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Responses to the Attack on
Akshardham Temple

I condemn in the strongest terms possible what are apparently vicious and cowardly acts of terrorism against innocent devotees & visitors present in Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar. No cause could ever be assisted by such dastardly & heinous acts. I offer condolences to the families of those who were killed or injured in the dreadful incident. It time for all of us to show enough maturity to stand united -thereby foiling the intentions of enemies of peace & humanity.
Najeeb

Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 13:28:35 +0530
Subject: Suggestions, and a salute

News about terrorist activity in a temple like Akshardham, which preaches peace and tolerance, is very horrifying. This act is not only annoying, for the near and dear ones of the people who were injured or lost their lives in the attack, but also for every single Indian soul. We respect and pay homage to all the civilians and the commandos who lost their lives. We also expect their martyrdom would not go in vain and the respected government of India would certainly take a non-verbal action on the militants. To name a few incidents, not too far back, we had very annoying events like Massacre at Chhatisinghpora; The attacks on Amarnath pilgrims and Raghunath temple in Jammu; Killing of soldiers' families in Kaluchak in May, the attack on the Indian Parliament in Dec 2001 and countless other incidents.

The body providing moral, financial and arms support to such militancy activity does not have the heart for a full-fledged war. It is due to this fact that they target innocent civil people in the country especially children, women and the old to create terror. This certainly makes a common man wonder for his safety. When millions and millions of Rupees are spent on Janpath Road's security to make VVIPs feel safe, a common man has to fear for his life even at the feet of god. It was really consoling to know that the super powers and our neighbors condemned the attack on the temple.

However all Indian eyes are now set on the government to take some very stern action against the most talked terrorism. It's been experienced in the past that such annoying incidents are dealt with a lot of verbal missiles initially. Every Indian expects these verbal missiles to be converted into artillery missiles. However to everyone's dismay nothing substantial happens for a few weeks. The aggression is lost, the lava cools down and people forget all about it till a similar incident occurs again somewhere. People and the government seem to have a very short-lived memory. Probably we need to paste the articles of such incidents on our bedroom walls. So at least once every morning, we would be reminded of the sufferings of people, due to these animalistic terrorist activities. .

We have tons of faith in the Indian government. Surely some non-verbal action will be taken against the terrorism before Akshardham matter cools down. I need not remind the firm leadership of Sardar Vallabhai Patel. But expect our leaders to rethink about his heroic deeds and act accordingly.

Finally let me salute all the security guards including the police, CRPF, NSG for their successful operation in flushing out the militants from one of our most holy places Akshardham.
Parag Mehta

Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 11:55:22 +0200
Subject: NATO enough

Enough of delivering speeches without any outcome. One needs will to do something. Complicated issues also happen to have solutions. But I donot see will as well as power to solve the issue with the govt. I may be harsh in my language but 'am disillussioned with NATO (No Action Talk Only).
Jitendra

Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 08:15:45 EDT
Subject: Make the point

The deputy prime minister's reference that the attack on the temple in Gujarat was an attack on democracy is correct. It is also an attack on freedom, and on the Hindu way of life. The deputy prime minister should make this point evident to all in the international community who hold the standards of human rights and dignity above conquest and coercion as preferred means of self-expression. With best wishes for your continued success in keeping alive the flame of freedom in India and for all.
Joya Ganguly

Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 17:17:48 +0530
Subject: Donations, anyone?

ur report/coverage is good but i am concerned with the accident that had happened....cant we people together do anything abt. it ? a big Question mark. I want to donate some money but I want the donation to be used only and only to stop terrorists and their activities..I will be grateful to u if u can tell me where should I donate for this purpose only....
Raj

Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 13:30:24 +0530
Subject: Deal with it

Tell the US not to shed crocodile tear on India's innocence. Pakistan is there own baby, which the whole world know. If the Indian Govt. is not capable to stop these kinds of killing of innocents, let the Indian citizens to deal with it.
Rajmohan Nair

Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 00:58:53 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Let truth prevail

