CNN

Editor's Note: Farah Akbar is a New York-based writer who has contributed to Islamonline.net and Salon.com.

By Farah Akbar, Special to CNN

A wave of unexpected calm has blanketed India since the verdict on the disputed holy site known as Ayodhya was delivered on Thursday, with one-third of the land going to plaintiffs who represent the Hindu deity Ram, a third going to a separate Hindu group and a third to a Muslim group.

The land has been a catalyst for communal violence for years. Deploying 190,000 officers to keep the peace, India had braced itself for what it feared would be a replay of violence from decades past.

In 1992, Hindu extremists destroyed the centuries-old Babri mosque in Ayodhya on the belief that it had been built atop the birthplace of Ram and over an ancient Hindu temple. The resulting religious riots across India claimed more than 2,000 lives.

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2010/10/03/my-take-muslims-hindus-should-accept-indias-holy-site-verdict/#comments