Terror Targets Buddhist Shrine In India!

Serial bomb blasts shattered the serene atmosphere of the Mahabodhi shrine in Bodh Gaya in the north Indian state of Bihar in the early hours today. In all there were nine blasts inside and outside of the holiest of holy Buddhist pilgrimage site that left two monks injured. Fortunately all the blasts were low intensity and could not damage the main temple. Bodh Gaya is the historic place where Lord Buddha got his enlightenment and pilgrims from across the globe visit the Mahabodhi shrine here regularly. The blasts were carried out in a well coordinated manner within half an hour between 5.50 and 6am. The Indian Home ministry had confirmed the strike as a terrorist attack, though no terrorist group has claimed responsibility so far. In the background of the large-scale ethnic classes between Rohingya Muslims and the Buddhists in Myanmar the Government of India has taken the attack in all seriousness and has issued advisory to all Indian states to ensure security for all Buddhist shrines and Tibetan settlements. This could very well be the first instance of issuance of advisory for possible violence in view of the Myanmar clashes.

The President, the Vice President and the Prime Minister of India have condemned this cowardly attack on a religious place vouching for a policy of zero tolerance against terrorism. But the ugly head of terror keeps on appearing again and again concentrating nowadays on soft targets while trying to demonstrate the fact that it can choose and strike place anywhere at its will. Recently it had returned to America too and the targets in India seem to be growing by the day.

Thee are reports of intelligence alerts issued by the central agencies to Bihar government over a period of at least six months and apparently these were either ignored or not taken seriously. These lapses have drawn public attention and a national debate has already begun. The opposition parties got another opportunity to indulge in politics of terror and attack the Government. Interestingly, the national opposition BJP blamed the Bihar government squarely for the intelligence lapse forgetting conveniently that they were also part of the government till last month when the split between BJP and JD-U happened following the Modi factor. Let us propagate zero tolerance for politics too!