Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday thanked citizens of the country for showing “maturity” following the Supreme Court’s verdict in the Ayodhya case, PTI reported. He said that the patience, restraint and maturity citizens showed proved that there was nothing bigger than national interest for Indians.

The Supreme Court had on November 9 ruled that the disputed land in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, would be assigned to a trust, which would then take a decision on constructing a Ram temple there. The court also ruled that the Sunni Waqf Board be allotted five acres of land at an alternative plot in Ayodhya to compensate for the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992.

Modi on Sunday said that after the “historic verdict”, the country had moved ahead on a new path. “The resolve is full of new hopes and aspirations,” Modi said in his monthly Mann Ki Baat programme. “It is my hope and wish that New India imbibes this feeling and forges ahead in a spirit of peace, unity and goodwill.”

In his last Mann Ki Baat address in October, Modi had said that the government, civil society and people had maintained peace and harmony following the verdict of the Allahabad High Court in 2010 in the Ayodhya dispute. “This time too, when the Supreme Court pronounced its judgment on November 9, 130 crore Indians once again proved, that for them, national interest is supreme,” Modi said on Sunday.

The prime minister also asserted that the people’s faith in the judiciary of the country had increased following the verdict. “In the truest sense, this verdict has also proved to be a milestone for the judiciary in our country,” he said.