Babri mosque verdict

India deploys forces, social media monitors

India has deployed thousands of additional security forces and roped in about 16,000 “digital volunteers” to sanitise social media of inflammatory posts ahead of a crucial Supreme Court verdict on a disputed religious site. Hindus and Muslims have for decades been bitterly divided over the 16th-century Babri mosque in Ayodhya, a city in the northern Uttar Pradesh state that Hindus believe is the birthplace of their god Ram.

Tensions boiled over in 1992 when Hindu zealots destroyed the mosque, sparking religious violence that killed 2,000 people. India’s top court is expected to hand down its ruling on competing claims to the site’s ownership before Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi retires on November 17. “Thousands of (additional) security personnel from different agencies have been deployed in and around Ayodhya. Additional vehicles, CCTV cameras, body cameras and drones too have been brought in,” Ayodhya police senior superintendent Ashish Tiwari told AFP Wednesday.

 

Babri mosque verdict

India deploys forces, social media monitors

India has deployed thousands of additional security forces and roped in about 16,000 digital volunteers to sanitise social media of inflammatory posts ahead of a crucial Supreme Court verdict on a disputed religious site. Hindus and Muslims have for decades been bitterly divided over the 16th-century Babri mosque in Ayodhya, a city in the northern Uttar Pradesh state that Hindus believe is the birthplace of their god Ram. Tensions boiled over in 1992 when Hindu zealots destroyed the mosque, sparking religious violence that killed 2,000 people. Indias top court is expected to hand down its ruling on competing claims to the sites ownership before Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi retires on November 17. Thousands of (additional) security personnel from different agencies have been deployed in and around Ayodhya. Additional vehicles, CCTV cameras, body cameras and drones too have been brought in, Ayodhya police senior superintendent Ashish Tiwari told AFP Wednesday.