Indian Mujahideen email gives terror tag to Varanasi Bomb Blast

The Centre on Tuesday night termed the Varanasi blast as a terror strike after the Indian Mujahideen (IM) sent an email attributing the attack to the Babri Masjid demolition anniversary (December 6) and in retaliation to the Allahabad High Court’s Ram Janmabhoomi verdict.

“Twenty-one people, including two foreigners, have been wounded in the blast for which terror outfit Indian Mujahideen claimed responsibility. The authenticity of the claim is being verified,” Union home minister P. Chidambaram said. Reports from the ground said a girl and an Italian national died in the explosion.

Union home secretary G.K. Pillai admitted that the Centre had no information about any impending strike in Varanasi. But he insisted that the Centre did send an advisory to the UP government a few days ago in view of the Babri Masjid anniversary.

Special secretary (internal security) U.K. Bansal said a red alert was declared in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore after the blast. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has sought a detailed report from the home ministry on the Varanasi blast.

The five-page IM email was sent from a mall in Malad in Mumbai to several media houses from the address: alfateh00005@gmail.com. It was dated December 6. It carried the IM logo as well as the signature — AL-ARBI — which was a feature in the past emails sent by the outfit after the blasts in Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Delhi.

Titled ‘Let’s feel the pain together’, the email says it will not allow the construction of a “grand temple” at the Babri Masjid site and calls for the “mountain of injustice” to be undone.

The email also raises the Kashmir issue and even mentions the heckling of Kashmiri separatist leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Farooq in various cities — a development as recent as a fortnight ago.

In light of this, the home ministry feels the blast is a terror strike in no uncertain terms and a team from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) will visit the spot in Varanasi as soon as possible. The NIA is likely to take over the probe from the UP Police.

The home ministry said it was a lowintensity blast and a railing broke as a result of a stampede that followed the explosion. The ensuing commotion and stampede wounded at least 21 people in Varanasi.

The email also refers to Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi getting a clean chit in the 2002 riots, a development which got leaked just a couple of days ago.

It says the Allahabad High Court’s Ram Janmabhoomi verdict is biased. “The Indian Mujahideen attribute this attack to December 6 that will haunt your nation of world’s greatest democracy until Muslims are paid back justly and fairly for the loss of their beloved Babri Masjid, the precious lives of their near and dear ones, their pride, dignity and self-respect. Once a Masjid is erected, it always remains a Masjid and the property of Allah until the last day. The Allahabad High Court’s verdict of aastha (faith) over facts is exemplary of the bias judiciary although Ram is a purely mythical figure. Neither the All India Muslim Personal Law Board nor the Babri Masjid Action Committee nor the Sunni Waqf Board nor any litigant has any right to alter or compromise on any aspect regarding Babri Masjid,” the email says.

Dwelling on Kashmir, the IM mail says: “The manhandling and heckling of the Kashmiri leadership in Indian cities is not at all a minor issue. It is at the behest of the IB (intelligence bureau). We request the respected Syed Ali Shah Geelani and the Mirwaiz to maintain their self-respect and dignity.”