Gunmen enter Gujarat's Swaminarayan Mandir, fire indiscriminately [Round 2(Gujarat, India)]

The Indian Express ^ | Sept 24 2002 | Reuters

[akash]

Unidentified gunmen have entered the Swaminarayan Mandir on Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar highway on Tuesday evening. Police suspect there may be up to four gunmen inside the temple, who were heard firing indiscriminately. An encounter is on to flush them out. State Agriculture Minister Purushotam Rupala said that according to initial reports three persons, probably carrying sten guns, entered the temple premises and fired indiscriminately. He said three to four persons were injured in the attack.

Security forces have surrounded the temple, situated about two km from the state secretariat, he said.

[akash]

Me thinks this is start of Round 2 in Gujarat

[akash]

Ping !!!!!
and ping away...

[AmericanInTokyo]

I thought Gujarat State had pretty much settled down.

Any particular State Department advisories not to go there?

[akash]

Talking of the State Department, Asst Secy of State Christina Rocca is in India on a four day visit!!!!

[Dog Gone]

I think it's a little too early to be predicting mob violence in response to this incident. We're not even sure what happened yet, or whether it's over.

[AmericanInTokyo]

How ironic. Guess its best just to stick to Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and those, rather than go anywhere near extreme northwest.

[anu_shr]

25 killed as Indian TV. suspected Islamic suicide squad and commandos rushed from New Delhi. Gujrat 2 likely . Very likely. Retaliation was expected like Bombay blasts after riots

[keri]

What else can be expected but mob violence? India has many Hindus. They are expendable, unlike the Muslims and Christian "minorities" that deserve special treatment.

Watch this...because *if* the Hindu community reacts and the violence spreads, it will be the Hindus' fault.

It would be nice if India's leaders would get off their butts and stop writing poetry. If there's no leadership, the mob mentality will take over. Honestly, if the anger and hate boils over again, who can really fault the Hindus? They've had enough.

[swarthyguy]

SCUM SCUM SCUM

PHUKK MUSHARRAF! PHUKK PAKISTAN!

OUR ALLIES! WHAT FINE COMPANY WE KEEP, OLLIE!

NUKE ISLAMABAD!

LET EM ALL GO MARRY THEIR FIRST COUSINS, BREED LIKE DOGS AND REDUCE THEIR IQ!

MAY ALL THEIR BENIGHTED SPAWN BE CURSED FOREVER!

mAY THEIR BIRTH DEFECTS BE PLENTIFUL!

mAY THE FRUIT OF THEIR LOINS ALWAYS BE BITTER AND POISONED!

OF COURSE ALL THE JIHADI APOLOGISTS WILL COME OUT NOW!!

[swarthyguy]

India is soooo wimpy sometimes.

Even this will not wake the leadership out of its stupor!

WarmongeringHindufascists, my arse!

[tracer]

Your skill in American prose is breathtaking. I salute you......

[swarthyguy]

From AP - GANDHINAGAR, India - Gunmen stormed a crowded Hindu temple and opened fire, killing at least 23 worshippers Tuesday in a western Indian state where hundreds of people were killed in religious rioting this year, authorities said.

With 40 people injured and 150 worshippers still inside the temple, more than 200 commandos swarmed into the sprawling temple complex, in the city of Gandhinagar in Gujarat state, setting up positions around the main temple, said R.B. Brahmabhatt, the city's acting police chief.

Deputy Prime Minister Lal K. Advani, speaking to reporters in New Delhi, described the shooting as a suicide attack. He said the attackers, armed with hand grenades and AK-47 rifles, had taken up positions on the roof of a building inside the complex.

"Twenty-three people are dead," Advani said, including six women and four children. "The terrorists are still inside," he said. He said 500 people had been evacuated from the complex.

Advani said the attack appeared tied to state elections being held Tuesday in northern Jammu-Kashmir state, the only majority Muslim state in largely Hindu India, and a scene of regular violence.

"The enemies of the nation feel that the developments in Jammu and Kashmir are strengthening India's viewpoint, and that a big attack could divert attention from there. I see in this a very deliberate design," he said.

