Indian police stepped up patrols Friday to guard against religious violence and militant attacks as the country marked the 10th anniversary of the destruction of a disputed mosque. Police said they were taking extra precautions this year as the date coincided with the Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr and came days ahead of elections in the western state of Gujarat, where more than 1,000 people died in religious riots this year.

Hindu mobs razed the 16th century Babri mosque in Ayodhya in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh in 1992 claiming that it had been built after Muslim invaders demolished a temple to god-king Ram at the site where Hindus believe he was born.

The event triggered bloody Hindu-Muslim clashes across the country in which more than 3,000 people were killed and property was destroyed.

Police in Ayodhya and neighboring Faizabad checked all vehicles entering the twin towns to prevent disturbances during special Eid prayers and a Hindu congregation.

A few thousand Muslims offered special prayers to mark the end of fasting during the holy month of Ramadan.

"We don't want any trouble. So we have not organized any rallies or demonstrations this year," said one Muslim man, who did not want to reveal his name.

Some 2,000 armed policemen guarded the makeshift temple of Ram, which now stands on the debris of the razed mosque in Ayodhya.

"We want peace in Ayodhya and I am confident that with outsiders keeping away, there will be no trouble," said Mahant Nritya Gopaldas, a prominent Hindu monk.

Qutubuddin Qadri, chief cleric of Faizabad's main mosque, said Muslims would observe a silent protest by covering the minarets of local mosques with black cloths.

India's financial hub Bombay was also on high alert after two people were killed in a bomb blast on a bus earlier this week and another bomb was discovered before it exploded.

Some Muslims said they would not celebrate Eid this year as it coincided with the anniversary of the mosque's demolition.
But many defied calls not to celebrate the festival, offering prayers in large numbers since daybreak.

"We Muslims only want one thing," said Mohammed M. Razvi, chief cleric of the Gol Masjid mosque in south Bombay. "A mosque should be built on the same spot where the Babri mosque stood."

PHOTO CAPTION

A member of the hard-line Hindu group the Bajrang Dal shouts during a demonstration in the northern Indian city of Chandiagrh, Dec. 6, 2002. The activists hailed Friday as a 'shorya divas' or 'Victory Day' to celebrate the destruction of a mosque by Hindu mobs in 1992. (Dipak Kumar/Reuters)