12, Oct 2007

The Citizens for Justice and Peace condemns the
dastardly bomb blasts at the revered Sufi shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin
Chishti here when a bomb went off inside the complex this evening killing
two persons and injuring at least 28 as thousands were breaking their
day-long Ramzan fast just two days before Eid, a day before Friday
prayers.  Of the 14 critically injured, only three are local residents
while the rest are from states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh
and Orissa. The dead were identified as Mohammad Shoaib from Mumbai and
Salim from Hyderabad. While money can never make up for the loss of loved
ones, the CJP also urges that victims get reparation amounts comparable
top those doled out in other bomb blasts attacks. Those injured too should
receive assistance for treating injuries.

This shrine one of the oldest and at which persons of
all faiths worship is a symbol of IndiaÂ’s civilizational syncretism and
unity. By targeting the shrine those responsible for the acts have sought
to disrupt this unity among our people. Criminal minds and terrorists, of
whichever faith or political persuasion, external or internal, are
singling out IndiaÂ’s secular ethos for attack. Such acts of terror are
aimed at disrupting communal harmony and creating a permanent source of
fear and suspicion within civil society ands among peoples. The government
should step in and initiate measures to maintain peace.

The CJP would also like to take this occasion to remind
the Rajasthan state government of severe security lapse on its part
especially after the Ministry for Home affairs had issued warnings of
possible attacks four to five days before. Even in Malegaon in Maharashtra
on September 10, 2008 when blasts had occurred on the open ground the Holy
day of Shab-e-Barat, adequate security had been found wanting.

Under the circumstances, the investigation should be
handed over either to the CBI or to a set of officers of unblemished
record to redeem the faith of all peoples. The CJP would also draw the
government and peopleÂ’s attention to the gross politicisation of IndiaÂ’s
intelligence machinery that has failed to make a distinction between
intelligence collection and floating theories that may or may not be borne
out by facts on the ground. This couples with the fact that the state
police in many cases uses torture on persons illegally detained after
blasts (the recent torture of 23 boys after the Hyderababd blasts in late
August is a shocking example) does not in any way redeem the faith of the
people.

Vijay Tendulkar
(President)

Teesta Setalvad
(Secretary)