This archive report was first published on 9 November 2019.
Published on November 9, 2019, the nation is bracing for a potential landmark ruling that could have far-reaching consequences for the country's delicate social fabric.
As the Supreme Court prepares to deliver its verdict, the streets of Ayodhya are eerily quiet. Schools have been shut, and 4,000 security officers have been deployed to the area to maintain order. Rallies have been banned, shops are barred from selling kerosene, and people are prevented from collecting bricks or stones.
On Twitter, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed for calm, urging citizens to prioritize peace and unity in the wake of the verdict.
“Whatever verdict is delivered by the Supreme Court will not be anyone’s victory or loss,” he wrote. “I appeal to my countrymen that everyone’s priority should be that the verdict strengthens the great tradition of peace, unity and good will of India.”
The ruling, expected to be delivered on Saturday, could hand Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) a significant victory, just six months after the party swept elections and Modi was granted a second term as prime minister.
Many in the BJP believe that Muslims and other minorities in India have been given a special status, creating a tiered structure that they would like to flatten. Hindu temples, for example, are controlled by the government, while Christians and Muslims control their own churches and mosques and can partly be governed by their own religious laws.
“If the Supreme Court hands them a victory, all stars will have aligned in the BJP’s favor,” said Milan Vaishnav, the director of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s South Asia program.
However, Vaishnav also warned of short-term fear about communal tensions, stating that “the soil is pretty fertile for conflict.”
