Ayodhya verdict coincides with 30th anniversary of fall of Berlin Wall

The historic verdict of the Supreme Court in the politically sensitive case of Ram Janmbhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute in Ayodhya on Saturday coincided with the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Settling a fractious issue that goes back more than a century, the apex court in a historic verdict backed the construction of a Ram temple by a trust at the disputed site, and ruled that an alternative five-acre plot must be found for a mosque in the Hindu holy town.

The landmark verdict on Saturday coincided with the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall 30 years ago, a pivotal event in world history which signalled beginning of German reunification.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address to the nation on Saturday also invoked the significance of the day, saying on November 9 the fall of the Berlin Wall took place.

India's credo of unity in diversity was visible in its totality after the Supreme Court verdict on the Ayodhya land dispute as all sections of the society accepted it with an open heart, he said, while urging people to shun bitterness and negativity for the sake of a new India.

Search giant Google depicted the anniversary with a special doodle which showed two persons hugging each other while standing on a piece of a fallen wall that earlier divided the two sides.

The crumbling wall is surrounded by vegetation whose pattern reflects the letters 'G-O-O-G-L-E', two letters on either side of the wall, while an 'O' shadowed on the boundary of a fallen piece of the wall.

Google, in a statement, said the doodle has been created by Berlin-based guest artist Max Guther, celebrating the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, a peaceful revolution that signalled the simultaneous end of the Cold War and the beginning of German reunification.

"Tor auf!' ('Open the gate!') roared the crowds gathered at the Berlin Wall on this evening in 1989," it said.

"Winds of change were blowing across Europe as new leadership in Russia, Poland, and Hungary had high hopes in East Germany for an end to 28 years of strict travel restrictions.

"During a government press conference, an official spokesman's hasty statement gave reporters and TV viewers the mistaken impression that East Germany would be allowing free travel between East and West Berlin," the statement said, explaining the history behind the historic event.

Within hours, a massive crowd gathered at the wall, far outnumbering the border crossing guards, it said.

"Some time before midnight, the officer in charge of the Bornholmer Street checkpoint defied his superiors and gave the order to open the gate.

"Word spread quickly, and over the next few days, 2 million jubilant Germans crossed the border, some singing, dancing, and toasting the start of a new era while others began physically dismantling the wall," the search giant said.

Erected on August 13, 1961, the barbed wire and concrete edifice had long divided East and West Berlin. By the same token, its demolition triggered a series of events that led to the reunion of the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic.

The Ayodhya dispute verdict on Saturday was also largely welcomed by citizens with some quarters expressing reservations over certain sections of the judgment.

Delivering a unanimous judgement on a case that has long polarised the country and frayed the secular tapestry of the Indian society, a five-judge bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said the faith of Hindus that Lord Ram was born at the site was undisputed, and he is symbolically the owner of the land.

Yet, it is also clear that the destruction in 1992 of the 16th century three-domed structure by Hindu kar sevaks, who want to build a Ram temple there, was a wrong that "must be remedied," the ruling said.