Leaders condemn Ayodhya terror attack

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday condemned the attack on the temple-mosque compound in Ayodhya as a "terrorist act" and appealed for calm.

"It is fortunate that the attack was foiled and the attackers were killed during the shootout," Singh said in a statement. "It is also fortunate that no damage occurred to the physical structures at the site of the incident."

"The government views the incident as a serious one," Singh said in his statement. "All states have been alerted to take adequate precautions for protecting monuments, security installations, religious places etc. "Particular attention has been drawn towards maintaining communal harmony, peace and public order."

Home Minister Shivraj Patil said the attackers had wanted to create "a dangerous situation."

President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam expressed deep shock at the terrorist attack in Ayodhya and expressed relief that the attempt was foiled by the quick operation launched by the security forces. Abdul Kalam said: "Terrorism in any form is to be condemned outright and the nation should stand as one in fighting such militancy."

Police said one of the attackers may have been a "human bomb" laden with explosives as the group launched its assault on the compound around 9.15am, sparking a two-hour shootout with security forces.

"In the ensuing gunbattle, six of them were killed," said Jyoti Sinha, director general of the Central Reserve Police Force. "One person, who possibly was a human bomb ... was blown to pieces."

Three policemen were wounded. Police seized four gas masks, several rocket launchers, seven AK-47 assault rifles and 15 hand-grenades, Sinha said.

"This has been a successful operation as the police officials managed to have everything in control just within two hours," said Uttar Pradesh state home secretary Alok Sinha.

The six gunmen arrived in Ayodhya in a hired taxi pretending to be on a religious visit. Later they overpowered the taxi driver, who is now in police custody, and drove towards the controversial shrine. They rammed the vehicle against a wall to make an entry into the highly fortified shrine. While five of them got down from the vehicle, one terrorist, claimed to be a human bomb, blew himself up to divert attention.

Watchful security forces, however, foiled their move by gunning them down in the close vicinity of the sanctum sanctorum where a makeshift temple exists.

The largest militant group in Kashmir, Hizbul Mujahedin, has denied any role in yesterday's assault and pointed the blame at Hindu hardliners.

Federal home ministry secretary Vinod Duggal said no group had claimed responsibility for the attack. The main Hindu nationalist party quickly called for nationwide protests today.

HISTORY
Long-running dispute

• Mughal emperor Babar built a mosque in the 16th century at Ayodhya.
• Hindu residents of the temple town made several attempts to occupy the place they claimed to be birthplace of one of their deities.
• Idols of Hindu deities were placed inside the mosque in 1949 under controversial circumstances and the district authorities then allowed Hindus to worship the idols placed inside the mosque before the shrine was locked under a court order.
• The Congress government decided to remove the locks in 1986 making a local dispute global in nature.
• The Opposition BJP under Lal Krishna Advani's leadership used the dispute to gain strength by fanning emotions. Advani led a movement that ended up with Hindu zealots demolishing the mosque on December 6, 1992.
• The makeshift temple came up at the site the next morning and the Supreme Court ordered maintenance of status quo at the site pending a final verdict by judicial authorities.
• Digging carried out at the vicinity of the controversial site by the Archaeological Survey of India to find out if a Hindu temple lied buried under where the mosque existed. Reports proved inconclusive.
• BJP rode Ayodhya dispute to come to power but backed out on handing over the site to Hindus. Now BJP is under fire by Hindu organisations like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad for betraying Hindus.
• The terrorists' attempt to blow up the makeshift temple has come handy to the beleaguered BJP to make up with the RSS and the VHP and attack the Congress-led ruling coalition at the centre for the security lapse.