Ayodhya: Bulk SMS banned and other news

“We have decided to extend the ban by a day in consultation with the Ministry of Home Affairs in the wake of the Ayodhya verdict,which is to be pronounced today,” a senior DoT official told PTI.

The government is apprehensive that some extreme elements may foment trouble by inciting communal passions during the period and is taking all measures to check any untoward incidents.

“The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has today issued orders in consultation with the Ministry of Home Affairs to all Mobile Telecom Service Providers in the country that all bulk SMS and all bulk MMS messages shall remain banned in all service areas till September 30,” the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology had said earlier in a statement.

Home Minister P Chidambaram had recently appealed for peace and caution against rushing to any inappropriate conclusion over the matter.

Nearly 3000 troublemakers held in Mumbai

Mumbai: The Mumbai Police has rounded up nearly 3000 troublemakers in the city since last night,taking the total number of preventive arrests in view of the Ayodhya verdict to 7000.

Till yesterday,over 4000 troublemakers were apprehended under preventive measures to avert any eventuality in the aftermath of the Allahabad High Court verdict,police said.

“Since last night,nearly 3000 more were picked up. We are leaving no stone unturned to maintain peace and harmony.

All those picked up were categorised as troublemakers who may have caused law and order problem after the verdict,” Deputy Police Commissioner (Operations) Rajkumar Vhatkar said.

The city had witnessed large-scale riots post-Babri Masjid demolition in 1992.

Elaborate security arrangements have been made here with security personnel equipped with guns,lathis and riot control equipment keeping a strict vigil across the city.

Besides city police force,State Reserve Police Force,Rapid Action Force and Riot Control Force will be on the job to control the situation in case of any untoward incident,he said,adding elite forces such as the state’s terror response teams Force One and Quick Response Teams have been kept on standby.

Flag march in Meerut ahead of Ayodhya verdict

Meerut: A flag march was conducted in Meerut by the security forces ahead of the verdict on the Ayodhya title suits even as security has been stepped up in the district,officials said.

Schools and colleges remained open in the district,though the attendance was poor,they said. The district administration has alerted the security forces and deployed RPF and GRP at vital installations in the region to prevent any untoward incident.

Tight security in Jalandhar

Jalandhar: People belonging to different religions took out a peace march here ahead of today’s verdict in Ayodhya title suit by Allahabad High Court.

Cutting across party lines,political leaders jointly appealed to maintain peace and communal harmony.

Congress and BJP leaders appealed people to respect the verdict citing there was nothing above law.

“This march has been conducted to maintain communal harmony and we appeal people to remain calm whatever the outcome be,” District Congress chief Arun Walia said.

“We will welcome the court’s verdict irrespective of the nature of the judgement and I appeal to people to not fall prey to rumours,” committee head of Bilal Masjid,Shafiur Rehman Raza said.

Meanwhile,elaborate security arrangements have been put in place all across the town to tackle any law and order problem.

“Heavy security arrangements have been made to thwart any untoward incident. Security presence at all the sensitive areas have been beefed up”,a police officer.

High-powered committee of saints to meet after verdict

Allahabad: A high-powered committee of saints will meet here to study the verdict on the Ayodhya title suits as soon as the Allahabad High Court pronounces its judgement.

“A meeting of Sant Uchchadhikar Samiti (high-powered committee of saints) will be held here at the ashram of Jagadguru Vasudevananda Saraswati,the pontiff of Jyotirmath shrine,” VHP district unit president Pawan Srivastava said.

Srivastava said the meeting is likely to take place as soon as the verdict is out,but did not specify its exact timing.

He said the meeting will be attended by Vishwa Hindu Parishad supremo Ashok Singhal,after which the VHP will announce its “future course of action”.

Depending upon the contents of the Allahabad High Court’s Lucknow Bench order,the future course of action will be announced,he said.

The VHP has always maintained that the Ayodhya dispute could not be solved by any court of law and that facilitating the construction of a temple by an act of Parliament was the only solution to the vexed issue.