This is really disgusting deed by terrorists operating from pakistani soil and pakistani based terrorist lashkar-e-taiba. i beg to the god that terrorist never succeed in thier mission. Truth will always win.
Girish Kulkarni

Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 13:23:03 +0530
Subject: Still waiting

Why do we always have to wait for a tragedy before taking security measures at sensitive places? Because we simply do not care for human lives of the common man. It is well known that some temples are more than soft targets. Why do we wait?
RJ Vyas

Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 13:18:25 +0530
Subject: I agree

I am in total agreement with the Shiv Sena Chief. The present government (or shall we say the non-government) led by the great poet, Mr. Vajpayee has failed to provide security to the people at large. In fact they are not bothered about the common people. They revel in getting the sadistic pleasure of security of 50 commandos while the poor people of this country get no security. This government is an utter failure where the ministers are busy politcking and common people are allowed to fall prey to the terrorists. But Vajpayee seems to be enjoying this situation as there is more than ample security for him ans his ilk. With the kind of politicians we have even god cannot help us. I think god does not like us and hence we get such so called leaders.
RJ Vyas

Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 13:09:51 +0530
Subject: Falling short

I am afraid the international reactions on the temple attack in gujarat fall short of expectations because none of three countries quoted seem concerned about who the terrorists were and their possible trainers, financiers, aiders or abettors. nor do they resolve to help India deal with this menace. if they think that terrorism assumes significnace only when it hits them, they are mistaken. it is only a question of time before it will targets them as well. it is also significant that there has been a similar attack on a Christian charity in karachi on wednesday. this may provide the pakistani govt. with an alibi that their country is as much a target of islamic terrorists as india. what can not be ruled out is the possibility that pakistani intelligence agency itself could be stage-managing such attacks. the purpose could be dual. one, to deflect attention from its complicity in terrorist activities in india and two, to target christians inside pakistan in order to make it an exclusive islamic state. it should be remembered that parvez musharraf, who was forced into supporting the coalition against terror is wily enough to sabotage the same war he swears to fight.
J.M.Manchanda

Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 00:31:57 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: It's the policy

What so ever we are bearing in India these days is the final outcome of appeasement policy of power hungry commando guarded indian politicians.
Jagjeet Sharma

Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 00:13:23 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Bravo!

It is commendable the way the commandos swung into action to protect civilians. Religious sentiments apart, the action taken by the NSG commandoes is the best way to protect our country against these type of terrorist attacks. To the families of the lost commandos Subedar Suresh and Arjun Singh, a message from all Indians all around the world: We hold your kin in the highest of esteem and regard. Bravo Indian Commandos.
Sita Bhatt

Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 12:05:25 +0530
Subject: Ban the bandh

A nationwide bandh is only detrimental to our country's interests. Instead it should be the endeavor of the government to put forth a strong and decisive response to the continued attacks on our democracy. I also think that this is not about making a unilateral call by VHP or joint call by Hindutva forces. I think our leaders have to put our national interests first and by making such statements that have communal undertones, we are falling prey to our enemy's intentions. It is time for India to rise as one nation and put forth a strong response and it would be appropriate for leaders of all political parties to come together along with leaders of all religions and state in one unison, "saare jahan se accha...". I guess time for talking and being tolerant is over and like many other nations in the globe who would call this a "War" and treat it like one, India should react very strongly, decisively and conclusively. Jai Hind
Sunder

Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 12:59:47 +0530
Subject: Losers all

Well we are wasting time on this type of bandh that will cause only loss to our nation but in these time we should stand united and fight out our country communal integrity.
Sachin Abraham

Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 12:01:02 +0530
Subject: Tax me

The indian citizens need to know from the politicians as to how many attacks we can tolerate from Pak . the world community has turned a blind eye towards us and have virtually done nothing to stop terrorism . If US can destroy afghanistan to find one man without caring for the world community and afghan civilians , why cant we destroy training camps in pak . Indian is already paying the price of its long silence .. I hope the politicians can hear the cries and woes of the comman man and not turn a deaf ear and a blind eye towards them . Our soldiers are ready to sacrifice their lives and the people are ready to pay taxes to cover up the expenses... It is high time we took some action.
Gurbir Arora

Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 11:36:27 +0530
Subject: Too sedate

What surprises me is that our commandos could not sedate the terrorists with sedative bullets. This could have given more information about their future plans.
M V S Murthy

Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 11:33:33 +0530
Subject: Uniform appeal

We can't blame just for a mere uniform for all these killings. Thi is true that people coming with police or army uniform has easy access to all the places..but is it not true that these people have identity cards also..but these can be fake also..true.. so what is to be done... Police or army can't stop these killings as one can't place a huge security forces at every installation. Reality is that there is no political will to stop these things. We are a society where we are becoming gandhian & let the ordinary people die at mercy of these politicans. Why Israel is not afraid of anybody? why we are afraid? why we always look to US to do what we want ? If one israeli is killed..they kill ten people. why not we? Why we are still waiting & what for? why not destroy all terrorist camps where they are? We have wasted so many thousand of crores of rupees for comabting terrorism. Why not waste a few more thousand & finish pakistan. Atleast after that we can live in peace. Please our politican should now forget their diffreneces & ideologies & do something.
Subodh

Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 11:11:14 +0530
Subject: Dish it out

In recent days Pakistan sponsored terrorism are on the hike in the nation. We ,the people of India should unite together to fight out this barbarian efforts of our neighbour.India is like a complete nation with all flavours mixed in a single dish.We should not allow anybody to interfere in our country matters.At the same time we should not call for any sort of Bandhs.This will also destabilise the nation in another way.So conducting Bandh also should treated as a national de-stabilisation of our beloved Nation. So let the political parties think alike in this direction.
Roy

Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 01:24:13 -0400
Subject: Tell the world

this is the worst incident happen in our country and innocent people are dyeing, my doubt is what inteligence persons r doing, how the terriost have entered the temple with arms, who is giving the support, security must be tight in the country and see that this incident will not be repeated, put more pressure on pakistan for giving support to terriost, flights must be banned from pak,no indian space must be used by pak flights, we must tell the world what pak is doing.....
Bhaskar

Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 10:52:29 +0530
Subject: Uniform again

This is true that army uniforms must not be allowed to be sold publicly. pl take up this matter with appropriate authorities in govt and military.
MGT Patil

Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 01:10:27 -0400
Subject: Us Indians

Can Indians shoot?? I thought they can only Fast, drink Nimbu Pani, go to the room and pick up Kamasoootra and Masturbate! I am Shocked, just like PM!! He is in Maladives and Shocking, I am in California and Shockin! Same thing!
Manu Nair

Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 10:24:13 +0530
Subject: Analyse this

its most condemnable act. those responsible must be duly punished gujarat govt must take deeply analyse the incedents and should try to take all measures that such incedents are not repeated. govt must take proper steps that vested interests do not misuse our immature minds for such heinous crimes of killing inocent persons in a mandir.
Aftab Alam

Date: Tue, 24 Sep 2002 23:42:43 -0500
Subject: A volunteer

An attack in temple during prayers is the horrible and most terryfying thing. India must not be quiet this time, find the terrorists and supporters and bring them to justice. Vajpayeeji must take all kinds of action required to bring the terrorists to justice. I would like volunteer to do any kind of task to hunt down the terrorists. Vande Matharam
Rajesh

Date: Tue, 24 Sep 2002 21:33:06 -0700
Subject: Laughing matter

So, controlling the sale of army uniform is going to expose the face of terrorists and terrorism? Given the fact that in this country no kind of commodity control has ever worked, and that includes rationing of food, liquor, import/export duties, all kinds of taxes, etc., I can't help but laugh at your suggestion of ceontrolling the sale of army uniforms to reduce terrorist attacks. BTW, is Pakistani army uniform radically different from Indian one? And while we are at it, can you tell me if our knowledgeable security personnel can tell them apart?
Kaarigar

Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 09:59:21 +0530
Subject: Who cares?

