Ayodhya verdict:

Victory for a 'new India'

INDIA: Indian newspapers welcomed Friday a landmark court ruling dividing a hotly disputed religious site, saying it pointed to a new, more confident India where law prevailed over communal emotion.

The high court judgement Thursday split the site in the northern pilgrimage town of Ayodhya site between Hindu and Muslim claimants, easing immediate fears of a violent backlash.

The Hindustan Times argued that the "sagacious" verdict was one "that left no losers" and argued that the decision of the main Muslim claimant to appeal the judgement was proof that the issue was now firmly contained within the framework of the law.

"A bull has been caught by its horns and credit should be given where its due: the law overwhelming what had always seemed... a matter of extra-judicial misadventures and posturings," the newspaper said.

Security had been tightened in Ayodhya and across India generally to prevent a repeat of violence in 1992 when Hindu zealots tore down a 16th century mosque at the Ayodhya site.

Around 2,000 people, most of them Muslims, died in the riots that followed.

"In the end, what is of prime importance and deserving both relief and applause is that this verdict, in no mean way, has been a touchstone moment for Indian secularism and a definitive step away from the pit of religious fundamentalism," the Hindustan Times said.

An editorial in the Times of India also identified the ruling and the apparent lack of any violent backlash as a watershed moment for a country with huge ambitions as an emerging global power. NEW DELHI, Friday, AFP