Tight security arrangements in Rajasthan

Jaipur: Tight security arrangements are in place in Rajasthan ahead of the Allahabad High Court’s Ayodhya verdict today with around 20,000 security personnel keeping strict vigil across the state.

“The security personnel have been deployed in every sensitive area of the state,public places,railway stations and bus stands to ensure peace,” police sources said.

“Heavy police arrangements are at the state capital where ten companies of RAC have been deployed,senior officers will monitor every strategic point and control room and public meetings were arranged to maintain peace and harmony,” they said.

“Preventive action has been taken against several identified miscreants across the state and a special drive to recover and seize illegal arms was undertaken to ensure peace in the state,” the sources said.

UP normal on judgement day

Lucknow: Schools,offices and markets remained open in Uttar Pradesh today but the low turnout indicated the underlying fear and apprehension among the people as they await the verdict of the Allahabad High Court on the Ayodhya title suit case.

Though schools opened as usual in all the districts,the respective administrations preponed the timings.

Markets were also open but business was affected with lesser number of people flocking the streets.

In Faizabad and Ayodhya which means ‘where no battle has been fought’,people were waiting with bated breath the pronouncement of the verdict.

The administration is noting down the number of all vehicles entering Ayodhya town since morning and prayers are being held in all the mosques and temples.

Though the shops and markets are open,no shop was set up in the Thursday weekly market in the Chowk area.

Surprisingly,there has been an increase in the number of pilgrims visiting the makeshift temple in the disputed area since yesterday including those from other states and adjoining districts .

“In both the shifts yesterday the turnout was much better than in the earlier few days”,pujari of the temple,Acharya Satyendra Das said.

Though the entire nation’s eyes are on Lucknow where the verdict would be pronounced,life is going about as normal as possible but traffic was less on the roads.

The situation here was better than that on September 23 when the streets had been more or less empty and the parents had preferred keeping their wards at home or the schools on their own announcing holidays.

In the communally-sensitive Moradabad,Aligarh,Bareilly and Rampur,life was near normal.

As there were no orders from the district administration,the schools and colleges were open but the attendance was on the lower side in all these districts.

A close eye is being maintained on organisations like the Babri Masjid Action Committee and Bajrang Dal in Moradabad.

In Aligarh,about 20 per cent shops were closed but the academic institutions including the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) were open.

In Rampur,appeals were being issued both by Hindu and Muslims religious leaders and organisations to maintain peace.

Bollywood appeals people to maintain calm

Mumbai: The Film Fraternity in Mumbai has made a passionate appeal to the people in the country’s financial capital to exercise restrain and maintain calm in view of the Allahabad high court’s verdict in the Ayodhya title case scheduled to be delivered this afternoon.

The appeal,which has been published in a leading morning newspaper,referred the 1992-93 riots in the aftermath of the Babri mosque demolition and said Mumbai has been deeply wounded and scarred 18 years ago with the weapons of hate,and there is widespread fear that those weapons might be unleashed again,by one side or the other.

“We urge you not to let this succeed. We urge you not to let politics and politicians strike at your lives and your livelihood to serve their purposes. We urge you: don’t pick up that stone. Don’t let your blood boil listening to that rhetorical communal speech. And more importantly,when there is the opportunity to soothe nerves and help bring peace,don’t look away,” the appeal said.

“Because long after the first stone has been thrown,the first gash made,the first fire rages,long after the traders of hate go home,it is you,and us,who will be left to live with the debris of disaster. But,we know better,We will not let them do this,” it added.

On September 23,several film personalities like Ranbir Kapoor,Anil Kapoor,Farhan Akhtar,Ajay Devgn,Priyanka Chopra and others had addressed a press conference at Mehboob studios urging fellow Mumbaikars and their fans in the rest of the country to maintain peace and communal harmony.

Meanwhile,the state government has said it has taken all necessary measures to maintain law and order.

“We appeal to all the citizens and organisations to lend their support and co-operation to the government machinery in this regard,” the appeal published in newspapers today said.

Tight security in Karnataka

Bangalore: Ahead of the Ayodhya title suits verdict to be delivered later today,tight security is put in place in all sensitive areas across the state to prevent any untoward incidents.

