High security at Hindu rally

Ayodhya – Tens of thousands of Hindu hardliners rallied yesterday for a temple to be built at a disputed holy site where an ancient mosque was razed in 1992, sparking deadly riots.

Huge crowds of saffron-clad protesters, some waving swords and chanting “Praise Be to Ram”, massed in Ayodhya in northern Uttar Pradesh state.

Organisers expected 300 000 to attend rallies in Ayodhya and two other Indian cities, but busloads were still arriving into the afternoon.

Security measures were beefed up, with about 5 000 additional police deployed to protest areas, especially Ayodhya.

Many Hindus believe a spot there marks the birthplace of Ram and that a medieval mosque that stood there for 460 years was only built after the destruction of an earlier temple.

Hindu zealots reduced the Babri Mosque to rubble in 1992, kicking off riots across India that left more than 2 000 dead, most of them Muslims.

The site remains a flashpoint between Hindus and India’s sizeable Muslim minority and the show of force by hardliners comes two weeks before the 26th anniversary of the mosque’s destruction.

Banners bearing images of the mosque being torn down by sledgehammer-wielding radicals were hung and leaders called for parliament to pass a law allowing for the temple’s construction.

The temple controversy has been tied up in courts for decades but some groups are agitating to make it a campaign issue ahead of general elections in the next six months.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is running for a second term, has faced some disquiet from his core supporters, who feel he has not done enough for the cause, despite his parliamentary majority.

The murder of Hindu pilgrims returning by train from Ayodhya in 2002 triggered revenge attacks on Muslims in Gujarat state that left more than 700 dead by government estimates. – AFP