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Sectarian Violence Arises in India
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Indian
police look at the remnants of a jeep in Ayodhya.
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NEW
DELHI, July 6, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Human
Rights Watch called on the Indian government to take urgent steps to
maintain calm following an attack on a disputed holy site in the
northern town of Ayodhya, as India was bracing for nationwide protests
Wednesday, July 6.
"Political
and religious leaders should urge Indians to remain calm and use
responsible language in their public pronouncements at this delicate
moment," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch
according to Agence France-Presse (AFP) said.
"Otherwise,
political or religious manipulation could inflame the situation and
lead to the kind of violence that has engulfed whole communities in
earlier riots."
Six
gunmen were killed after storming the Ayodhya compound, prompting a
nationwide security alert to prevent an outbreak of religious
violence.
Indian
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condemned the attack and appealed for
calm after the assault on the bitterly disputed site, sacred to both
Hindus and Muslims.
But
the main Hindu nationalist party -- which rose to prominence after the
Babri mosque at the site was demolished in 1992 by Hindu extremists --
quickly called for nationwide protests Wednesday and for a general
strike in Uttar Pradesh state, where Ayodhya is situated.
BJP
leaders described the strike as an "attack on Hindu faith"
and demanded the resignations of the federal and Uttar Pradesh state
home ministers for the "laxity" which allowed the militants
to storm the site.
No
group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.
The
80-acre (26-hectare) area protects the ruins of an ancient mosque
which was razed by thousands of Hindu fanatics on December 6, 1992.
The
demolition was followed by the building of a makeshift temple at the
site of the demolished Babri mosque. Hindus claimed the mosque had
been built over a temple to the Hindu deity Ram in the 16th century.
The
Hindu sacrilege sparked off nationwide Hindu-Muslims violence that
left 2,000 people dead. Hundreds of Muslim homes were demolished and
as many as 28 mosques and Muslim mausoleums were devastated that day
by the Hindu mobs.
Since
then the entire complex has been under Supreme Court authority and is
heavily guarded with nearly 200 policemen and paramilitary personnel
guards.
Muslims
Condemn
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Sadhus,
or Hindu holy men, shout anti-government slogans to protest
against the attack.
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Indian
intelligence agencies have often claimed the disputed Ayodhya site is
a prime target for Islamic fighters fighting in disputed Kashmir. But
the largest militant group in Kashmir, Hizbul Mujahedin, denied any
role in Tuesday's assault and pointed the blame at Hindu hardliners.
"The
incident seems to be the handiwork of Hindu extremists to trigger
anti-Muslim riots in India," a spokesman for the group told the
Current News Service in Kashmir.
Responding
to the incident, the Council of Indian Muslims - UK (CIM) has strongly
condemned the attack.
“This
is extremely outrageous and the culprits must be condemned by every
sane person.” CIM’s Chairman, Munaf Zeena, said in a statement
Tuesday.
“The
attack on Ayodhya and the attack on Abdul Majeed Memon Advocate in
Mumbai yesterday can not be a co-incidence.
"We
have no doubt that this is the work of destructive and satanic forces
who suffocate in the climate of peace and development.” Zeena said.
“They
can not tolerate the progress India has been making over the past few
years and the new and tolerant environment that Indians have
collectively started benefiting from,” he added.
"They
can not be the friend of anyone or the true believers of any
religion."
Sectarian
Powder
Within
the same context, an analyst told AFP that the government would have
to work hard to avoid violence over the incident.
"Given
the problems surrounding Ayodhya, the authorities will do their utmost
in coming days and weeks to ensure that communal tensions are
contained.
"Beyond
this, the central issue is still unresolved, and the propensity for
further problems therefore remains significant," London-based
Global Insight's Asia analyst Elizabeth Mills said in an e-mailed
statement to AFP.
Another
analyst told AFP that the gunmen who attacked the religious complex
were apparently attempting to fuel sectarian violence, never far below
the surface in this vast, diverse country.
"This
attack fits perfectly into the objective of inflaming communal
riots," Ajai Sahni, executive director of the independent
Institute of Conflict Management, said Wednesday.
"If
they had even touched the structure (the makeshift temple), there
would have been a high probability of riots," Sahni said.
Security
Meanwhile,
India's security cabinet ordered patrols stepped up at monuments, key
installations and religious sites in the wake of Tuesday's attack, in
which all six militants, one primed as a "human bomb", were
gunned down by police.
The
attackers had detonated a vehicle filled with explosives at an
entrance to the Ayodhya complex to breach security and enable them to
gain entry to one of the most tightly-guarded religious sites in the
world, police said.
The
assault sparked a two-hour shootout with security forces, said Jyoti
Sinha, director general of the Central Reserve Police Force.
"In
the ensuing gun battle, six of them were killed," he told
reporters. "One person, who possibly was a human bomb ... was
blown to pieces."
Security
forces were put on alert across the country to guard against violent
sectarian protests, especially at religious places.
History
In
November last year, the Supreme Court of India ordered
that deputy prime minister Lal Krishna Advani, federal human resource
minister Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti, a former minister, and a
host of former Indian officials, be tried at a special court in Rae
Bareli on charge of complicity in demolishing the historic mosque for
political gains.
The
Babri Masjid Movement Coordination Committee (BMMCC), however,
regretted the judgment, arguing that the case would drag endlessly and
saying it was a classic example of "justice delayed is justice
denied."
The
Babri Mosque (also Babri Masjid) was constructed by the Muslim emperor
of India Babar in Ayodhya in the 16th century.
The
mosque was used by Muslims as a prayer site until 1947, when Hindu
extremists, who wished to see it replaced with a Rama temple, broke in
and placed statues of Rama inside the mosque. Following this, the
state government ordered the mosque sealed.
In
1986, the mosque was reopened by a lower court at the request of the
Hindu nationalist Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP, "World Hindu
Council") to allow Hindus to worship there.
Since
then, the BMMCC has been campaigning to have the mosque rebuilt at the
same site, while the VHP has been moving forward with plans to build a
Rama temple there. In December 2002, the VHP announced that it would
construct the temple in a year and a half.
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