Site Of Demolished Mosque To Be Divided Between Hindus And Muslims--66/34

I blogged just a few days ago about the Babri mosque, which the Hindus claim stoodth on the birthplace of their god-king Rama, and that the mosque itself was built by Muslim invaders in the 16th century on the ruins of a Hindu temple they destroyed. The mosque in turn was demolished by a Hindu mob in 1992. A court was to give its verdict on who gets the rights to the land.

And this past Friday, the court came down with its verdict:

A court in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh said in a judgement on Thursday that the site of a demolished mosque be should be split between Hindus and Muslims. The 1992 demolition of the mosque by Hindu mobs triggered some of India's worst riots, killing 2,000 people.

The court ruled Hindus would get two-thirds of the land and be allowed to keep a makeshift temple that was built over the razed mosque's central dome.

The decision has been met with calm throughout India, despite fears the ruling could spark religious riots.

Of course, calm can be a very temporary condition.

Based on the comments of Shahi Imam Bukhari, the head of Delhi's largest mosque, the issue is as much one of pride as anything else:

If we do not get our rights we will never be able to walk in this country with our heads held high...It is our responsibility to maintain the peace, but we will not be broken, we cannot be broken.

The article tries to explain why riots did not immediately break out, but I thought the logic was kind of lacking:

But there were no reports of protests in Muslim-dominated areas, partly because people remained wary of inflaming public tensions in a country where Muslims account for only 13 percent of the 1.2 billion plus population.

In case you don't have a calculator handy, 13 percent of 1.2 billion comes out to only 156 million Muslims--so you really do have to give the Muslim leaders credit for keeping the peace after the initial jolt and afterward.

More likely, the relative calm is due to recent economic reforms that have given Muslims new opportunities that they were not given in the past. Bottom line, both sides have valid complaints against each other.

And claims by extremists such as Kashmir's Muslim leader Syed Ali Shah Geelai, who said that "to convert a mosque into a temple or something else is intolerable to the Muslim community" ignores the Muslim history of building 'victory mosques' over the remains of countries that it conquered and occupied.

The real test of course will the final decision handed down by the Supreme Court.

Technorati Tag: Babri Mosque.