ELECTIONS '98
COMMENTARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ARCHIVES

Entry of Babri leaders into Ayodhya banned

The Faizabad district administration has banned the entry of Babri Masjid Action Committee leaders for two days fearing it might jeoparadise communal harmony in the district.

The ban order, passed by Faizabad District Magistrate Avneesh Kumar Awasthi under Section 133(3) of the Criminal Procedure Code, has directed all the officials concerned to check the entry of Uttar Pradesh Babri Masjid Action Committee convener Zafaryab Jilani and other leaders.

The order says it was acting upon a media report that the BMAC leaders intends to visit Faizabad and Ayodhya to see the ongoing pre-fabrication work for the proposed temple.

However, Jilani told the media that the BMAC leaders had no plans to visit any such place which might give a reason to Vishwa Hindu Parishad leaders to raise any objection. He added that the disputed site, which was under the custody of the central government, cannot be claimed as VHP property.

BMAC leaders including Jilani and Mushtaq Ahmed Siddque, president, UPBMAC, reacted sharply to the ban.

They said it was not only discriminatory but also illegal and charged that the harsh step also ''strengthens our apprehension that the local administration and the government are trying to make some changes in the status quo of the disputed site, required to be maintained as per the order of the Supreme Court''.

The statement said the order, 'passed at the behest of the political leadership', was violative of fundamental rights granted under the Constitution.

UNI

Tell us what you think of this report