Ayodhya title suit: More agony for security agencies

NEW DELHI: The deferment of the high court verdict in the Ayodhya title suit has only added to concerns of the security agencies which fear that potential mischief-mongers may have got another week to mobilise crowds and whip up communal passion.

“The Supreme Court order has added one more week of uncertainty...there is a possibility that the notorious elements may try to build up hate campaigns, blaming X or Y for ‘influencing’ a delay in pronouncement of the Allahabad high court verdict,” noted a senior government official.

Also, there is considerable concern among the security agencies on the timing of the next apex court hearing as it comes too close to the start of the Commonwealth Games.

“One incident of communal violence in the next four days (after the September 28 hearing) and the world’s attention will be on India...it might earn the country the tag of an ‘unsafe games’ destination and jeopardise the participation levels,” the official said.

As a precautionary measure, the Centre has told all states, especially UP, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat, to remain vigilant in the coming days and deal firmly with any attempts to create communal tension.

As part of its preventive measures, the government, acting soon after the apex court order on Thursday, extended the ban on bulk SMSes and MMSes till September 29. On Wednesday, DoT had, on the advice of the home ministry, imposed a 72-hour ban on SMS and MMS with immediate effect.

The ban seeks to rule out the misuse of mobile services to build up hate campaigns and mobilise crowds ahead of the Ayodhya judgement.

The ban will be reviewed after the apex court hearing on September 28. “If need be, it may be extended further,” a senior official indicated. The Centre has placed 52 companies of Central forces at the disposal of the UP government to assist its 1.94 lakh personnel in maintaining law and order.