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Vajpayee: We will take action
GANDHINAGAR, India (CNN) -- Calling for an end to religious violence, India's prime minister has promised to punish those behind a deadly militant raid on a Hindu temple that left at least 32 people dead. The terrorist attack, carried out by two suspected Islamic militants, and subsequent 12-hour siege ended early Wednesday after elite commandos stormed the temple complex in Gujarat's capital city Gandhinagar and shot dead the gunmen. At least 32 people were killed, as well as one National Security Guard commando, and more than 70 wounded in the siege -- the worst incidence of bloodshed in the western state since communal clashes between Muslims and Hindus earlier this year. Moving to dispel fears of a Hindu backlash, Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee urged restraint. "How long will this bloodbath and violence continue? This should stop now," Vajpayee told reporters after touring the grisly scene at the Swaminarayan Temple. "Before there were many violent attacks and then the revenge for that is taken somewhere else and this violence continues -- this will have to be stopped." "This is not about a party, it is about the country's unity and social security. Whatever has happened here, on the basis of that, we will try and go forward. Brotherhood must remain. This is about the country and the country's security," he said. Security bolstered
About 3,000 soldiers have been moved into Gandhinagar to try to keep the peace and prevent riots breaking out. Vajpayee praised the police and security officers involved in the incident and promised a 50,000 rupee payment to victim's families. Saying that intelligence agencies has already begun investigations, the Indian leader pledged to act against the attack's perpetrators. "Whatever I have seen, I will never be able to forget it. This is a temple, a sacred spot, no terrorist should be allowed here," Vajpayee said. "When the blood dries, the stains will remain and there will be a challenge to us, that we have to fight and defeat terrorism and we will take everyone's cooperation for this." There has been no immediate claim of responsibility for the terror attack. Pakistan blamedIndia has blamed nuclear neighbor Pakistan for the attack. Islamabad has condemned the raid and denied implications it was involved -- saying India is too quick to accuse its neighbor when things go wrong. India's Deputy Prime Minister Lal K. Advani told reporters on Wednesday the terror attack was carried out by India's "enemy" to "implement their designs." While not specifically mentioning Pakistan by name, Advani said the action was planned by a "neighbor interested in exploiting India's weak spots." Advani, who is also India's Home Minister, said he could not understand why gunmen would attack a place of worship.
"The only explanation is that they're failing in the battle in Jammu and Kashmir and so they wanted to create a situation here," he said. But a spokesman for Pakistan's Foreign Ministry, Aziz Ahmed Khan, told CNN such terrorist attacks do not promote any cause. "India has this habit of dragging Pakistan into things it is not at all involved in," Khan said. He said India should look to its own law and order problems, rather than instantly blame Pakistan when things go wrong. Earlier this year, Gujarat was racked by India's deadliest religious violence in more than a decade and there are already fears this latest action could further stoke tensions between Muslims and Hindus and spark fresh unrest. More than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed in the February riots. New clashes between Hindus and Muslims last weekend left four dead.
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