ISAS Briefs

The relative calm which greeted the Allahabad High Court ruling on the Ayodhya dispute was one of the positive fallouts of the verdict. However, the judgement was a highly unusual one ordering a three-way split of the disputed land in Ayodhya, the site of a mosque, which was pulled down by Hindu fundamentalists in 1992, who believe it was built on a spot sacred to the Hindus. One of the most troublesome aspects of the ruling was its reliance on the faith or belief of Hindus to decide the division of the land. As things stand, the verdict is likely to be challenged in the Supreme Court.