P Chidambaram, CMs appeal for peace after Ayodhya verdict

New Delhi : With just two days left for the Ayodhya title suit verdict, Union Home minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday appealed to all people to maintain peace and order after the judgement in out on September 24.

Urging the people and organizations ?not to spread rumours?, he stressed that the verdict was a ?culmination of the legal process?.

The minister also urged the media not to speculate or fan popular sentiments.

?I would like the media to reserve judgement and not make hasty pronouncements,? Chidambaram said.

Gujarat and Karnataka chief ministers, Narendra Modi and B S Yeddyurappa, in separate appeals, have also urged for restrain after the judgement.

Appealing for peace, Modi said, ?There will be excitement to know about the Ayodhya verdict which will come after long legal battle, but momentary anxiety will not do good to anybody.?

?Enemies of the country are in search of opportunities to disturb social fabric of the country and we should not allow them to succeed,? he said, hinting at possible communal flare up after the verdict.

Yeddyurappa said the government had taken all preventive steps to ensure that no untoward incident takes place.

He said he would hold a meeting of all political leaders and religious heads to seek their cooperation in maintaining communal harmony, peace, law and order.

The Karnataka government has declared holidays on September 24 and 25 for all educational institutions as a preventive measure.

Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh government has banned all “peace marches” across the state.

Following directions of the UP government, permissions to hold peace marches have been cancelled with effect from Wednesday in anticipation of Ayodhya verdict on September 24.

The move was taken after some social organisations had proposed to hold ‘peace march’ to appeal for peace and brotherhood.

A three-judge special bench of the Allahabad High Court is scheduled to pronounce the verdict in the 60-year-old Babri Masjid-Ramjanmabhoomi title dispute on Friday (September 24).