It’s decided: Ayodhya is to be divided

Ayodhya

The Allahabad High Court rules that the disputed land in Ayodhya be divided into three parts to be distributed among the Sunni Waqf Board, Nirmohi Akhara and the party for ‘Ram Lalla.’

Live updates on the verdict:

1:03 am: Ayodhya verdict taken positively as leaders appeal for calm

00: 17 am: Mixed reaction to Ayodhya verdict in Pakistan

00:12 am: @awaaz_neeche – kalmadi can heave a sign of relief, today ppl forgot kalmadi bashing thanx 2 ayodhya verdict. N from 2morow india vs aus test series.

11:59 pm: Police zeal draw flak from Hyderabad residents

11: 27 pm: Ayodhya: Judge refers 274 books, 798 judgements in 5,238 pages

11:05 pm: Sangh Parivar invites Muslims to build temple

10:48 pm: Ayodhya verdict opens a new chapter for national integration: BJP

10:30 pm: @sidvee –  If Lalit Modi had been in charge of this Ayodhya verdict, Shankar Mahadevan would have been performing by now

10:00 pm: The decision has opened up a ‘chance for reconciliation’ between Hindus and Muslims of India, a member of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) said on Thursday after the verdict (Read More)

9:45 pm: The Ayodhya verdict has been hailed as a “mature” decision by Bollywood celebrities who have urged their fans to maintain peace. (Read More)

9: 05 pm: Verdict opens up chance for reconciliation: Muslims

@Debabrata
We have built enough mosques and temples. Lets build the nation now #ayodhya #verdict

8: 45 pm: Bollywood gives thumbs up to Ayodhya verdict

8:15 pm: Verdict significant step in building grand temple: Advani
8:13 pm: Curfew like situation in UP in view of verdict

8:10 pm: In a statement, the PM today appealed to all Indians to respect the verdict and cautioned the public not to take heed of any ‘disruptive elements’ who might try to stir up trouble. He also said he had complete faith in the secular spirit of the nation.  (Read Full Report)

7: 50 pm: Verdict should end Ayodhya dispute: Bal Thackeray

7: 35 pm: Verdict will strengthen national unity, says Modi

7: 25 pm: Let’s build nation now, says twitterati after verdict

7:15  pm: Political parties welcome Aygodhya verdict

7: 00: pm: No winner or loser: Ramjanmabhoomi Trust

6:50 pm: Ayodhya security Centre’s task, says Mayawati

Ayodhya tweet – @mohak INDIAN WINS BIG OUTSOURCING CONTRACT! Jerusalem, Palestine, Israel issue to be resolved by Allahabad High Court!!!! #ayodhya

6: 45 pm: PM meets senior ministers after Ayodhya verdict

6:35 pm: I welcome court decision, says oldest litigant

6.30 pm:  Brief summary of the verdict of Justice Sudhir Agarwal

6.29 pm: Brief summary of the verdict of Justice Sibghat Ullah Khan

6.28 pm: Brief summary of the verdict of Justice Dharam Veer Sharma: Volume 1 | Volume 2

6.14 pm: What the judges said: Here is a gist of the text of the verdict by  the three judges

6.07  pm: ‘Babri mosque was built at Ram birthplace’: More details on the verdict

6.01 pm: We should all welcome the judgement, says Congress

5.58 pm: UP Chief Minister Mayawati appeals for calm

5.53 pm:  The RSS says the Allahabad High Court verdict  should not been seen as anybody’s victory or defeat.

5.44 pm: Chaos at media centre after the Ayodhya verdict

5.41 pm: Allahabad High Court website crashes

5.30 pm: Meet the  three judges – two Hindus and a Muslim – of the  Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court who authored the long-awaited verdict on the Babri Masjid-Ramjanmabhoomi dispute

5.28 pm: Verdict opens up ‘chance for reconciliation’: Muslim panel member

5.22 pm: Sunni Wakf board lawyer to appeal against Ayodhya verdict

5.11 pm: Ayodhya land to be divided in three. Click here for the story

5.10 pm: Ayodhya verdict –  Babri Committee disappointed, will move SC

5.08 pm: Accept the verdict: Litigant Hashim Ansari

5.06 pm: Will study the Judgment and then react, says  Law Minister

5.05 pm: Ram idols existed on site, says Allahabad High Court

5.00 pm: The initial confusion that was unleashed was unbelievable. TV channels being allowed to telecast images of over-the-top lawyers flaunting victory signs was also uncalled for. Couldn’t the government have ensured that at least this didn’t happen? What do you think? Leave your comments below

