The threat to ISKCON temple in Vrindavan

12-11-2003, 08:15 PM

Only temples find place on NSG’s terror map

BHAVNA VIJ-AURORA

from latest Times of India Newsline.

NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 10: Are temples in the country more vulnerable to
terrorist attacks than mosques and churches? The government seems to think
so.

The National Security Guard, which has completed a survey of major temples
in the country, has concluded that nearly two dozen face a security threat
and need more protection. The NSG survey was undertaken on the directions of
Ministry of Home Affairs, following the terrorist attack on the Raghunath
temple in Jammu earlier this year.

The survey did not include mosques or churches. ‘‘There was no need to
include mosques or churches as there is no perceived threat to them,’’ a
senior official said.

Sources said the Intelligence Bureau carried out regular threat perception
surveys of various temples and other religious places. ‘‘The NSG was
specifically asked to conduct a detailed study of terrorist threat to
temples after a series of attacks, including the one on Akshardham in
Gandhinagar last year and two attacks on the Raghunath temple,” the official
said.

Moreover, he added, there have been no terrorist attack on a mosque or
church or any other religious place for that matter. ‘‘Security strategies
have to be formulated based on intelligence inputs and past experience,’’ he
said.

Minister of State for Home I.D. Swami told The Indian Express that most of
the vulnerable temples had been provided ‘‘ample security’’ which included
Central forces such as the CRPF and CISF, in addition to state police. He
denied religious considerations in gauging threat perception.

The temples under the vulnerable category include the Shankaracharya temple
in Srinagar, Kamakhya in Assam, Jagannath in Puri (Orissa), Vaishno Devi in
Jammu, Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh, Dilwara (Jain) in Mount Abu, Bodh Gaya in
Bihar, Somnath in Gujarat, Dwarkadhish Krishna and Iskcon temple in
Vrindavan and Hanuman and Birla Mandir in Delhi. It mentions also threats to
the Golden Temple in Amritsar.