State machinery goes into security overdrive

Ahead of the Ayodhya verdict slated for Friday, Chief Minister Ashok Chavan on Tuesday went into an overdrive calling a series of meetings of the religious leaders, all party leaders and media persons appealing for peace and order.

The State government has declared three consecutive dry days beginning Wednesday.

All the bars and pubs throughout the state would be closed these three days. police have been put on high alert and leaves of policemen have been cancelled in view of the successive events - Ganesha idol immersion on Wednesday and the Ayodhya verdict on Friday.

Strangely while taking so many precautions, the state government said that it had no plans to declare holiday for school children on Friday.

This official hyperactivity invited flak from the Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray who accused the state government of hyping up the issue. He accused the government of creating unnecessary tension on the pretext of tackling Ayodhya verdict situation. When the Eid has passed off peacefully and Ganesh visarjan has been going on smoothly where is the need to raise unnecessary fuss about the verdict, he asked.

Besides urging the religious leaders to tend to their flock, Chavan urged the mediapersons not to give undue publicity to the provocative speeches and writings of the vested interests.

He also urged the public representatives to observe restraint while reacting to the verdict. Best way would be to keep mouth shut.

After the all- party meeting, a joint statement was issued, appealing people for calm and peace on the verdict day. The statement said that Maharashtra has been at the forefront of maintaining

maintaining communal peace and harmony in times of crisis and we expect that people from all religions will cooperate with us.

Meanwhile, Chavan welcomed a statement by the Shiv Sena promising cooperation to the government on the law and order situation.

Expressing apprehensions about the law and order situation, Chavan said that none could predict if something would take place after the verdict.