Ayodhya rally leader released

Extra police are out in force in Ayodhya

A Hindu nationalist leader arrested with thousands of activists in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh has been released by the authorities.

Praveen Togadia, the general secretary of the hardline World Hindu Council or VHP, was detained in the state capital Lucknow as demonstrators tried to stage a huge illegal rally at a holy site in the city of Ayodhya disputed by Hindus and Muslims.

Mr Togadia, along with thousands of released VHP activists, is expected to travel to Ayodhya later on Saturday to go ahead with the rally.

On Friday, police used tear gas and rubber bullets to enforce a ban by a local court to prevent any big demonstrations taking place in the holy city.

More than 15,000 police and security personnel have been deployed to prevent any trouble.

Click here to see a plan of the disputed site

Mr Togadia has been arrested in the past when the authorities have feared allowing him to speak at rallies could spark unrest. In April he was arrested in Rajasthan for inciting communal hatred.

Ayodhya has been at the centre of religious tension in India since Hindu militants destroyed an ancient mosque there in 1992, saying it had been built on the site of a Hindu temple.

The activists had defied an official ban by trying to march in support of demands for the building of a temple on the site in Ayodhya.

Strategy

Thousands of Hindu nationalists had assembled at a workshop where idols and pillars are being made for a Hindu temple they intend to build.

When police asked the activists to surrender, stones and iron bars were thrown at them from inside the workshop.

Confrontation in pictures

The BBC's Sanjeev Srivastava in Ayodhya says the local administration seems to be allowing some activists to gather in the area.

He said they were running special bus services to and from the town in the hope that most of the activists will take a dip in the nearby Saraju river, which many Hindus consider to be holy, pay a quick visit to the disputed religious site spot, and be on their way home.

He said the strategy seems to be working. But a few thousand have gathered at the other end of town awaiting the arrival of Mr Togadia.

In December 1992 crowds of Hindus demolished a 16th Century mosque at Ayodhya, triggering a year of violence that killed 2,000 people across India.

Thousands have been killed in Hindu-Muslim riots across the country since then.

Hindu activists claim the mosque was built on the site of an earlier temple to Lord Ram, but Muslims dispute this.

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