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India fears reprisals after bombs kill 15
India was braced for violent reprisals after one of the holiest Hindu cities was targeted by a series of bomb attacks which left at least 15 people dead.
One of the explosions in the city of Varanasi went off inside a temple when it was crowded with thousands of worshippers.
High alerts were issued in Delhi, Bombay and cities across India yesterday, as the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, called for calm. There was no claim of responsibility, but initial suspicions fell on Islamic militants, who have targeted Hindu temples in India in the past.
No one doubts the danger of Hindu-Muslim violence in India. In 2002, more than 2,000 people were killed in revenge attacks in Gujarat after Hindu pilgrims died in a train fire that was blamed on Muslims.
The attack could also set off dangerous tensions between India and Pakistan, which Indian politicians have repeatedly accused of being behind similar attacks in the past. Just four years ago, the two nuclear-armed rivals almost went to war after a series of attacks by Islamic militants in India.
Details of the blasts in Varanasi were sketchy last night. The city was packed with Hindu pilgrims and it was not clear if the death toll would rise. The first explosion went off in the Sankat Mochan temple, one of the oldest and most revered in the city, in the early evening, the busiest time of the day, and it was clear that worshippers had been targeted.
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http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article349907.ece
High alerts were issued in Delhi, Bombay and cities across India yesterday, as the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, called for calm. There was no claim of responsibility, but initial suspicions fell on Islamic militants, who have targeted Hindu temples in India in the past.
No one doubts the danger of Hindu-Muslim violence in India. In 2002, more than 2,000 people were killed in revenge attacks in Gujarat after Hindu pilgrims died in a train fire that was blamed on Muslims.
The attack could also set off dangerous tensions between India and Pakistan, which Indian politicians have repeatedly accused of being behind similar attacks in the past. Just four years ago, the two nuclear-armed rivals almost went to war after a series of attacks by Islamic militants in India.
Details of the blasts in Varanasi were sketchy last night. The city was packed with Hindu pilgrims and it was not clear if the death toll would rise. The first explosion went off in the Sankat Mochan temple, one of the oldest and most revered in the city, in the early evening, the busiest time of the day, and it was clear that worshippers had been targeted.
More
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article349907.ece
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The attacks happened on Tuesday evening in a packed railway station and crowded temple in Hinduism's holiest city, raising fears of communal violence between majority Hindus and minority Muslims.
Hindu groups allied to the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party called for a general strike in the state on Wednesday to protest against the blasts.
The first bomb went off in the packed Sankat Mochan temple where hundreds of devotees of the Hindu deity Hanuman had gathered for evening prayers.
The second exploded at the city's cantonment railway station. Police had said on Tuesday that two bombs exploded at the station.
Yashpal Singh, the police chief of Uttar Pradesh state, where Varanasi is located, said he suspected the hand of Pakistan-based jihadi group, Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Vigil at temples
Indian TV channels said two Lashkar fighters were shot dead overnight by police in New Delhi and another Lashkar man was killed in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh's capital, but it was not known if they were connected to the Varanasi blasts.
Armed police mounted vigil at temples and public places across India and authorities said they had shut down schools and colleges as a precaution, but a Reuters reporter said traffic on the streets of the ancient city appeared normal.
Prem Lata, 65-year-old housewife, said: "People are moving around. Puja (worship) is going on in the temples. There is no problem now."
Temple-studded Varanasi, 670km southeast of the capital New Delhi, is on the banks of the holy Ganges river.
Hindus believe that dying in Varanasi, being cremated on the banks of the Ganges and the ashes immersed in the river ensures release from the cycle of rebirth. Many elderly and ill people come to the city if they believe they are close to death.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/AF2954D3-980E-43D2-9653-E64E7F8710A5.htm