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Security beefed up in Ayodhya

Security has been beefed up in and around Ayodhya on the eighth anniversary of the Babri mosque demolition.

An additional deployment of nearly 2000 policemen has been made in the twin cities of Ayodhya-Faizabad to prevent any untoward incident. While principal home secretary Hemendra Kumar maintained, "There is nothing alarming about the situation", he described the special measures as "preventive".

Faizabad deputy inspector general of police R N Singh told rediff.com over the telephone , ''Special measures have been taken in the background of two instances of terrorist activity in the area."

He said, "These measures were necessitated in view of the bomb blast in a passenger train near Ayodhya, followed by a bomb attack on Ayodhya sadhu Ram Chandra Paramhans, who has been involved in the Ayodhya movement from 1949.''

He added, "Fresh deployments included 200 personnel of the Rapid Action Force, 1000 men of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC), 500 civil policemen, 100 sub-inspectors and 27 deputy and additional superintendents of police."

About 350 men of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and 1000 PAC men have been stationed within the precincts of the disputed site, that was pulled down by kar sevaks belonging to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Shiv Sena,Bajrang Dal and other fundamentalist outfits on December 6 , 1992.

The act sparked off riots across the country.

While some Hindus declared December 6 as a Victory Day, and some Muslim organisations conversely observed this as a Black Day, what seemed to have alarmed the authorities was the declaration by the Students Islamic Movement of India to take out a march in Kanpur city, with a model of the razed structure.

"The model was ready and will be taken out on the streets of Kanpur on Wednesday as a befitting reply to the model of the temple that was proposed to be taken out in the form of a yatra from Jaipur," remarked a SIMI spokesman.

He admitted, "The model is symbolic of our demand for reconstruction of the mosque."

SIMI claims to have the support of most Muslim organisations in this.

Several bodies, including the All India Babri Masjid Action Committee, have given a call to Muslims to "take a pledge for reconstruction of the mosque". Appeals have been issued to offer zohar namaaz on Wednesday with special prayers for "reconstruction of the mosque".

Acvitists of the VHP propose to take out bicycle rallies, from the neighbouring districts of Ayodhya and converge at the karsewakpuram in the temple town.

According to Jai Bhagwan Jaiswal, the Ayodhya-based VHP spokesman, "At least 5000 volunteers would converge at the karsewakpuram to take a pledge for starting construction of the temple," he said over the telephone.

To ensure a large attendance at the karsewakpuram, where December 6 had failed to draw much of a crowd over recent years, VHP and Bajrang Dal activists issued appeals to pilgrims who were here to participate in the week-long Ramayana mela and Ram-Sita vivah celebrations that concluded on Monday, to stay back for another day.

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