Ban on rallies in Hyderabad on Babri anniversary

Hyderabad, Dec 5: The Hyderabad police have banned rallies and meetings even as various Muslim groups have called for a shutdown Saturday to mark 22nd the anniversary of the Babri Masjid's demolition.

Police have issued orders prohibiting meetings, rallies, processions and 'dharnas' in order to maintain peace and harmony.

Police Commissioner M. Mahender Reddy said the orders were issued in the view of 'reliable information' that certain groups are trying to create disturbances affecting peace and inciting communal animosity between different communities.

The orders, which came into effect Friday morning, will remain in force till Sunday morning.

The orders also prohibit any individual or group from making any speech, gesture or displaying pictures, symbols, placards and flags.

Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, a Muslim political party, has called for a peaceful shutdown to demand reconstruction of the demolished mosque on its original site in Ayodhya.

Majlis Bachao Tehreek and some other organisations have also given a call for a shutdown to mark the occasion. They appealed to Muslims and secular-minded people to observe Dec 6 as the 'black day'.

Police will make tight security arrangements with the deployment of paramilitary forces at sensitive places as protests and attempts by some outfits to celebrate the day as 'Vijay Diwas' led to communal violence in the old city in the past.

However, police in the past allowed few Muslim groups to hold sit-in with limited number of participants at Indira Park (outside the old city) to protest the demolition of the mosque and to seek its re-construction.

IANS