Lucknow, January 02: The landmark Allahabad High Court verdict on Ayodhya title suits, loss of 63 lives in a stampede in Pratapgarh and conviction of a former Uttar Pradesh chief secretary in a land allotment case kept the state among headlines in 2010.
The ambitious Yamuna Expressway project in the state”s western districts met with roadblocks as farmers of Aligarh and Agra revolted against the compensation for acquired land. Their agitation turned violent in Tappal in Aligarh with a couple of farmers losing their lives in police firing and the government revising their plan, hiking compensation rates.
The parties did not have smooth sailings either as they had their own cup of woes. The big news was Samajwadi Party expelling Amar Singh and Jaya Prada for “anti-party activities”.
If there was one field that earned accolades for the state, it was sports with athletes as also cricketers excelling in international events.
After 60 years of litigation over the title of land being claimed by both Hindus and Muslims in Ayodhya, a three-judge bench in Lucknow delivered its verdict last September tifurcating the disputed land among Ram Lala Virajman, Nirmohi Akhara and the Sunni Central Waqf Baord while maintaining that the place is the birthplace of Lord Ram.
Though the verdict failed to satisfy the parties involved in the case and they resolved to move the Supreme Court against it, the responsible manner in which the public reacted to it, despite certain provocations, indicated coming of age of the religiously-conscious people of the state.
Though the title suits in the Ayodhya case reached its culmination point, the Babri mosque demolition case going on in a special Rae Bareli court entered a new phase with Anju Gupta (IPS), then security officer of L K Advani deposing against the BJP leader who she said gave fiery speeches in Ayodhya on the fateful day.
The calm of the state was shattered by the blast at Varanasi”s Dashashwamedh ghat as the year was drawing to a close, claiming two lives and injuries to several others.
In the earlier part of 2010, as many as 63 people, including women and children, died in a stampede at the Mangarh Ashram of Kripaluji Maharaj in Pratapgarh.
The devotees had gathered there for the ”bhandara” on the death anniversary of Maharaj”s wife and were clamouring for utensils which were being distributed on the occasion when the gates of the ashram fell leading to the stampede.
The glory of the state”s bureaucracy was dwindled by the conviction of former chief secretary Neera Yadav in the Noida land allotment case and the district magistrate of Mathura being transferred on the court directives over the panchayat elections. .
——–PTI