PC advises states to activate peace panels

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram while sending out the advisory, appealed to all parties to the ownership title suit as well as the media and the public to reserve their opinion on the judgment or judgments of the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court and not make any hasty comment given the fact that the order would be open to appeal.

“It is important that the state governments and the district administrations should immediately activate the peace committees consisting of the residents of a ward or panchayat or mohalla and urge such committees to maintain utmost vigil and defuse any situation when there is the first sign of trouble,” Chidambaram said briefing the media.
The Centre too has taken a number of measures to assist the state governments in this regard, he said.

Appealing to understand the context of the judgement when it is delivered, he said the issues involved in the four title suits involved complicated questions of fact and law, and thus the judgements would have to be analysed meticulously before any conclusions could be drawn.

Meanwhile, the Editors Guild of India on Wednesday urged all media entities in India and abroad to exercise all possible restraint in the publication and broadcast of news related to the verdict, in conformity with the highest traditions of journalism and the public duty undertaken by the media.

Centre bans bulk SMS

Ahead of the Friday’s pronouncement of the Ayodhya title verdict, the Centre on Wednesday banned all bulk SMS and MMS messages across the country for the next 72 hours, reports DHNS from New Delhi.

The ban, imposed with immediate effect, is applicable to all mobile telecom service providers. The decision is to prevent spread of hate messages/rumours, a statement said.