A Verdict has been reached today by the Allahabad High Court on the religious compound located in Ayodhya India, a town about 350 miles to the east of New Delhi. The Ayodhya compound is seen as a holy site for both Muslims and Hindus. Because of the division among the two groups, there have been riots throughout the country of India in the past over the site.

The verdict issued by the Allahabad High Court has ruled that the site is to be split by both religious groups. The Muslims will get control of one-third of the site, while the Hindu groups will have control over the remaining two-thirds of the 64 acre site. The split should take place in approximately 3 months, and will hopefully calm any feuds in the area. Kamal Faruqi, who is the head of the Delhi State Minority Council stated the following, “I would not like to jump to conclusions right now but there could be a mandir and a masjid existing along side in Ayodhya in the larger interest of the nation. The court has opened up some consensus for us and a chance for reconciliation”.

The Ayodhya site is important to both religions for many reasons. First and foremost it is believed by Hindus that the compound is the birthplace of Lord Rama. On the other hand, a 16th century Muslim mosque was also once on the site, which the Hindus took over in 1948, and then demolished it in 1992.

The verdict by the three judge bench will certainly cause at least some minor chaos in the area. The Indian government seems to be prepared though. They have increased security at holy sites, and have deployed close to 200,000 security personnel to specific locations within the country. They have also arrested an estimated 10,000 people thus far.

The Hindu’s have plans to build a huge temple to Lord Rama at the site, while the Muslim wish to build a large mosque. The verdict issued today by the Allahabad High Court will likely force each group to at least scale down their plans a bit.