The 17th anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition today passed off peacefully across the country, barring sporadic protests by Hindu and Muslim activists.
The 17th anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition today passed off peacefully barring sporadic protests by Hindu and Muslim activists and arrest of over 600 people in Chennai and Ayodhya to maintain law and order.
Demonstrations were held in various parts of the country amid tight security with some groups demanding that recommendations of the Liberhan Commission report be implemented while others raised questions over the findings.
Under directions from the Union Home Ministry, Uttar Pradesh and other state governments beefed up security and Ayodhya-Faizabad area was converted into a virtual fortress.
Police arrested about a dozen activists of Shiv Sena who burnt an effigy of justice MS Liberhan on a main road here. Faizabad senior superintendent of police RKS Rathore said they were arrested for violating prohibitory orders.
In Chennai, around 500 members of 'Thouheed Jamad', including 150 women, were arrested when they tried to picket in front of Union Home Minister P Chidambaram's residence demanding arrest of those behind the demolition.
About 100 members of Hindu Munnani were arrested when they tried to stage a railway blockade at the Central station here demanding construction of a Ram temple at Ayodhya. While the VHP observed the day as "Shourya Diwas (valour day)", Samajwadi Party marked it as "Kala Diwas (black day)".
All India Babri Masjid Action Committee held special prayers for peace and harmony. Central forces along with 500 personnel of PAC, 200 jawans of Rapid Action Force, bomb detection squads and anti-sabotage teams were deployed in Ayodhya. CCTV cameras were in operation at the disputed site with the authorities banning public gatherings and security forces keeping a close vigil on the Saryu river here, officials said.
The authorities were extra careful this time as the atmosphere has become surcharged with the Liberhan report indicting senior BJP leaders including Atal Bihari Vajpayee, LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi in connection with the demolition. The report, tabled in Parliament, however, exonerated then prime minister P V Narasimha Rao.
The members of the Muslim community in Ayodhya observed the occasion as the day of sorrow (yaum-e-gham) by closing their shops and business establishments. They wore black bands and put up black flags on prominent mosques.
Addressing a public meeting organised by the Babri Masjid Action Committee, its leader Zafaryab Jilani said, "We are fighting the legal battle on Babri mosque issue in the court as we respect the law and the Constitution.
"This issue is not the question of just a place of worship but it is an issue of the existence of Indian Muslims in the secular and democratic India," he said. In Karsewakpuram, VHP's local headquarters in Ayodhya, VHP leader Ram Vilas Wedanti told a gathering that it will build a Ram temple at the disputed place "at any cost".
The report was in focus at various demonstrations held in Delhi, with All India Babri Masjid Rebuilding Committee and the Popular Front of India, a confederation of Muslim groups, demanding legal action against those indicted by the panel and scrapping of recognition of BJP by the EC.
In the capital, heavy deployments of security personnel were seen, particularly on Parliament Street, where several groups, including AIBMRC, PFI, the Shiv Sena and Hindu Mahasabha held demonstrations.
"BJP leader LK Advani and others mentioned as culprits should be arrested and tried on a fast-track basis. Legal action is necessary against the RSS, VHP, Bajrang Dal and Shiv Sena click because they violated the law of the land and caused great harm to the secular image of India," said AIBMRC President Mohammed Younus Siddiqui.
The AIBMRC leaders later submitted a memorandum to president Pratibha Patil requesting her to refer the Ayodhya dispute to the Supreme Court under Article 138-B of the Constitution for a "time-bound and binding" decision.
KM Shareef, general secretary of PFI demanded that the election commission scrap the recognition of BJP as a political party for its alleged complicity in the demolition of the over 400-year-old mosque.
Members of the Shiv Sena and Hindu Mahasabha also assembled on the Parliament Street, and pledged to strengthen the temple movement.
"Our movement has become stronger in the wake of the Liberhan report being made public, which is nothing but a bundle of lies," said Pandit Nandkishore Mishra, national Working President of the Hindu Mahasabha.
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