Ayodhya debate

On Thursday, September 30 life throughout India did for once completely stop: Deserted roads, shops closed, only a handful of people on the streets, window shutters locked… and police patrols in every road junction.

The reason for these India-atypical circumstances was the following: A very important verdict of the so-called "Ayodhya debate" was declared. Sounds very harmless, no? It is definitely not! Even Swiss newspapers were covering this story.

Ayodhya is an old city in northern India. The whole debate concerns a mosque, which is said to have been built on the foundations of a Hindu temple; this temple was believed to be the birthplace of Rama, a very important Hindu god. Hindu nationalists destroyed the mosque in 1992; an enormous riot all over the country and lots of deaths were the consequence. For more information on this complex matter, please refer to Wikipedia: Ayodhya or Ayodhya debate.

Political issues in India take even more time as in Switzerland! Finally, after many postponements, the verdict was heard on September 30: It was announced that the Hindu temple was indeed the birthplace of Ram. At the same time it was decided to divide the disputed land into three separate pieces: one each for Hindus, Muslims and the Nirmohi Akhara (a Hindu religious denomination).

Obviously, the disturbances of 1992 shocked India to the core. As no one knew what would happen after yesterday's verdict, the highest security measurements were taken. Most companies closed on Thursday and sometimes even on Friday and people were advised to stay in their homes. Bühler was one of the only companies that didn't close! As a consequence I experienced a very special journey between the guesthouse and the office: I saw lots of pavement instead of streets full of vehicles and it took us about half of the time to reach the destination.

Fortunately there were only small disturbances all over India. In most places the reactions were moderate compared to 1992. It seems that most people are thinking positive by now and hope that the situation will stay calm.