon hearing for the politically sensitive Ayodhya case. November 17 has special importance to CJI as it is the day he is going to step down as the CJI and wants to add Ayodhya case verdict into his bucket.
The highly complex timeline can be traced down to 1528 when the Babri Masjid was built by Babur's commander Mir Baqi. The idols of Ram Lalla were placed under the central dome structure for the first time in 1949 after independence whose permission until then was rejected by the British. Babri Masjid was demolished in 1992 and the Rao government ordered an enquiry into the whole episode which then revealed that influential politicians such as L.K Advani, Bal Thackeray etc could have stopped it if they wanted. Multiple petitions were moved in between and the High Court of Uttar Pradesh on September 30, 2010 divided the 2.77 acre land among Ram Lalla, Nirmohi Akhara and Sunni Waqf Board. Multiple petitions were moved in the Supreme Court against the decision which forced it to set up a special bench for the case.
With the Supreme Court of India concluding the hearing and reserving itself for judgment, the most probable verdict should be in favour of Ram Lalla. The major reasons being
1. "Muslims can pray elsewhere, Ram’s birthplace cannot be shifted."
2. Inefficient representation of facts from the Sunni Waqf Board and its lawyer Rajeev Dhawan. Rajeev Dhawan losing his cool and tearing up the maps submitted by the All India Hindhu Mahasabha further adds fuel to the inefficiency.
3. Section 144 has been imposed in Ayodhya in anticipation of communal clash. The plan of action is similar to that of abrogation of Article 370 which is to clear the area of tourists, impose section 144 and bring in additional forces into the area.
4. Possible out of the court settlement by the Sunni Waqf Board. It is pretty much possible that the board has realized that it virtually of no use lingering onto the case. Speculation has it that the board has already ceded its part of the 2.77 acre land to the Ram Lalla and is ready to give up its claim on the land.
No matter what, the supporters of Ram Lalla have to thank Mr Keshav Parasaran, the 92-year-old iron-fisted legend of the bar who single-handedly turned the tides.
Riding high on nationalism and right-wing politics, the BJP is planning to accomplish yet another major election promise, the Ram Mandir if everything goes right. I believe that the decision would come much earlier within a week or so. BJP would want to capitalize the decision in the upcoming elections in religiously sensitive states of Haryana and Maharashtra. To conclude with the most obvious plan of action taken by BJP will be
1. Build Ram Mandir if the court decides so
2. Enact a law and built a Ram Mandir if the verdict goes against.