NEW DELHI: The
Bodh Gaya terror attack could have been aimed to "settle scores" for
the targeting of Rohingya Muslims in Buddhist-majority Myanmar and the
involvement of Lashkar-e-Taiba and other radical Islamist groups cannot be
ruled out in "brainwashing" impressionable minds to carry out the
bombing, say experts.
Former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal feels the Myanmar link to Sunday's serial
bombings, in which two monks were injured, is "quite plausible",
while former ambassador G. Parthasarathy feels that "circumstantial
evidence" would seem to link the terror attack to the targeting of
Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.
According to Sibal, the Rohingya Muslims were being persecuted and killed in
the restive Rakhine province of Myanmar and "therefore some extremist
elements would want to settle scores".
He also feels that the targetting of Bodh Gaya temple complex, a World Heritage
site where the Buddha is believed to have attained enlightenment, is
reminiscent of the Taliban destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan.
Sibal also feels that reports of the LeT training the Rohingyas is
"entirely possible".
"Symbolically, Buddhist holy places or Buddhist heritage is considered a
target by extremist Muslim elements, therefore in the Indian subcontinent
context, I see a connection between the Bamiyan Buddhas and the attempts
here," Sibal told IANS.
Opposition BJP leader Sushma Swaraj had tweeted after the bombings that
"India is the land of Buddha. We will not allow a Bamiyan here."
The Taliban had dynamited the Bamiyan Buddhas, the 6th century monumental
statues of the Buddha hewn into the side of a cliff in Bamyan valley in central
Afghanistan, in 2001 triggering worldwide outrage.
Parthasarathy said there are elements "stirring up the Muslim
population" on the Rohingya issue.
Elaborating, the former envoy to Myanmar and Pakistan said that last year
"there was a strange protest in Mumbai, a large protest by groups of
Muslims who even vandalized a memorial to Indian soldiers defending the
country".
He was referring to the protests by hundreds of Muslims, belonging to several
Muslim organisations, in Azad Maidan last year in August against the Assam
riots and the attacks on Muslims in Myanmar.
"So, quite obviously there are people stirring up the Muslim population on
this issue," he said, and added that new groups in the subcontinent are
getting involved.
"In Bangladesh, there has been most recently a group called the
Hefazat-e-Islam which is calling for Shariat law, the blasphemy law and
declaration of Bangladesh as an Islamic emirate, and they received large support
in demonstrations in Kolkata strangely. The Hefazat have incidentally targeted
Buddhist and Hindu minorities in Bangladesh and attacked their shrines… So, you
see, there have been a series of developments in the neighbourhood."
On the links of the LeT to the blasts, Parthasarathy said that Let chief Hafiz
Saeed has been saying that India should stop backing Myanmar and that it is
India's backing that is encouraging Myanmar in the killings of Rohingyas..
"But he forgets conveniently that the strongest backing for Myanmar comes
from China historically."
"So, obviously there is a move to stir up the population here, and I would
not be surprised if some young impressionable people are taken in," he
added.
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