It is horrifying to think of a person who went to a temple to get peace of mind to face with real terror and death. It is due to our politicians who do not care for the people but care only for their selfish interest and prepare fertile grounds for the terrorists in gujarat.
Jayanti P.Macwan

Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 09:56:55 +0530
Subject: The enemy within

Human life in India is being taken for a ride. This sort of inhuman activities are to be banned once for all. No matter which community the terrorist belongs, the reason is the terrorism rather than the religion or community. Mostly politicians, police and administration are concentrating on the after attack consoling, rectification, investigation etc. etc. All politicians condemn the attack after the incident , how many could sacrifice to stop this type of attacks. Enemy is with in India not from out side the border. If we cannot make our own house safe , where is the point of having military in the border. Suggested remedial measurers. 1. Make it clear to the citizens of India, that any body found with UN licensed ammunition is punishable with death sentence. 2. Spread military across the country and check the all the passers by for guns, bombs, ammunition etc and punish them in public. 3. Any organization, party or individual supporting the terrorist should also be dealt with the same rule. 4. Stop speaking against terrorism and start acting it.
BNP Gupta

Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 09:47:29 +0530
Subject: The next time...

He is right , we are a soft state ,everytime we are hit our people echo, that they will not accept this next time and then wait for the next time to happen.
Manoj Asthana

Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 09:24:50 +0530
Subject: Faulty intelligence

Akshardham is the only place in Gujarat, where the people of all community visited. This is very bad for Gujarat as well as for country where any place of worship was targeted. As far as my view is concerned State Govt. and Intelligence Buearu is failed for happend. Gujarat is the only state in the country where the people belived in peace. Let us pray to God for not repeating the same thing in the conutry.
SN Vyas

Date: Tue, 24 Sep 2002 20:49:55 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: He must be joking

I have been an ardent reader of rediff for the past 2 years and I am sorry to say this article makes me laugh. Is the author joking ? When people have the sophitication to fight with NSG commandos for hours how can you stop somebody from using army uniforms. What a joke !!!. Please refrain from writing such articles it ruins your reputation. Also tell me if one wears a kaki or miltary color uniform, people think they are from army. No beaurocracy can do anything. We have a population of 100 crorer and its highly impossible to monitor such things. Parlimenty was attacked and there was a lapse in security. How can check people at a temple, c'mon give us a break. please suggest some better measures to tackle these problems. Please for heaven's sake look at the root of the problem rather suggesting such foolish measures.
Deepak

Date: Tue, 24 Sep 2002 23:47:35 -0400
Subject: Ban the media

What all Mr.Anil has said is perfectly one of the things that our goverment should bring into. There are also certain other things which need to be enforced which may not be apt to this particular situation but I still wish to put few of my thoughts into here. Firstly, there should be a ban of all forms of media in any place of incidents happen, for example Temple Attack. Star News was telecasting this Live which should not be the case, any terrorist can look into this and can study as to how our Commandos perform in such a situation. Even though democracy does come into picture and these rights should not be forbidden but in such dire situations such laws has to be enforced. And, no interviews of common public or ministers should be aired. Secondly, during Nagappa kidnapping it was all over the media as to what the Goverment is doing step by step this should again be banned. Understood that people will question as to what the Goverment is doing in a democratic country like ours but again this only helps the enemies of state! What I feel strongly is media should be banned whenever an emergency situation arises and no news should be let out till the end of the mission. Anyway, kudos to our commandos for completing the mission.
Kris

Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 09:17:21 +0530
Subject: Make them understand

The nation was shocked and it shook the confidence of one and all cutting across all barriers. A civilised society can not tolerate such deliberately planned crimes. I wish that those who are misguiding and producing fanatics are taught a lesson in the language they understand.
Aftab

Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 09:06:20 +0530
Subject: A certain difference

I think it would be rather correct to call the miscreants in the temple as "Terrorists" than "Militants". There is a certain difference between "Terrorism" and "Militancy". Hope the changes would be made.
Manohar

