October 17, 2003	Friday	Sha'aban 20, 1424

AYODHYA, Oct 16: India’s temple town of Ayodhya was tense on Thursday as thousands of troops blocked Hindu zealots from entering the area to attend a rally near the ruins of the Babri mosque.

The government of Uttar Pradesh state, where Ayodhya is situated, has banned Friday’s rally and detained during the week as many as 18,000 Hindu activists planning to attend, most of them pulled from trains taking them to Ayodhya.

The rally has been called by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) to drum up support to “rebuild” a temple on the ruins of the 16th century mosque razed in 1992 by Hindu zealots.

The rally is also being held ahead of crucial Dec 1 elections in four Hindu-heartland states. In the past, such passionate religious campaigns have polarized votes on communal lines and raised the ever-present danger of sparking riots.

A senior priest in Ayodhya, Nitya Gopal Das, said a compromise was being worked out with the authorities in which the meeting would be held five kilometres from the disputed site.

In New Delhi, president of the BJP, M. Venkaiah Naidu, appealed to the Uttar Pradesh chief minister to release the arrested VHP activists. —AFP