India's Supreme Court ended a decades-old fight over Ayodhya's holy site

the gist

On 9 November 2019, a five-judge bench of India's Supreme Court delivered a unanimous verdict on the Ayodhya dispute, one of the country's longest-running legal fights. The case concerned a 2.77-acre site in Ayodhya that many Hindus regard as the birthplace of Rama and where the Babri Masjid, built around 1530, stood until it was demolished in 1992. The court ruled that the land should go to a trust to build a Hindu temple, and ordered five acres elsewhere to be given to the Sunni Waqf Board for a mosque. It found the 1992 demolition was illegal, and relied in part on archaeological findings that the mosque was built on a non-Islamic structure. The ruling ended a title dispute that had run for decades.

so what

The verdict settled a legal question that had shaped Indian politics and communal relations since the 1980s. Supporters saw justice done and closure; critics questioned parts of the reasoning, and others saw it as a pragmatic end to a long conflict.

has this happened before?

Disputes over sacred sites that touch national identity, like Jerusalem's Temple Mount or the Hagia Sophia, often end in courts or political deals rather than agreement, and rulings are accepted by some and criticised by others.

fun fact

The Supreme Court of India has operated from its building in New Delhi since 1958.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · text CC BY-SA 4.0

Image: Wikimedia Commons

source: Wikipedia ↗

historyWikipediaclassic1336–1565 · Karnataka, India

Hampi was once one of the world's largest cities, until its Vijayanagara capital was destroyed in 1565

the gist

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.

how it works

The city was built around a fortified core with temples, markets and water structures along the river, supplied by an extensive network of roads and waterworks. When the empire fell, the city was not rebuilt, so its stone monuments were left standing.

so what

Hampi shows how quickly a great city can vanish after a military defeat, and how a ruined capital can remain sacred. Its ruins give historians a view of medieval South Asia that few other sites can match.

fun fact

The name Hampi comes from Pampa, an old name for the Tungabhadra River.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · text CC BY-SA 4.0

Image: Wikimedia Commons

source: Wikipedia ↗

2 min

politicsshortCNA2:01

False allegations about Singapore’s hand in Indonesia’s markets and a made-up meeting

from CNA

CNA Verify has found close to 400 posts pushing falsehoods tying Singapore to Indonesia’s stock market rout and to a secret meeting that never took place. Together, they drew nearly 12 million views, and some were circulated by accounts that appeared to be working in concert, across multiple social media platforms.

Here’s how the disinformation campaign targeting Singapore was uncovered.

on YouTube: CNA ↗