Schools, colleges and other educational institutes will remain closed in Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh, as the Supreme Court delivers its verdict in the decades-old Ayodhya dispute on Saturday. All schools and colleges in Uttar Pradesh will remain closed from Saturday to Monday, the state government said in a release.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has appealed to the people of the state not to pay attention to rumours and maintain peace and harmony. “The Chief Minister has said the state administration is committed to maintaining law and order in the state and ensuring safety of its people. Strict action will taken against those who will try to disrupt law and order,” a release by the UP government said.

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia tweeted that all government schools will remain shut on Saturday. He advised private schools to declare a leave.

“There are potential security concerns with the SC Ayodhya verdict tomorrow morning. All government schools and many private schools are closed tomorrow, as it is a second Saturday. 

As a precautionary measure, Jammu and Kashmir administration has also postponed examinations and declared Saturday as dry day that means no sale of liquor will take place. The newly-made Union Territory has also banned the bursting of firecrackers. In Hyderabad Anjani Kumar, Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad City said special deployment has been done in the sensitive areas in the city.

The Supreme Court will deliver its landmark verdict on the Ayodhya dispute at 10:30 am on Saturday. The five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi had reserved the judgement on October 16 after a marathon hearing of 40 days. Earlier today, he had met top Uttar Pradesh officials to discuss law-and-order arrangements in this regard.

The other members of the bench are Justices SA Bobde, DY Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S Abdul Nazeer.

The dispute involves 2.77 acres of land in Ayodhya, which right-wing activists believe was the birthplace of Lord Ram. A 16th Century mosque – said to have been built by the Mughal Emperor Babur — which stood at the spot was razed in December 1992 by right-wing activists. In the days that followed, 2,000 people died in riots across the country.

In its 2010 verdict, the Allahabad High Court had divided the disputed land among the three main litigants–the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla. Fourteen appeals were filed against the judgement.

The Supreme Court had conducted day-to-day hearings after a meditation panel failed to arrive at a decision in August this year. The court has reserved its verdict in the case.

Massive security arrangements have been made in Uttar Pradesh ahead of the judgment. Around 12,000 police personnel have been deployed in the state to maintain law and order.

Multi-layered security measures have been put in place in Ayodhya, with drones being used to monitor the situation.The Ayodhya police have launched a mobile application by which they will monitor the ground situation with the help of 16,000 volunteers.

“Adequate forces have been provided to Ayodhya and all sensitive districts of the state. The force has been sufficiently strengthened with CAPF and PAC companies,” Additional Director General of Police PV Ramasastry was quoted by news agency PTI as saying.

The centre on Thursday issued an alert to all states and union territories about posting adequate security at sensitive places. It has sent 4000 paramilitary personnel to Uttar Pradesh in view of the upcoming judgment.6

Source: PTI