Security Net Tightens Over Ayodhya

No one wants to curb the enthusiasm being seen among the people, but at the same time officials feel nothing should be left to chance, as the flood of humanity thronging the temple area poses problems for security personnel, reports Saisuresh Sivaswamy/Rediff.com from Ayodhya.
All photographs and video: Rajesh Karkera/Rediff.com

Twenty-four hours ahead of the Ram temple pran pratishtha, Ayodhya is a city bathed in devotion, with its citizens and visitors thronging Dharampath and Rampath leading to the grand temple that will be inaugurated on Monday.

At the same time, the city is also leaving nothing to chance, and a security phalanx is in place in Ayodhyadham. Men and women in uniform have flooded the roads and lanes of Ayodhya, but at least until Saturday, barring the traffic curbs in the main part of the temple city, citizens thronging the temple area have not been barred.

It could change on Sunday, many feel, but till late on Saturday no such orders have been issued.

Says the owner of a hotel which opened its doors just two months ago in anticipation of the tourist traffic, "We expect the authorities to halt human movement for a km or so around, this will surely happen on Monday early morning, but we anticipate that they may impose the restrictions on Sunday itself."

Saturday evening saw traffic curbs coming into play with barricades coming up near the temple to restrict vehicular movement. Whether they will be tightened further on Sunday, there has been no official communication so far. "We also know only as much you do," said an e-rickshaw driver.

In all likelihood, many feel the area around the temple for a km could be sanitised by Monday morning, ahead of the pran pratishtha, and the curbs could be eased by the afternoon, once the ceremony is over, allowing people free movement once again.

No one wants to curb the enthusiasm being seen among the people, but at the same time officials feel nothing should be left to chance, as the flood of humanity thronging the temple area poses problems for security personnel, especially what with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and hundreds of VIPs expected to land in the city starting Sunday.

Personnel of the Central Reserve Police and the UP Anti Terrorist Squad, aside from regular police, maintained high visibility on Saturday, with the Special Security Force, trained in anti-terror tactics, seen patrolling the city.

Security has also been visible at various locations identified with the temple movement. Surprisingly, however, the Ram Janambhoomi Teerth Kshetra, where the work on sculpting the temple first began in the early 1990s and which is in charge of the temple construction work, was bereft of security on Saturday, at least at the time we visited on Saturday.

The office remained a beehive of activity, with visitors and religious leaders streaming in through the day.

In contrast, just down the road, the Nirmohi Akhara, one of the litigants in the Babri Masjid title suit which has been sidelined in the temple affairs and which made no bones of its reservations over the temple inauguration, boasted a contingent of automatic weapons wielding security men, who effectively served as gatekeeper to curb media visits.

Media bytes howsoever timely have also been curbed, you realise when you visit lit up Raj Sadan, the erstwhile raja of Ayodhya's palace, which seems to have been converted into a base for a television news channel.

While the guard insists the erstwhile ruler is in the palace but has given instructions to keep the media at bay, locals claim he doesn't live there anymore and that the palace will be converted into a Taj group hotel.

• The Ram Temple

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com