Around 50,000 police personnel,besides Home Guards have been deployed across the state as part of the elaborate security arrangements.

In addition,about 150 platoons of District Armed Reserve (DAR),City Armed Reserve (CAR),200 platoons of Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP) and around 12,000 Home Guards have also been deployed.

Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa has requested people to exercise restraint and said that adequate security arrangements have been made to maintain law and order.

The government had on Sept 28 promulgated 48-hour prohibitory orders from today across the state and declared two-day holiday for educational institutions.

For the past two weeks,peace and inter-faith meetings are being held across Karnataka to ensure communal harmony.

With a number of IT and BT firms declaring half day and schools and colleges remaining closed for two days from today,roads in the ‘Silicon City’ appeared deserted,with even the government staff taking a long weekend off.

Buses belonging to Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation plied as usual but less number of auto rickshaws were seen on the roads.

A large number of shops in popular shopping areas like Majestic Circle and Commercial Street preferred to down their shutters as a precautionary measure.

Jammu: Public rallies,use of loudspeakers banned

Jammu: Prohibitory orders have been enforced in Rajouri,Reasi and Ramban districts of Jammu region as a precautionary measure in the wake of Ayodhya verdict with authorities today banning public rallies and use of loudspeakers in the region.

Section 144 of CrPC has been imposed by the district authorities under which no person,section,community can organise public rallies,gatherings for celebrations and protests in public places or any place which is used by general public for any purpose.

Use of loudspeakers is also prohibited with immediate effect in the three districts.

Carrying of weapons is also banned during the prohibitory orders.

4 youth held for sending provocative SMS

Thiruvananthapuram: Four youth were arrested from Ochira in Kollam district today for allegedly sending provocative SMS messages to friends relating to the Ayodhya issue.

Police said the four — Jayakumar,Subhash,Manu and Jijo — were arrested this morning and would be produced before the First Class Judicial Magistrate Court at Karunagappally.

Sending messages in connection with the Ayodhya verdict,to be pronounced later today by the Allahabad High Court,has been banned by the state administration.

Despite civic election campaigns,curbs on holding rallies,public assemblies and raising of slogans have been enforced in Kerala for the next two days.

Special security has been accorded to places of worship including the famous hill shrine of Sabarimala.

Locals hopeful peace will prevail after verdict

Ayodhya: Jabi Mohammad,who had witnessed mob frenzy post demolition of the mosque in 1992,feels there will be no breach of peace after the Allahabad High Court verdict on the Ayodhya dispute today as the situation has changed over the years and people want to live in harmony.

“I am not at all afraid or worried. It is my city and everything is fine here,” says Mohammad,a resident of Dorahi Kuan locality,which is in close to the disputed site here.

A close colony of Muslims with nearly a dozen houses,Dorahi Kuan is inhabited mostly by members of the tailoring community.

Mohammed,who had witnessed violence after the demolition of the mosque in 1992,says he would be going as usual to his tailoring shop near Hanuman Garhi today.

Mohammed says his family is still grateful to Hindus,who not only saved,but also fed them during the most testing times in 1992.

“Situation has changed in the last 18 years. People,irrespective of their religion or caste,want peace to prevail,” he stressed.

Corporator Achchan Khan says “there is no migration-like situation as it was in 1992,when there was an atmosphere of fear. This time no outsider is allowed entry in the city”.

He said people have forgotten the happenings of 1992. “Now nobody even wants to remember those things. The situation has changed a lot in all these years,” he said.

“There is a lot of difference in now and then. This time there is a sense of security among people as the administration is taking all measures to instil confidence among the people,” said Asif Iqbal,a resident of Kajiyana locality close to the Ram Jamnbhoomi complex.

There is nothing like tension in the town,its completely peaceful and markets have opened as usual,he said.

“In fact,there is curiosity among people over the High Court’s verdict,” Syed Mohammd Aleem,another local,said.

“This time both Hindu and Muslim are assuring each other that nothing wrong will happen,” another resident Syed Reham Ahmad said.