Deadly attacks in India and Pakistan reignite cross-border suspicions
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NEW DELHI – Two deadly blasts in less than 24 hours in the capitals of India and Pakistan are stoking fears of yet another escalation in tensions between the feuding South Asian neighbours, just months after their previous stand-off over Kashmir had spiralled into a military conflict.
A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a busy court building in Islamabad on Nov 11, killing at least 12 and wounding dozens more, even as the Indian authorities were investigating the previous day’s car blast near the historic Red Fort
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari blamed India for supporting the latest attack in Islamabad by its alleged proxies from Afghanistan, without offering any evidence. The Pakistan Taliban subsequently claimed responsibility for the attacks. It is not immediately clear if these claims were related.
“It is already raising the temperature,” said Mr Ajai Sahni, executive director of the Institute for Conflict Management in New Delhi.
“The Prime Minister of Pakistan has declared this has been done by India. I don’t know whether this will escalate or whether either side has the stomach for direct confrontation after Pahalgam,” he added.
The Pahalgam terror attack on India’s side of Kashmir in April left 26 dead. Islamabad, blamed by India for the attack, which triggered a four-day military clash, denied it was responsible.
India has frequently accused Pakistan of supporting terror activities against it over the disputed region of Kashmir, which is claimed in full by both countries.
The last major terror attack in Delhi took place in 2011 when a briefcase bomb detonated outside the Delhi High Court, killing 15 people and injuring more than 60. The attack was linked to terror outfits Indian Mujahideen and Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami, a Pakistan-based terror group.
So far, Indian police have not attributed the Red Fort blast to any group but are investigating the incident under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, a law commonly used in investigating terror cases.
On Nov 11, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed that those behind the Nov 10 car blast near the historic Red Fort “will not be spared”.
“I assure everyone that the agencies will get to the bottom of the entire conspiracy... All those responsible will be brought to justice,” said Mr Modi, who is currently on a two-day trip to neighbouring Bhutan.
After chairing meetings with senior officials on the Delhi blast, India’s Home Minister Amit Shah echoed the Prime Minister’s remarks.
“Instructed them (senior officials) to hunt down each and every culprit behind this incident. Everyone involved in this act will face the full wrath of our agencies,” he tweeted.
The explosion, the first major incident in Delhi since 2011, occurred in one of the city’s most densely populated areas,
Preliminary police findings indicate the blast came from a vehicle that had stopped at a red light close to the gate of a metro station near the Red Fort, a popular tourist site famed for its street food, Mughal-era structures and shopping.
It triggered heightened security measures across the capital and other major cities, as police collected evidence to trace the chain of events leading up to the blast, which shattered the peace in the Red Fort area.
Even as the authorities remained on high alert, the eastern Indian state of Bihar proceeded with its second round of state elections on Nov 11.
Police said they busted an inter-state terror cell near Delhi on Nov 10, arresting seven and seizing large amounts of explosive materials and electronic devices. This was before the blast in the Red Fort area, and no link has been mentioned so far.
A day after the explosion, a few foreign tourists were spotted visiting the fort, braving road cordons and heavy police presence.
A few hundred metres from the blast site, at Chandni Chowk, curious onlookers pressed against barricades for a glimpse of the site, which was shrouded in white tarpaulin.
By early afternoon, shops at Chandni Chowk – one of the oldest markets in Old Delhi, selling everything from spices and electronics items to affordable wedding finery and jewellery – had started reopening.
Locals usually throng the eateries in Old Delhi, which includes a lane dedicated to restaurants serving all types of paratha, jalebi, a popular Indian sweet, and various non-vegetarian fare.
But there were few customers the day after the blasts.
Mr Sanjay Bhargava, president of the Chandni Chowk traders association, said he was in his shop selling air-conditioners when the swinging window doors of his shop swung open and close a number of times due to the impact of the blast.
“If the incident had happened on Saturday or Sunday, there would have been a severe stampede in Chandni Chowk,” he said, estimating that the number of people at the market on Nov 10 was a fifth of the weekend crowds.
Mr Manish Barwal, 39, said he was inside the Shri Digambar Jain Lal temple directly across from the Red Fort when the blast happened.
“I didn’t understand what was going on. Body parts flew onto the terrace of the temple,” he told The Straits Times.
“It was time for people to go home, so there was a lot of rush, and there were so many people at the time. I have never seen anything like this. I am scared, hearing on the news that chemicals and explosives have been seized.”
For those injured in the blasts and the family of those killed, it is a long road to recovery.
Mr Nauman Ansari, 18, Indian media reported, had come from neighbouring Uttar Pradesh state to buy cosmetics for his small shop. He was killed in the blast.
His uncle Furkan told ANI News, a news agency: “He went to Delhi to buy goods for his shop and never returned… We want strict action against those responsible for this.”
Mr Sahni of the Institute for Conflict Management noted: “If this is confirmed and considered to be a terrorist attack, it remains to be seen if this is part of a larger conspiracy or whether this is a one-off.
“The threat of terrorism hangs over the entire world. In India, too, counter-terrorism efforts are ongoing, and this is one incident that slipped through the net.”