4.58: The ownership of the disputed site is to be divided into three parts: the site of the Ramlala idol to Lord Ram, Nirmohi Akhara gets Sita Rasoi and Ram Chabutara, Sunni Wakf Board gets the rest:  TOI

4.56: Nirmohi Akahara gets Sita Rasoi and Ram Chabutara

4.54: Disputed land divided into three parts:  The Allahabad High Court rules that the disputed land in Ayodhya be divided into three parts to be distributed among the Sunni Waqf Board, Nirmohi Akhara and the party for ‘Ram Lalla’, say lawyers.

4.52 pm: Division of the land to start in three months: 1/3 for temple, 1/3 for Sunni Wakf Board, claim to third part not known yet, says counsel for Hindu Mahasabha

4.46 pm: Judges have suggested a three-way division of the 40m x 27m disputed land: Ravi Shankar Prasad, lawyer and BJP leader

4.43 pm: Sunni Central Board’s suit dismissed, claims lawyer of Hindu Maha Sabha

4.42 pm: Court accepts that the disputed land is Ram Janmabhoomi, says Ravi Shankar Prasad

4.41 pm: Ayodhya verdict out, judgement runs to 8,000 pages

4.36 pm: Chaos outside court as lawyers hold individual press briefings

4.31 pm: Lawyers brief media outside court

4.30 pm: Aaj Tak says: Court Gates are opened and copy of the order is likely to be read out soon

4.25 pm: The Allahabad High Court’s ruling on Thursday will address three questions: whether the disputed spot was Rama’s birthplace; whether the mosque was built after the demolition of a temple; and if the mosque was built in accordance with the tenets of Islam. The primer on the dispute can be found here

4.23 pm: Ayodhya: Judges to give three separate judgements

4.20 pm: The Ayodhya dispute centres around a piece of land 40m x 27m. The High Court verdict will decide who owns it

4.16 pm: BJP core group to meet after Ayodhya verdict

4.15 pm: Cabinet Committee on Security to discuss Ayodhya Verdict

4.12 pm: Hundreds of journalists gather outside court

4.09 pm: 51-member body to deliberate on the Ayodhya Verdict

4.06 pm: Lucknow DM, DIG cautions against interpretation of Ayodhya Verdict

3.56 pm:  All India Muslim Personal Law Board to meet later today

3.43 pm: Media to be briefed at the DC’s office

3.36 pm: Petitioners to be brought to media centre to brief the media

3.28 pm: BJP meet at 6 pm

3.22 pm: Roads around the High Court building sealed

3.18 pm: Lucknow Bench declared ‘no access zone’

3.14 pm: Judges to give three separate judgements. Details here

3.10 pm: Justice Dharamveer Sharma, Justice Sudhir Agarwal and Justice SU Khan to deliver verdict

3.02 pm: 3-Judge bench to deliver verdict

2.55 pm: Verdict will be given to media from DC’s office: Lucknow DM

2.45 pm: Maintain peace and tranquility: Chidambaram

Tweet on Ayodhya –  @Rumsii The way we respond to the Ayodhya verdict 2dy wud determine how mature the Indian youngistan is. I hope we keep our secularism unhurt.

2.35 pm: Full verdict to be available on Allahabad High Court website:www.allahabadhighcourt.in and  www.rjbm.nic.in

Tweet on Ayodhya – @sagarikaghose No Ayodhya discussions or polemic on CNN IBN. We don’t believe in raising temperatures for TRPs.

2.31 pm: 2000 paramilitary forces on vigil

2.26 pm: Cabinet Committee on Security to meet at 5 pm today

Tweet on Ayodhya @vaibhavmeh Minutes left in ayodhya verdict…jus hoping my countrymen will keep up the oath which they use to take

2.22 pm: 22 Uttar Pradesh areas under air surveillance

2.18 pm: Tight security arrangements in Rajasthan

2.16 pm: Bollywood appeals people to maintain calm

2.14 pm: Tight security in Karnataka ahead of Ayodhya verdict

Tweet on Ayodhya –  @vikaspgoel 1992 to 2010 ; Bombay to Mumbai . Let’s prove that it’s more than just a name change , we have grown up. #Ayodhya

2.10 pm: 1,19,000 policemen have been deployed in UP

2.05 pm:  Security forces mobilised

Tweet on Ayodhya –  @reachsundar #Ayodhya verdict on #Flintstones 50th anniversary…Coincidence or a hint to us that we gonna go back to the caves if we fight – – – again!!

