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India Ayodhya site ruling raises fears of violent outbreak
Around 200,000 security officials are being deployed in northern India ahead of a court ruling on the Ayodhya religious dispute, with helicopters watching overhead and authorities urging calm.
The Allahabad High Court will rule who the site of Babri Masjid, the birthplace of their God, Ram, belongs to, after Hindu mobs tore down a 16th century mosque in 1992.
Extensive riots had broken out after the demolition of the mosque, between Hindus and Muslims. Around 2,000 people had died in some of the worst religious violence since the partition of India in 1947.
The ruling will be announced today around 10.00 GMT, in the city of Lucknow, in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
Mobile phone text messages have been temporarily banned to prevent the instigation of violence. Home minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said yesterday that there would be 190,000 security officials on duty for the state ruling.
Chidambaram said in Delhi "The central government has taken adequate measures and has deployed adequate forces to assist state governments in maintaining peace."
India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh signed an appeal for peace and appeared in Indian newspapers urging people to respect the rule of raw, aware that the ruling could trigger unrest.
The court ruling was due last Friday but the Supreme Court deferred the decision, saying it wanted to give Hindus and Muslims more time to resolve the dispute amicably. On Tuesday it said the high court could proceed.
