Supreme Court to hear final Ayodhya dispute today

The Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi land dispute in Ayodhya is a decades old issue which has proved to be a source of religious and political conflict.

The first suit regarding the structure was filed in 1885, when the Faizabad Deputy Commissioner refused to let Mahant Raghubar Das build a temple on land adjoining the mosque. Das then filed a title suit in a Faizabad court against the Secretary of State for India, seeking permission to build a temple on the Chabutra on the outer courtyard of the Babri Masjid.

The legal battle over the title has gone on for over a century. Just a day ahead of the 25th anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition in Ayodhya on December 1992, the Supreme Court of India is set to begin final hearing in the politically controversial Babri Masjid-Ram temple dispute case.