The empty, cordoned off streets of Ayodhya belie the relief being felt by its residents. “What can be better than this verdict, brother!” shouted Rajesh Yadav, as we passed his tea shop on Ayodhya’s main street. Thirty-eight-year old Yadav was a young boy when several Karsevaks were killed in the 1990 firing, not far from his shop, and in 1992, he had seen his Muslim neighbours being assaulted and their houses ransacked by Karsevaks from outside. “Ayodhya has been waiting for this day since then. Now, I think the issue will be finally settled, and we can live peacefully again”, Yadav says.