Majority of the shops and business establishments in old city remained closed on Thursday in response to the bandh call given by different parties to mark the 20 anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition .
Movement of vehicles and commuters was much less while in some localities even main roads wore a deserted look..
However, shops opened in the evening but the bandh call affected normal life in old city.
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Huge contingents of police deployed in old city will remain stationed on Friday following inputs from intelligence that huge congregations would be present at Mecca Masjid for noon prayers.
As violence erupted recently on the completion of noon prayers, the police decided not to take any chances but tightened security at all vulnerable places. No untoward incident was reported in any part of the city. Activists of the Dargah, Jihad-O-Shahadat, staged a demonstration before their office at Moghalpura condemning the demolition of the Masjid. They burnt effigies of the government, urging it to rebuild the mosque.
“There are inputs that some leaders have called upon people to assemble in large numbers for noon prayers. To meet any eventuality, we’re deploying more policemen,” a police officer said.
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Leaders blamed
The Civil liberties monitoring committee has urged the government to take action against those responsible for the demolition of Babri Masjid. The Committee’s general secretary Lateef Mohammed Khan, said in a press release that instead of resolving the issue, the government had only complicated the matter. He blamed the Muslim religious and political leaders for their “criminal negligence” in dealing with the issue. Mr. Khan said now that the matter was in the Supreme Court, the judges should give the verdict as per the Constitution of India and rule of law. The government should rebuild the Babri Masjid at the same site
MBT delegation meets Governor
Majlis Bachao Tahreek on Thursday, demanded that the Union government declare null and void the judgment of the Uttar Pradesh High Court on the Babri Masjid issue.
In a letter addressed to President Pranab Mukherjee, the party urged the government to introduce a bill in Parliament to establish a special Supreme Court bench headed by a Chief Justice to hear afresh the Babri Masjid Title Case. The letter submitted to the Governor, E.S.L. Narasimhan, also demanded that the government punish those indicted by the Liberhan Commission.