The Ayodhya temple-mosque dispute will be taken up in the Supreme Court on January 4, court officials announced today. The top court had in October rejected an urgent hearing after the Uttar Pradesh government argued that it was a 100-year-old dispute that should be taken up on priority. The decision to move the case to January was seen by many to have dimmed hopes for a verdict before the national election next year. It triggered loud demands for an ordinance within the BJP and various groups linked to its ideological mentor RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) to pave way for the construction in the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
