The Ayodhya verdict did not have any adverse impact. It was business as usual in Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi and Kanniyakumari districts on Saturday.
Anticipating tension in certain areas in the wake of the much-anticipated verdict, the police were deployed in these areas in a bid to discourage troublemakers. Visible policing did the trick as neither victory celebrations nor protest activities were reported from any part of these three districts.
While around 1,200 police personnel were deployed across Tirunelveli and Palayamkottai, over 2,000 policemen were pressed into service in rural Tirunelveli. Armed police personnel were stationed at temples including Swami Nellaiyappar Temple, Sri Kasi Viswanathar Temple in Tenkasi, Sri Sankaranarayanar Temple in Sankarankovil and important mosques across the district.
The Muslim-dominant Melapalayam area, where over 200 police personnel had been deployed at various points along with riot control vehicle ‘Vajra’ and a monitoring vehicle fitted with dome cameras, was calm even as the verdict was being delivered in the Supreme Court.
“Most of the Muslim outfits and the Jamaaths of various mosques here had decided to accept the Supreme Court verdict on Ayodhya whatever it could be. Since the people here will abide by the decision taken by the jamaath, there will be no protest,” said a shopkeeper running a grocery shop near Melapalayam Corporation Zone Office.
When rumour spread that members of a Hindu outfit were going to distribute sweets at Vannarpet, the police personnel deployed at this busy junction were on tenterhooks for a while contacting office-bearers of various outfits and appealing to them to remain calm. The 30-minute-long furore became a damp squib as none turned up.
Senior police officers here urged reporters not to highlight celebrations or protest on social media, as it would trigger instant reaction from the opposite side.
Since the ongoing selection of police constables has been postponed indefinitely, candidates who came to the Armed Reserve Police Ground in Palayamkottai were sent back.
Over 3,500 police personnel were involved in the security arrangements made in Thoothukudi and Kanniyakumari districts since Friday night. Armed policemen were deployed at all important temples and mosques and passengers coming to the railway stations to board trains were frisked with metal detectors. Patrolling by the police was intensified since Friday night.
Kanniyakumari, which usually sees increased inflow of tourists during the weekend, wore a deserted look on Saturday.
