Welcome Ayodhya verdict, will be beneficial for social harmony: Nitish

Chief Minister of Bihar Nitish Kumar on Saturday appealed to everyone to welcome and respect the Supreme Court's verdict on the decades-old Ayodhya title dispute. "Supreme Court's judgement should be welcomed by everyone; it will be beneficial for social harmony. There should be no further dispute on this issue, that is my appeal to the people," Kumar told reporters in Patna. 

The Janata Dal-United chief also pointed to the unanimous nature of the top court's decision. "Everyone should maintain a sense of respect for each other and accept the decision wholeheartedly. The SC decision is a unanimous one and should be respected by all," CM Kumar said.

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Earlier in the morning, Nitish Kumar had appealed to the citizens to maintain peace ahead of Supreme Court's verdict on the Ayodhya dispute. The Chief Minister said people must accept the Supreme Court's verdict and the country's peace should not be disturbed. "There should be no dispute following the verdict," Kumar had said.

Nitish's fellow ally Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan had said that the Supreme Court verdict on the Ayodhya issue has put a closure to the dispute that had lingered for more than a century. "The Supreme Court has given a very clear and unanimous verdict. Sentiments of all parties have been respected in this unanimous judgment. It has put a closure to the dispute that has lingered for centuries," the Union Minister was quoted as saying.

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Supreme Court's Ayodhya verdict

Pronouncing the landmark judgment in the Ayodhya dispute case, the Supreme Court on Saturday, delivered a unanimous judgment in the title suit of the disputed area awarding it to the Hindu parties for the construction of a temple. It also directed the Centre to come up with a scheme within three months to set up a trust which will hand over the outer courtyard and inner courtyard of the site for construction of a temple. Apart from this, the SC stated that an alternate land of 5 acres is to be allotted to Muslims for the liberty of constructing a mosque, either by the Centre or the State government, in a suitable and prominent place in Ayodhya. CJI Ranjan Gogoi, while delivering the unanimous judgment, dismissed the claims of the Sunni Central Waqf Board and the Nirmohi Akhara. He also termed that the three-way division of the disputed land by the Allahabad HC in its 2010 verdict is wrong.

(With ANI inputs)

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