NEW DELHI, March 9: The administration of Uttar Pradesh has sought army protection against Hindu activists planning to start building a temple on the rubble of the Babri mosque at Ayodhya, Defence Minister George Fernandes said on Saturday.

“This morning we have received a written request from the Uttar Pradesh administration for deployment of the army in Faizabad,” he said.

“For the past few days we were getting telephonic requests from Faizabad district administration. But since last night (Friday) the requests have become intense,” Fernandes added.

Uttar Pradesh Governor Vishnu Kant Shashtri in state capital Lucknow confirmed that the provincial administration had sought military deployment at the town of Ayodhya, 700 kilometres southwest of New Delhi.

“The army been asked to be on standby as a precautionary measure,” Shashtri said.

Followers of the hardline VHP organization have been gathering in and around Ayodhya in anticipation of a March 15 deadline set for the beginning of a religious ceremony to mark the start of the temple-building project.

The Mughal-built Babri mosque was pulled down by thousands of Hindu fanatics in 1992, triggering communal clashes which left more than 2,000 people, mostly Muslims, dead across the nation.

Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said on Saturday his coalition government will act only on the directions of the supreme court, which in its previous verdicts have ordered Uttar Pradesh to ensure the mosque ruins remain intact.

“The government would do as per the directions of the supreme court, which is hearing the matter on March 13,” Vajpayee said in reference to an appeal before the apex court seeking restrictions on the explosive programme of the VHP in Ayodhya.

A second petition filed by a Muslim resident of Ayodhya in the court on Friday has also sought the army’s deployment in the northern pilgrimage town.

Separate appeals for deployment follow recent Hindu-Muslim riots in Gujarat state in which almost 700 people died.

Vajpayee, speaking to a delegation of Muslims, said the VHP had softened its stand on the temple-building project and hinted the stalemate between hardline Hindus and his government appeared to be ending.

“The issue is now on a road to resolution,” he said.—AFP