Fears ease of backlash after India ruling on holy site

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AYODHYA, India, Oct 1 (AFP): Fears eased Friday of a sectarian backlash to India's landmark court ruling to divide a contested religious site between Hindus and Muslims, as both sides heeded calls for restraint.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh led appeals for calm after a court ruled Thursday that both sides should share a plot of land in the northern pilgrimage town of Ayodhya that is claimed as a mosque and a temple.
There were no reports of violence after the ruling, which will grant Muslims one third of the site and Hindus the rest, although police remained on alert for Muslim Friday prayers across the country.
"The law and order situation throughout the country has been extremely peaceful," Home Minister P. Chidambaram told reporters. "We are therefore very pleased and satisfied that the people of India have been respectful and dignified."
The Hindu litigants were much the happier of the two parties with the verdict, which grants them the majority share and the central part of the site -- the source of deadly violence in the past.
In 1992, Hindu zealots tore down a 16th-century mosque on the disputed parcel of land, which sparked riots that left 2,000 people, mostly Muslims, dead and a legacy of mistrust between the religious groups.
Both sides have vowed to appeal Thursday's verdict to the Supreme Court, meaning a final ruling on the 60-year-old legal battle could take years more given the notoriously slow speed of India's judicial system.
"We expect that appeals will be lodged in the next few days or weeks," Chidambaram added.
Analysts said although the verdict might be seen as contentious or flawed, it also offered a secular, progressive India the chance to turn the page on its unstable sectarian past.
The judgement was seen as a test of India's political maturity and the ability of its communities to live in harmony in the vast country of 1.2 billion people where all of the world's major religions co-exist.
"The compromise nature of the verdict along with the substantive outcome of dividing the disputed land have restrained any party from claiming outright victory or sulking in total defeat," the Hindu newspaper said in an editorial.
"On balance, the verdict should help the nation as a whole put a longstanding dispute behind."
Across the country, people rushed to buy newspapers to read about the court judgement and expressed relief that the ruling had not sparked violence.