Date: Tue, 24 Sep 2002 23:48:46 -0300
Subject: Blame game

I think BJP has no right to say such thing , always blaming Pakistan for every thing that happens in the county.God help the people of India and Pakistan to have such parties.
Naila

Date: 25 Sep 2002 01:33:04 -0000
Subject: What nonsense

I live in Canada and by heart I am still a "pukka" Hindustani. But honestly things like this makes me feel ashamed that how can we be so gutless people. Innocent civilians fight between themselves when these b*****d politicians instigate them. Why cant we end this terrorism once for all by fighting these bloody terrorists on the border and stop this nonsense of so called "diplomatic pressure" and making diplomatic statements like the one made by our gutless PM and his dpty. Can we for Gods sake see some action now. Comon wake up Indians the British have gone atleast have some self respect now. Fight for your own sake guys.
Vasant V Bhat

Date: Tue, 24 Sep 2002 20:31:23 EDT
Subject: Saddest day

Today has been my second saddest day .First was 9-11 last year and again today when folks were attacked at one of the Holyest Shrines on this God's green earth.I hope this particular event unites Hindus,Muslims, Christians and everyone to uproot terrorism from the face of our Mother India.I thank you for a teriffic job rediff is doing in bringing timely News every time.Keep it up!
Chinu Jani

Date: Tue, 24 Sep 2002 19:23:21 -0500
Subject: A Challenge

The catastrophe has struck again, in the form of attack on Swaminarayan temple. Not going into the religious/political reasons behind the incident, I feel that this incident needs to be condemned. No justification will justify the incident.

Does the Gujarat as community that has been in forefront of independence movement, multiculturalism and entrepreneurship has anything to offer at this point of time? Gujarat over the past decade has been through the phases of disease outbreak, earthquake and communal riots. This didn't do any good and in fact affected the community so much that it may take more than a decade to rebuild it.

A challenge is thrown to all Gujaratis and Indians. Can we keep our calm and not react to these incidents? There is no second opinion about the gravity of the situation. But reaction will result in cause for another reaction and further damage the peace efforts. Didn't we live in peace for decades during our freedom struggle? Are we not in a position to understand that these incidents are being initiated by narrow-minded religious and political figures of both communities? Can't we be rational and read their designs? These are the challenges and we should face and address them rationally.
For once, we have to forget as to which religion we belong to. This will help in understanding the pain the victim of our anger has to suffer, as an individual, who could be either Hindu or Muslim. Lets rely on us more than on any political and religious leaders and use our judgment to react to the situation. This way we can keep those narrow minded people at bay. Lets not look at Saleem Mohammad as Muslim and Ram Gupta as Hindu, but as any other individual like you and me. A plant needs to be watered daily for many days before it actually bears the fruit. But a small drop of poison can take the plant's life in a day. Peace efforts take time to realize the goals. Lets not pay attention to the poison injected by the narrow-minded persons, whose primary aim is to destroy the unique identity of the India society.
Are the above suggestions foolproof? Definitely not. But we have to prove to the world that we are not timid and narrow-minded. We are determined to and can face these challenges. There is always good and evil. It is just a prayer from bottom of my heart that the above, if followed, should work and prevent the evil repercussions that usually follow such incidents (As I write this article, I read a report on an aftermath attack in Surat). My final prayer:
Lead me from Falsity to Truth
Lead me from Darkness to Light
Lead me from Death to Life
Lead me to a world where peace prevails forever.
Thirumalesh Aedunuthula

Date: Tue, 24 Sep 2002 19:35:07 EDT
Subject: Cut it out

Let Prez Abdul Kalam , PM Vajpayee , Sonia Gandhi , Mulayam , Somnath Chaterjee and all leaders cutting across party lines dash to Gandhinagar and hold a peace rally tomorrow to halt the communal flareup instead of just issuing "condemn" notes sitting in Delhi or else they will start taking political advantage of the situation.
Variaveedu

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