'No need to celebrate or protest'

NEW DELHI/LUCKNOW: A group of Muslim activists and opinion-makers have appealed to the masses to neither celebrate nor protest in the wake of the September 24 court judgment on the status of the controversial Ayodhya site and called for restraint.

The meeting, convened by Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind on Sunday, urged people on either side of the dispute not to indulge in provocative acts and refrain from emotional outbursts following the Allahabad high court's verdict on the title suits.

Among those who attended the meeting were Rajya Sabha deputy chairman K Rahman Khan, Jamiat leader Maulana Mahmood Madani and Muslim Personal Law Board member Kamal Farooqi. ''We have decided to accept the final verdict of the Supreme Court,'' Farooqi said, claiming that the Muslim groups were ready to go by the judicial decision.

The meeting adopted a four-point programme to ensure there were no flareups in the aftermath of the judgment. It has made an appeal to imams to ''desist from making provocative speeches'' after Friday prayers on day of the judgment. Instead, the imams should lead special prayers for peace and tranquillity following the judgment.