HC VERDICT RELIEVES THE COMMON MAN

KANPUR September 30: The common man of Kanpur felt relieved after the HC today pronounced it’s much awaited verdict on the 60-year-old Ram Janmbhoomi-Babri Masjid title suits. Majority of the people across the communities welcomed the judgment in which the court ordered the disputed site in Ayodhya to be divided equally between the three main litigants, which were Muslims, Hindus, and Nirmohi Akhara.

            The anticipation about what would happen on the all crucial judgment day had caused a prolonged spell of stress for the inhabitants of the city. Unprecedented security arrangements in the city, made by the administration in view of the judgment, also caused apprehension in the minds of the general public, which thought it rather prudent to remain indoors today. Many offices and schools were open but the attendance dipped. People who had come to offices and markets were seen hurrying back to the security of their homes before 3:30 p.m. when the verdict was scheduled to be pronounced.

            Shops and markets around the city were closed around 3:00 p.m. All the major streets and markets bore a haunted look, as if whole of the city was under undeclared curfew. Amidst unprecedented security arrangements, very few people were seen on the streets. Public conveyance was completely off the roads.

            People were glued to the TV sets at their homes since 3:30 p.m. As the result began pouring in, there was a feeling of relief in the people which increasingly grew more as the deliberations on the TV cleared the picture about a rather complex judgment from the layman’s point of view. People started making their own interpretations and explanations of the verdict. Later in the evening, people were seen in small numbers on the streets. We met several people across the communities to know about their reactions.

            Rikshaw puller Haneef in Shivala area expressed his satisfaction about the verdict and said that hopefully at least now this case was over forever. Riaz, Sajid Shoaib, Ashok Gupta, Gaurav Mishra in the Meston Road area were of the opinion that the court had left no room for confrontation and that the people should take the verdict in a mature manner. Manoj Tiwari in the Parade area and Iliyas, Guddu, and Shaukat in the Idgaah area thanked the court for providing a verdict which did not go against the interests of any community. They agreed that there was an atmosphere of fear and apprehension in the city and hoped that the people belonging to all the communities would show brotherhood and harmony during these testing times.

Though no judgment could have pacified the heightened egos of all the people, this judgment certainly showed that it had the support of the majority of the common people who already have had enough on this particular issue.