The Supreme Court ruled that the site in Ayodhya in northern India must be managed by a trust to oversee the construction of a Hindu temple (SANJAY KANOJIA)

New Delhi (AFP) – India’s top court handed a huge victory to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janta Party, on Nov. 9, awarding Hindus control of a bitterly disputed holy site that has sparked some of the country’s worst sectarian bloodshed.

Authorities stepped up security nationwide ahead of the decision and Modi called for calm, fearing the final ruling on an issue that has been a focal point of Hindu-Muslim tensions for decades could again trigger unrest.

The Supreme Court ruled that the site in Ayodhya in northern India must be managed by a trust to oversee the construction of a Hindu temple.

A separate piece of land in Ayodhya would be given over to a Muslim group to build a “prominent” new mosque, the court ruled in its hotly awaited 1,045-page verdict.

As delighted Hindu activists chanted outside the Delhi court, Ayodhya itself was barricaded with thousands of extra security personnel including riot police deployed and all gatherings banned.

Police were on alert across India while officials and volunteers scoured social media for inflammatory posts

– Lord Ram’s birthplace –

Devout Hindus believe that Lord Ram was born in Ayodhya some 7,000 years ago but a mosque was constructed on top of his birthplace in the 16th century.

In the 1980s, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) began to strengthen, pressure grew for the mosque to be replaced by a glorious new Hindu temple at the 2.8-acre (1.1-hectare) site.

In 1992, a Hindu mob estimated to number 200,000 reduced the mosque to rubble, unleashing some of the worst religious riots since independence, that saw some 2,000 people dead in its wake.

The verdict, it is hoped, will put an end to an angry and at times arcane legal wrangle that British colonial rulers and even the Dalai Lama tried to mediate.

Zafaryab Jilani, a lawyer representing one of the Muslim litigants, said however that it was “unjust” and that he was considering filing a review petition.

Varun Kumar Sinha, a lawyer representing one of the Hindu groups, called it a “historic judgement”.

“Now, finally, the talk around it and even the politics around it will stop,” Shubham Maheshwar, 25, a resident of Ayodhya whose family lives 400 metres (yards) from the site, told AFP.

– Victory for Modi –

Modi’s BJP has campaigned for years for a temple at Ayodhya, and the verdict will delight the prime minister’s supporters just months into his second term.

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that the verdict has “plunged the Muslims of India into uncertainty and exposed them to a lack of security and protection.”

“The halls of justice have amicably concluded a matter going on for decades,” Modi tweeted. “This verdict shouldn’t be seen as a win or loss for anybody.”

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Disclaimer: Validity of the above story is for 7 Days from original date of publishing. Source: AFP.