What are the implications of the Supreme Court judgment, awarding the disputed site at Ayodhya to the Hindu side? To understand that, we need to understand how the judgment is being perceived by different communities and players involved in and impacted by the dispute, and what it contains for all of us.
The judgment repeatedly pays homage to the secular character of the nation, claims that it does not base its finding on the report of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), makes clear that the existence of the mosque could not be disputed, calls the attempt to change the nature of the mosque (by surreptitiously putting idols of Hindu deities in the innermost part of the mosque) illegal — and does not mince words in calling the demolition of the mosque in 1992 an act of violation of law.