It was a black Sunday for Bihar. Bodh Gaya Temple is
the place where Budha attained enlightenment. Never before this place was
target of vandalism and violence. But on 7th July 2013, a group of
terrorists succeeded in planting and detonating bombs inside and outside the
temple in serial blasts with nine explosions.
Why the terrorists chose the Budhist temple in Bodh
Gaya? The common theory that has come up after the blasts is reprisal of
persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar by the Budhists. It is highly
unlikely that the Rohingyas executed the bomb blasts or masterminded the attack
in Bodh Gaya. It is, however, possible that Indian Mujahideen or Terrorists
outfit like Lashkar-e-Tyaba in Pakistan used its modules operating in India to
target the Bodhi temple.
There have been clashes in the past between the Muslims
and the Budhists in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh where Budhists were attacked and
Budhist temples were torched. In Iran two years ago, the Bamiyan Budha, tallest
statute of Mahatma Budha measuring 53 meters was destroyed by the Talibans.
Budhism is one religion that preaches and practices
peace and compassion for all. Why the Muslim fundamentalists should feel threatened
by a religion that denounces violence and follows the path of ‘ahimsa paramo
dharma’.
The Bihar Government can’t escape its responsibility of
ignoring alert warnings from the Union Home Ministry and the Intelligence
Bureau about possible terrorist attack in Bodh Gaya. The security was lax and
the terrorists had easy access to the shrine. The CCTV installed in and outside
the temple is not monitored properly. The police deployed to protect the temple
are not trained. The chief minister Nitish Kumar has a late realization when he
says that the security of the temple should handed over to the Cintral
Industrial Security Force(CISF).
Though forensic reports on the nature of explosives
used for the blasts would come only after some time, the IED (improvised
explosive device) used by the terrorists indicate that it is the work of the
local operatives working for the LeT or any other terrorists organization. Had
the terrorists wanted so they could have destroyed the temple and inflicted
larger casualties by using sophisticated explosive device of high intensity,
thanks God it was not so.
Of late, Pakistan based terrorists have taken the Nepal
route besides Jammu & Kashmir to infiltrate India. The border between Nepal
and Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are porous making it much easier for the
infiltrators to enter India. To a great extent, the state police and para
military forces deployed on the Indo-Nepal border are to blame for the lax
security. The terrorists from across the border also get easy logistic support
from the locals in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh which are turning into safe havens
for the terrorists from Pakistan. The state governments and the Centre must
come together to identify the local modules and sleeping cells of terrorists in
India.
A chink in the arms of the government! The response
time of the NSG commandos to reach the place of occurrence on Sunday was so
poor that it can’t be described in words. From Delhi to Bodh Gaya it took
almost 12 hours for the commandos to reach by air. The official reasons given
are bad weather. But the government is silent on having the aged and outdated
aircrafts for emergency operations. We have heard our Prime Minister say that
resource is not a constraint in fighting terror. Then why Mr. Prime Minister we
still depend on the outdated fleet of aircrafts not only in the command of para
military forces but also in the command of the Indian Air Force.
~ R. K. Sinha
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