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Jittery Muslims pack off families from Ayodhya

Sharat Pradhan in Ayodhya

A lock is what welcomes you outside almost every door in Ayodhya's 20-odd Muslim dominated localities.

Bulk of the families have temporarily shifted base from these areas fearing the worst on March 15, when the Vishwa Hindu Parishad plans to perform puja near the disputed shrine in Ayodhya.

There are an estimated 4000 Muslims living among Ayodhya's population of about 60,000 people.

The exodus is not due to any palpable communal tension, but a fear psychosis, largely on account of the dark memories of December 6, 1992 when the 16th century Babri Mosque was torn down by violent karsevaks.

"We have no problems with the local Hindus with whom we have perfect social relations, but our troubles begin when there is build-up of karsevaks from outside," observed Mohammed Saghir, a resident of a large Muslim locality just a stone's throw from the makeshift Ram temple.

"While memories of 1992 are still fresh in our minds, what has led most of us to send away the women and children of our families away from Ayodhya is the recent violence in Gujarat," Nanhe Mian, a popular tailor, said.

Waris, a shopkeeper, while agreeing said, "It is unfortunate that we had to send away our families outside Ayodhya, as this is one place where even a mild communal clash is rare; but being reminded of the mob frenzy that we witnessed in December 1992, we could not take any chances."

Haji Mehboob, a prominent Muslim leader and local convenor of the Babri Masjid Action Committee agreed that the overall scenario was quite different from 1992, foremost being the virtual absence of karsevaks this time as compared to the presence of over 200,000 of them in 1992.

"We are convinced that there are only a handful of karsevaks from outside and we also have no doubts about the stringent security measures taken by the administration; but the people have still not got over the pangs of 1992 and it is difficult to convince them to rely on the police arrangements," he said.

Mohammad Hashim Ansari, one of the litigants fighting a court battle to stake claim to the disputed Babri Mosque right from 1949, holds similar views.

"Our trouble is with outsiders, who look at Muslims as an easy target to vent their anger against the security forces, whenever they are disallowed from carrying out their predetermined plans," he said.

"And now with the Supreme Court verdict having gone against them, they are once again capable of taking out their ire against us," he added.

Like most Muslims, Ansari does not have much faith in the Provincial Armed Constabulary, which has often been accused of harbouring a communal bias.

"If the administration had deployed only the Central Reserve Police Force in Ayodhya's 20 Muslim localities, then they would have had nothing to fear; but the deployment of the Uttar Pradesh police, particularly the PAC, has led most of the families to look for a safer place," Ansari said.

Mehboob too maintained, "We took this unpleasant decision to send away the female members and children only after senior citizens felt that the PAC could not be relied upon."

He said, "We have seen how they turned a blind eye to the pleas of Muslims in 1992 when violent bands of karsevaks attacked our houses and property."

District Magistrate B P Misra said, "There is no reason for any member of the minority community to fear anything. Adequate security arrangements has been made in each of the Muslim-dominated areas where there is large presence of the gun-toting cops."

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