No procession on Prophet's birth anniversary this year in Ayodhya: Muslim leaders

The Bara Rabiul Awwal processions, traditionally taken out on Prophet Muhammad's birth anniversary Milad-un-Nabi, were cancelled in Ayodhya on Sunday, some local Muslim leaders said.

The decision was taken as a "precaution" and also due to "some sadness" among Muslims in the wake of the Supreme Court's Saturday verdict, negating the Muslims' claim over the disputed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land.

The Ayodhya adminstration, however, maintained that processions were taken out, though they might have been scaled down.

The community leaders, who vouched for the cancellation of processions in Ayodhya on Sunday, included prominent Muslim cleric Mufti Shamsul Qamar Qadri, also the imam of Ayodhya's main mosque.

"This year, we have taken out no procession on the occasion of Bara Rabiul Awwal. There are two reasons behind this. The first one is to maintain peace (in the city). It was done as a precautionary measure," Qadri, Faizabad's Qazi-e-Shahar, told PTI.

"Secondly, (it was) to express our sorrow after the Supreme Court judgement. In all, 50-55 processions used to be taken out in the city. No procession was taken out today. We celebrated Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi at our respective mosques," added Qadri, also the designated Imam-o-Khatib of city's Jama Masjid Tatsah.

Maajid Ali Khan, an Ayodhya resident and district-level leader of Telangana-based political outfit All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), headed by Asaduddin Owaisi, too corroborated the Muslim cleric statement.

"Bara Rabiul Awwal procession, which was to be taken out on Sunday, stands cancelled. The reason is that due to barriers erected at various places in Ayodhya, people coming from outside cannot reach here," said Khan.

"We also wanted that there should be no problem because of the procession. We cancelled it as a precautionary measure," he said
When contacted, Jha told PTI, "The processions have not been cancelled, but the scale of the processions might have been lowered by the organisers themselves. The processions have already been taken out."