NEW DELHI, March 8: Bowing to pressure from hardline Hindu groups, the Indian government on Friday lifted some curbs imposed on the travel to Ayodhya of Hindu activists who want to build a temple on the site of the Babri mosque.

“Train services to Ayodhya will be resumed from tomorrow (Saturday) with some modifications,” junior home minister I.D. Swami was quoted as informing reporters by the Press Trust of India (PTI).

The decision had been taken in view of complaints of inconvenience caused to ordinary pilgrims who were unable to reach the northern temple town because of restrictions, PTI quoted Swami as saying.

The minister said railway authorities had already been directed to resume train services. The announcement was made after Swami met prominent Hindu saints in Ayodhya, the PTI report added.

Last week police sealed off train and road routes into the town after sectarian violence in Gujarat.

In 1992, about 2,000 people were killed in riots after Hindu zealots pulled down the Babri mosque in Ayodhya.

The radical Vishwa Hindu Parishad has been spearheading a campaign to build a temple over the mosque ruins beginning on March 15 — in defiance of court orders — and last week thousands of Hindu activists had gathered in the town.

Before his return to the Indian capital, Swami said the federal government would ensure that there was no buildup of Hindu activists in Ayodhya.

The actual site of the razed mosque is being guarded around the clock by thousands of policemen.—AFP