He did not elaborate. India alleges that its neighbor, Pakistan, sponsors Muslim terrorists in Indian territory. Islamabad denies the allegation.

Advani appealed for calm between Hindus and Muslims in Gujarat, where religious violence killed hundreds of people earlier this year, many of them Muslim.

"I hope people will understand that communal conflict would serve the interest of those who do this."

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but fears spread quickly in Gujarat that the attack would ignite still more violence.

"This is adding kerosene to a burning fire. There will be trouble in the riot-prone areas," said Maya Desai, a college student in Ahmadabad, about 25 kilometers (15 miles) from the scene of the attack. "Shops are closing.

Everyone is telling each other 'Come on, go home.' Anything can happen now."

Witnesses said the attack took worshippers completely off guard. "I saw five gunmen inside," said 25-year-old Balwant Shukwant Patel, who was rescued by security forces soon after the shooting began. "We were sitting under a tree when they started firing indiscriminately. We thought someone was setting off firecrackers. People started running here and there."

Details were hazy, with officials unsure of exactly what was going on inside much of the main temple.

"Our first priority is to see that the people who were worshipping inside are brought out safely," junior Interior Minister I.D. Swamy told Zee News television. "We cannot fire indiscriminately like the terrorists. No one should be hurt in the crossfire, that is very important."

Television channels showed bloody bodies - including policemen and priests - being brought out on stretchers from the main Swaminarayan Temple. Many wounded limped out, their clothes stained with blood. Policemen and commandos crouched behind bushes as they slowly moved toward the temple. Shooting continued from inside the temple as night fell, and soldiers set up powerful spotlights around the scene.

"We assume that three terrorists are inside. They opened fire with assault rifles," said Brahmabhatt.

Gujarat state witnessed vicious religious rioting earlier this year, sparked in late February when a Muslim mob set fire to a train carrying Hindu activists. That attack set off a wave of reprisal killings and rioting, in which Muslims were the main victims. In total, about 1,000 people were killed, according to government estimates.

State intelligence officials had warned of reprisal attacks by Pakistan-based Islamic militant groups.

Tuesday's attack raised fears that if Islamic rebels were involved, it could spark renewed attacks on Muslims in the state, where relations remain tense between Hindus and Muslims.

About 240 state commandos surrounded the temple and policemen took positions on trees circling the 23-acre (9.3 hectares) complex, police said.

An unnamed paramilitary official, speaking after coming out of the temple, told the private Star News channel that he saw "many bodies and many injured," but declined to give numbers. He said security forces had taken control of a quarter of the main temple .

The temple, an ornate sandstone complex, is enormously popular among Hindus, with thousands of worshippers arriving every day.

[BlackIce]

Check yahoo cause the Muslims are now saying that "they wouldnt be surprised if the BJP/VHP is behind it"

THis is getting ridiculous. FOr those Americans who want to understand Hindu anger, look at statements like above.

THe same thing was said about Godhra, that "the RSS planned it." WHenever HIndus are killed, THE FAULT ONLY LIES AT THE HINDUS DOOR, according to the Muslims and the Indian media.

And you better expect the Hindu anger to get bigger and bigger.

[BlackIce]

oh another thing:

CHeck the Indian express. Sonia Gandhi is blaming this incident on Modi's Guarav Yatra!!!!!

So Modi holds a march during election times, so this provocation enough for the death of 25 hindus???

WHo died during this guarav yatra??? NO ONE.

Yet SOnia is saying that the Hindus had it coming for them since they held a guarav yatra.

[dennisw]

BTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

[BlackIce]

I made a mistake on post 14, Sonia DID NOT say that.

[aristeides]

Advani said the attack appeared tied to state elections being held Tuesday in northern Jammu-Kashmir state, the only majority Muslim state in largely Hindu India, and a scene of regular violence.

Advani seems to think the attackers are Moslems.

[swarthyguy]

Didn't mean to insult dogs.

[Annakin]

Is everything squared away?

[akash]

Update

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal have called for a nation wide bandh on Thursday....

http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=15106