Ayodhya
Seers in the temple town of Ayodhya will offer prayers and seek divine intervention for early construction of a Ram temple on Thursday, the 26th anniversary of Babri mosque demolition.

The mosque was demolished on December 6, 1992, by ‘karsevaks’ who had converged as part of a movement by the BJP and Hindu outfits for construction of a temple dedicated to Lord Ram at the disputed site. Mahant Ramdas of Nirmohi Akhara told PTI that it would mark the day as ‘Shaurya Diwas’, which has been a tradition for the last 25 years.

“We are celebrating ‘Shaurya Diwas’ and then there will be a grand ‘aarti’ at Naka Hanumangarhi. We will seek divine intervention from Lord Ram and urge him to help us build a grand temple for him,” he said.

Meanwhile, Iqbal Ansari, a Muslim litigant in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit, said the community would observe ‘Yaum E Gham’on Thursday. There will be no protests or roadshows.“How long do we have to observe ‘Yaum E Gham’? Now we want that the court should decide and we will abide by its order,” he said.

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal have announced that they will mark the day as ‘Shaurya Diwas’ and ‘Vijay Diwas’ (day of victory) and have asked the people to light earthen lamps as on Diwali.

Over 2,500 police personnel, besides Rapid Action Force and paramilitary CRPF, have been deployed as part of multi-layered security in Ayodhya, including in and around the disputed site and several parts of Hanumangarhi area of the city, officials said.

“We have heavy security deployment in the twin towns of Faizabad-Ayodhya. The civil police, along with the CRPF and RAF, have been deployed on roads and sensitive localities,” Superintendent of Police, Faizabad Anil Singh said on Wednesday.

“Checking of vehicles, hotels and dharmshalas in Ayodhya is being conducted. We have made all necessary security arrangements and have allowed only those programmes which are organised by both the communities every year,” he said.

The Ramjanmbhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit is pending in the Supreme Court, which will decide the schedule of hearing in January.