Akhilesh takes to poetry reacting to Ayodhya verdict, terms it 'step in right direction'

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav took to poetry while reacting to the Supreme Court verdict on the Ayodhya dispute and termed the judgment "an important step in the right direction".

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

"'Jo faisley faslon ko ghatatey hain, woh insaan ko behtar insaan banate hain' (The decisions which bridges the gap, makes a better human being," Yadav tweeted.

Later in a release, he said the verdict would be remembered as "historic" and hoped that everybody would maintain peace and none would hurt feelings of any community or create any tension.

"Since 1986, it has been the stand of the Samajwadi Party that the dispute should be resolved either through dialogue or through court...since the issue could not be resolved through dialogue, the SC had to give its verdict," Yadav said and termed it "an important step in the right direction of strengthening secularism, rule of law and democracy".

The Samajwadi Party leader's comments assume significance as on October 30, 1990 it was his father and then chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav who had ordered the Uttar Pradesh Police to open fire at karsevaks gathered in Ayodhya.