India has moved on from 1992, says Chidambaram

In a press conference ahead of the much awaited Ayodhya verdict, Union Home Minister P Chidmabaram said that the delay in the Ayodhya title suit verdict had helped as it gave various parties the opportunity to reiterate their faith in the judicial process.

Parties will respect the judgement and the common people have expressed their desire for a judicial resolution of this issue, the home minister said

Chidamabaram said adequate security arrangements were made across the nation and state governments have been instructed to deal strictly with any violations of the law.

Uttar Pradesh had 1,90,000 security personnel on duty to tackle any untoward incident, he said in a reference to UP CM Mayawati's recent statements slamming the Centre for not providing 'adequate' assistance.

The minister said that the nation had come a long way since 1992, especially since the bulk of "young India" was born after the incident. 

Asked about the verdict, the minister, donning his lawyer hat, said that he expected one or more parties to move the Supreme Court against the verdict. The minister explained the ban on bulk SMS saying that mischief mongers had been using this technology to spread rumours. 

Striking a lighter note, Chidambaram said "leave the winning and losing to the Commonwealth Games. The judgement was not about winning or losing but a statement of facts and evidence as percieved by the court. To reduce a judgement to winning or losing was a simplistic reduction of justice."

Chidamabaram said he was satisfied with the security arrangements made by the Centre but the states needed to do more to ensure law and order was maintained