New Delhi, India – Bombs exploded in a crowded Hindu temple and a railway station Tuesday evening in the holy city of Varanasi, killing at least 20 people and raising fears of retaliatory violence against India’s minority Muslim population. Authorities appealed for calm, and police in major cities were placed on high alert.
Even before the blasts, tensions had been rising in India. Angry Muslim protests against President Bush, who visited India last week, as well as against Danish newspaper cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad have erupted into violence in several cities.
The first blast ripped through the Sankat Mochan temple shortly after 6 p.m. Tuesday as Hindu devotees gathered to make offerings to the monkey god Hanuman, Indian media reported.
Among the dead was a bridegroom who had come to seek the deity’s blessings, according to the Press Trust of India news service. Tuesday evening is the traditional time for visiting the temple.
The second explosion came minutes later at the railway station.
The blast left a 1-foot-deep crater, shattered windows and splattered the station with blood and body parts, the Press Trust reported. Four more unexploded bombs were found at a holy site next to the Ganges River.
“It is a terrorist attack. It has all the characteristics of a terrorist attack,” Alok Sinha, the top home ministry official for Uttar Pradesh state, told The Associated Press. “We are not sure about the group.”
Indian television footage of the bombed temple showed pools of blood amid scattered shoes and other debris.
Injured survivors were shown being carried to private vehicles and ambulances, and crowds of angry men waved their fists in the air. Many of the injured were said to be in critical condition.
Situated in the state of Uttar Pradesh about 400 miles southeast of New Delhi, the historic, densely packed city of Varanasi is sometimes called the “Hindu Jerusalem” to underscore its religious significance to the followers of India’s dominant faith, who make up about 82 percent of the population.
The city is a magnet for pilgrims who travel there for ritual baths in the Ganges River. And devout Hindus believe there is no better place to die than Varanasi, whose waterfront is lined with cremation grounds.
Authorities feared the bombings of such a sensitive site could trigger communal bloodletting.
In 2002, reports of a Muslim attack on a train carrying Hindu nationalists in the state of Gujarat triggered rioting that left more than 1,000 people dead. Most of the dead in that episode were Muslims, who make up about 13 percent of India’s billion-plus people.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
