Hindu extremists backed down in a tense stand-off with the federal government in the north Indian town of Ayodhya yesterday. There had been fears of widespread violence, but the activists performed a modified ceremony, in line with a Supreme Court order, and the day passed off relatively peacefully. Rahul Bedi reports from Ayodhya on how confrontation over two foundation stones was avoided yesterday
The Hindu extremists want to build a temple to their warrior god Lord Ram on the ruins of a mosque they demolished a decade ago.
Militant World Hindu Council leaders, campaigning to construct the temple, had planned to hand over two symbolic foundation stones of the proposed temple to the emissary of the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behrai Vajpayee, following a Vedic consecration ceremony.
The shila niyas, or stone rituals, were originally due to be held adjoining the disputed site of the razed 16th century Babri mosque but, instead, took place at a temple two miles away after police halted the procession.
Council leaders feared hundreds of activists accompanying the processionmight turn violent, despite the presence of over 15,000 security personnel.
"We felt the situation might get out of control and a peaceful procession might get a bad image as the number of people taking part in the ceremony were growing and emotions running high," Mr Vinay Katiyar, a deputy in Mr Vajpayee's Hindu nationalist-led federal coalition, said.
The stones, daubed with vermilion, will remain under police control until the ownership of the disputed site that Hindus claim to be Lord Ram's birth spot, is decided by the state high court.
Muslims deny this claim and want to rebuild their 528-year mosque flattened by Hindu zealots. This prompted nationwide sectarian rioting in which over 2,000 people died.
Security across the twin cities of Ayodhya and Faizabad was tight ahead of yesterday's ceremony after Hindu leaders threatened to defy the Supreme Court ban. Their climb-down, however, followed a night of frantic negotiations between Hindu leaders and Mr Vajpayee's ministers, under pressure from allies who had threatened to quit the coalition if the government failed to defuse the emotive temple issue.
In the security crackdown over 1,500 Hindu activists were held in custody in Ayodhya while the normally teeming streets in this Hindu pilgrim town, 450 miles east of New Delhi, were deserted. The tension was palpable before the ceremony and the only vehicles visible belonged to either security personnel or journalists.
Police turned back pedestrians at check posts while armed paramilitary units were deployed at strategic locations.
But Ayodhya's Muslim quarter was deserted. Most of the 5,000 Muslims had fled, haunted by memories of marauding mobs attacking their homes in 1992 when Hindu zealots demolished the mosque.
"Nobody is looking at our concerns and no police officer has visited us to inquire about our safety. They [the Hindus] want to turn Ayodhya into another Gujarat," Mr Mohammad Ansari, a local Muslim leader, said. He was referring to sectarian rioting in western Gujarat state earlier this month in which nearly 700 people, mainly Muslims, were killed by Hindu mobs and tens of thousands rendered homeless.
The pogrom followed the burning of a trainload of 58 Hindu activists by a Muslim mob last month. "Ayodhya's Hindus do not allow us to bury our dead or worship in our mosques. It's majority rule that we live under," he said.
Curfew, meanwhile, was imposed on Gujarat's largest city Ahmedabad following clashes between Hindus and Muslims in which four buses were burnt and the army was deployed to restore order. The city police commissioner, Mr P.C. Pande, said the clashes erupted after Hindus celebrated Ayodhya's prayer ceremony yesterday.
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