Ayodhya verdict: Calm after apex court stay relieves government

NEW DELHI - The central government Thursday appeared temporarily relieved that there was calm after the Supreme Court’s order to defer the pronouncement of the Ayodhya verdict by Allahabad High Court, but asked the states not to lower their guard.

“We have been monitoring the security situation in Ayodhya, the entire Uttar Pradesh and other sensitive states. Though the judgment is delayed, we have asked the states to continue the vigil,” a senior home ministry official told IANS.

The ministry official said the government was relieved that no violent reaction was reported from anywhere following the apex court order Thursday.

Earlier in the day, the apex court ordered an interim stay till Sep 28 on the pronouncement of the Ayodhya verdict by the high court. The high court was due to deliver its verdict on the Babri Masjid-Ramjanmabhoomi title suit Friday.

The apex court was hearing a petition seeking postponement of the high court decision. The petition will now be taken up by the apex court Sep 28.

Referring to the calm after apex court proceedings Thursday, the ministry official said: “That shows the public attitude has matured and is different in 2010 from 1992 (when the mosque in Ayodhya was demolished by Hindu radicals, who claimed the site was birthplace of Lord Ram, leading to a communal flare up).

A peace resolution approved by the union cabinet Sep 16 and the appeal issued by Home Minister P. Chidambaram Wednesday had spread the government’s message for harmony far and wide, the official added.

Earlier, the home ministry sent an advisory to the states and union territories asking them to deploy forces in communally-sensitive localities and to form peace committees comprising Hindus and Muslims.

Despite the deferment of the high court judgment, the ministry has asked the states to continue the security deployment, the official said.

The tight security all over the country is required in view of the coming Commonwealth Games too, security officials said.

On Monday, security agencies alerted police chiefs in the states of possible attempts by terrorists to strike in the coming weeks.

Railway stations, bus stations, airports and hotels and tourist locations frequented by foreigners were specially mentioned as possible terror targets.

The run-up to the Ayodhya verdict in the high court saw massive deployment of police and paramilitary personnel in various states.

In Uttar Pradesh, where Ayodhya’s disputed structure was located along with other places of worship, about 170,000 security personnel - 160,000 from police and 10,000 from central forces - are keeping vigil.