Silent majority

Muslim-dominated areas in the city remained calm, yet tense

It's not everyday that you find the street in front of the grand Jama Masjid deserted. But Thursday was not just another day.


Just a precaution: There was heightened security in the Walled City ahead of the announcement of the Ayodhya verdict. Pics/mid day

It was the day when a bench of three judges had to decide the most controversial civil suit in the history of India.u00a0u00a0

The tension was evident from the air, most of the shops were shut and a huge posse of police forces occupied the main street. The Mughal-era mosque had witnessed an alleged terrorist attack on September 19 but unprecedented security arrangements and the tensions in the run-up to the Judgement Day ensured that most of the people remained indoors.

For the owner of Karim's, the famous restaurant near Jama Masjid, it was business as usual. "How does it matter what the verdict is? It is not going to affect the common people anyway nor would it solve anything. I am not bothered about it," a manager at the famous Mughlai eatery.u00a0u00a0

The usually busy Chooriwalan was unusually quiet. "The judgement has landed after 60 years and though it is a balanced statement, it doesn't really matter now. I think the layman has nothing to do with it. People have moved beyond the issue. May be people in power would only be interested in Ayodhya," said Satya Prakash, a local resident and an RSS worker.

With only a handful of tourists inside Jama Masjid, only a fleet of pigeons broke the absurd silence.
Shahi Imam Syed Ahmad Bukhari did not seem happy with the verdict. "We will approach the Apex court. We are studying the judgement and decide the future course of action accordingly."

Another Muslim-majority area Jamia Nagar, the scene of the controversial Batla House encounter, remained tense the whole day. Heavy deployment of police and paramilitary, apart from empty roads summed up the mood in the area. Most of the people remained indoors in the afternoon and the forces were deployed in the area till late night.

Police said the forces are likely to come out again on Friday as a precautionary step to thwart any untoward incident. Local people didn't seem much bothered about the verdict and were involved in their day-to-day business.

"We just want peace in our area and country. We don't want things to become what they did a few years back when it (Babri demolition) happened," a local resident, Azhar Qureshi, said. Joining issue with Qureshi, Imran from Zakir Nagar said, "I have full faith in the judiciary."