LUCKNOW, INDIA, August 5, 2005: A grenade-proof cover for the makeshift temple in the Babri mosque Ramjanmabhoomi complex is part of a US$13 million plan to modernise security at Uttar Pradesh’s contentious shrine complexes in Ayodhya, Mathura and Varanasi. The decision, taken late on Wednesday at a high-level meeting of central and state government officials, comes in the wake of a terrorist attack on the disputed Babri Mosque-Ramjanmabhoomi complex in Ayodhya last month. “To begin with, we have decided to enclose the makeshift Ayodhya temple in a bullet-proof and grenade-proof cover from all sides. But, of course, it would have to be done in accordance with the Supreme Court’s guidelines,” state principal home secretary Alok Sinha told reporters. A major part of the exercise involves screening of all residents living in the immediate vicinity of the outer barricading of the 80-acre area around the complex. It has been decided to maintain a record of people residing in areas along the barricading. Residents will also have to provide particulars of every outsider visiting them. Existing close-circuit televisions would be replaced by high-dome close circuit TVs with night vision facilities. Besides a modern public-address system, a 48-line intercom system is also proposed to be installed in the Ayodhya complex. “At least two of the five existing gates to the complex would be shut while a new plan would also be drawn up to facilitate entry and exit of pilgrims,” Sinha said.
A daily summary of world news for Hindus and non-Hindus alike