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Hyderabad blast : Attempt to destabilise Indian polity |
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B.I. Saini
The Mecca masjid bomb blast in Hyderabad is another reminder that terrorist elements continue with their strategy to divide Indian society on the basis of religion. The attacks on places of worship, whether belonging to the Hindus, the Muslims, or other religious denominations, have only one purpose - destabilising India.
Investigations are going on and while it may be premature to pin-point the organisations responsible for the incident, the footprints of Pakistan-based terrorist outfits are clearly visible. In the continuing attempt to destabilise India, terrorist organisations based in Pakistan, and most probably getting the support of state agencies in that country, have been targeting places of worship with the objective of sowing the seeds of mutual suspicion. The attack on the Mecca masjid in Hyderabad was probably meant at creating suspicions that Hindu fundamentalist organisations may be responsible. This would have created the potential for encouraging jehadi elements. After the Akshardham terror attack, another incident with the same objective was the bombing of the Samjhauta Express.
While the Union Government said that the explosives could have been improvised by a number of people, the sophisticated technology used in triggering the blast, which led to the loss of 11 innocent lives, shows that well-trained terrorist elements were involved. In the past, the Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Jaish-e-Mohammad and Harkat-ul-Jehad Islami (HuJI) have also demonstrated the capability to fabricate the type of devices said to have been used in the Hyderabad incident. The main suspicion is about HuJI as one of its senior functionaries, Shahid Bilal, hails from Hyderabad, and is now said to be operating from Karachi. At the meeting of the India-Pakistan Joint Anti-terror Mechanism on March 6, India had demanded that Pakistan apprehend Shahid Bilal and hand him over to Delhi for further investigation of his involvement in earlier terrorist strikes in this country. But as in the case of other terrorists and criminals, whose deportation India has been demanding in the past, Islamabad’s response was not positive.
The lack of concrete action by Islamabad against terrorists and other criminals taking shelter in Pakistan after carrying out strikes in India, creates doubts about the success of the joint anti-terror mechanism. If the mechanism remains just a talking shop without action to put down the elements responsible for terrorist strikes, it would not make much contribution to furthering the composite dialogue between the two countries.
Government agencies at both the Centre and state levels, have to take a more pro-active approach to tackle terrorist elements. At the same time, they have to be alive to people’s sensitivities. There are reports that the police firing to stop the rioting after the bomb blast at Mecca Masjid was unnecessary. An inquiry has been ordered into the matter, which will hopefully bring out the facts. Religious bodies responsible for various temples and mosques etc. have also to be alert to their responsibility to protect the devotees assembling there.
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