2.00 pm: Sonia, Chidambaram appeal for peace

What a crying shame!

We have spent Rs 75000-odd crores, according to some estimates, on the Commonwealth Games to heap shame on ourselves. How Indian indeed!

On Thursday, the BBC has put up images of the Commonwealth Games village that will make any self-respecting Indian’s head bow in shame.

Doesn’t it makes us all wonder why the government went chasing after the rights of a Games that evokes such little passion in the first place? After all, this was no Olympics, no Asian Games, no FIFA World Cup, no T20 World Cup even.

The less said about the planning too, the better.

Funds were released late, despite us winning the bid in 2003. And once they were cleared, no proper organisational structure was put in place.

Whatever happened to that very Indian trait – the need to weave an intricate bureaucratic web ALWAYS? Our babus and ministers display an undying love for it when there is little need. At a time when we needed a clearly thought out hierarchy the most, though, almost no effort was made.

Instead, we kept it simple. Our idea of a successful organising committee was having Suresh Kalmadi at the helm. Does more need to be said?

The Delhi government and various lower-level committees that were involved in this massive non-exercise shouldn’t also be forgotten. Their list of failures are so long that it even winds its way via the doorsteps of India’s legendary metro man E Sreedharan, whose team was given such a tight deadline that they found themselves dealing with a sad mishap that claimed lives.

Sitting at the head of this ruinous extravaganza was a Prime Minister, who kept a studious distance from this all. The rest of the world might call him wise, but what was the wisdom in his approach of considered silence till today?

Worst of all, we couldn’t even cobble together a decent bunch of spokesmen when the shit hit the ceiling.

Oops! Dangerous word that – the ceiling. But I am getting away from my point. Couldn’t we at least spot our Lalit Bhanots and shield them from the world media and the microphones then?

Since it is the queen’s games, let me end by posing the moot question once again – why at all did we have to get into this right royal mess?

The lesson we Indians must learn at least now is to avoid such attempts at advertisement in future.

Yes, in incredible India, bribes can be taken and given; corners can be cut; deadlines can be missed and power can be abused – but not on the world stage, please.

R Rajesh Kumar

We are Malayalis, not Madrasis

First of all let’s get the facts right – all Malayalis do not speak with a ‘Mallu’ accent.

Secondly, those of us who do speak with an accent, speak with a very distinctive one, thaang you very much – and we don’t appreciate it when people mix it up with someone else’s.

And thirdly, in these days of Lolakutty and the whole global village mania, it’s high time the “Northies” got their facts right.

What got me on this myth busting mission? The new Idea advertisement.

I don’t have issues with the ad – It is corny, sappy and spells out its message in so much detail that any kindergarten student will get it.

What I do have a problem with is how the Malayali is made to say ‘Ram, Ram’. Listen to it on YouTube and tell me if you’ve ever heard a Malayali speak like that. A Tamilian perhaps, but not a true blue Malayali.

It’s high time that everyone who is not a south Indian realised something – we are not all Madrasis, people.

And considering there is no Madras anymore, officially speaking, maybe those north of our four borders need to be sent back to school! Brush up on that geography!

I’d like to know how a Punjabi would feel if I said he was no different from a Bihari. If I said they spoke the same language, came from the same area and looked alike, too. There would be civil war – that’s what would happen.

Coming back to the ad, I’d like to know how the ad execs do their research? Do they just throw a dart at the map of South India, pick a state to mock, and then look to the office clown to come up with inspiring lines? Or do they have a research team that actually does what it is paid to do?

I highly doubt that.  And my proof:  Another television ad that talks about how you can get your local channels wherever you go.

It shows a Tamil speaking man setting off for a new job – and the local channels that follow him? Those that show Kathakali and Mohiniyattam!

There’s no excuse for such blatant errors. An accent may be confused by tone-deaf people, but facts like Kathakali is a dance form from Kerala? Any high school student will tell you that.

My advice to ad execs – if you can’t invest in a good research team, then do invest in a good computer with internet access. Google is the only way forward for you.

And to the rest of you, Malayalis say Ram the same way a Punjabi or a Lucknowi would.

What we may not say the same way is: Waatch it misterr. Next time will be yourr laast time!

 Surya Praphulla Kumar

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