abcnews.go.com

VARANASI, INDIA, March 8, 2006: India’s ancient holy city of Varanasi shut down on Wednesday in a protest against bomb blasts in a Hindu temple and a railway station which killed 15 people, but there were no reports of any sectarian backlash. Armed police mounted a strict vigil during the shut down, called by Hindu groups after Varanasi, one of the holiest pilgrimage centers for India’s majority Hindus, was hit by two bomb blasts within minutes around dusk on Tuesday. No one claimed responsibility but some police officers suspect the attacks to be the work of Islamist militants fighting against Indian rule in disputed Kashmir. Authorities quickly ordered police in most of northern India on alert to prevent any outbreak of Hindu-Muslim clashes. “The city is peaceful. We have taken all precautions. There have been no reports of any untoward incidents,” said K.L. Meena, Varanasi’s inspector-general of police. “There have been no arrests so far and police parties are conducting raids at various places since last night,” he said. Shops and businesses in Varanasi downed shutters and authorities closed schools and colleges as a precaution. Groups of angry youths gathered at some main streets and outside the local university, shouting slogans against the regional government. Although traffic on the streets was largely normal and government offices open, attendance was thin. Hindu groups blamed the government of Uttar Pradesh state, where Varanasi is located, for ignoring security threats. “The government is encouraging Islamic terrorism by turning a blind eye to their activities,” said Kailash Kesari, head of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party’s local unit. Analysts and locals said although the Hindu community was targeted, they did not expect the customary, knee-jerk sectarian tensions because most Indians were weary of violence. The first bomb went off in the packed, centuries-old Sankat Mochan temple where hundreds of devotees of the Hindu God Lord Hanuman had gathered for evening prayers. The second exploded at one of the city’s main railway stations.

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