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Ayodhya

Past and Present

By: Sutapa Mukherjee

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eBook | 20 December 2022

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10.30 a.m., 9 November 2019: A five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court of India unanimously delivered its verdict that the land in controversy where the Babri Majid once stood in Ayodhya belongs to the lord, Ram Lalla.

This decision was expected to end the conflict that had carried on for five centuries between the Hindus and Muslims in India, each asserting their religious rights over the 2.77 acres of disputed land. But at ground zero, Ayodhya still remains a divided city.

Journalist Sutapa Mukerjee had frequented the town since 1998. Then after a long gap, post the apex court decree, she revisited the land now gifted to Lord Ram and reconnected with the locals there. Through innumerable interviews and dedicated research Mukerjee brings out the various sentiments, concerns, foibles and helplessness of the people of Ayodhya who have made this pilgrim town their home. At one level, the town's communities have clashed and fought over centuries. At the same time, their warmth and kindness have also flowed through every space, cutting across group divisions, positions and even political stances.

Replete with the voices of both the common people and the movers and shakers of the Ramjanmabhoomi movement, Ayodhya: The City Divided gives historical context to the seven-decade-long court battle and brings alive the ground reality of the once-quaint town on its way to becoming a commercially hyped pilgrimage destination.