Gorakhpur (AsiaNews) – Three small bombs exploded yesterday evening in the crowded commercial area of Gorakhpur, one of Uttar Pradesh’s busiest trading centres, wounding six people.  Police suspect a local criminal band of being behind the attacks. Rajesh Rai, chief of police, made known that when the first device went off at 7 in the evening the area was crowded with shoppers.  The second explosion followed after five minutes in Golghar market, the third at 7:10 in Ganesh Chauraha.

Police chief superintendent, Brij Mohan, speaking from Lucknow says “I have been told that they were rudimentary bombs made from bicycle parts.  There were not powerful enough to provoke serious harm.  The intent was probably to inseminate panic and to display a show of force to the police and local people”.

The event brings to mind a similar episode in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, last year in which three bombs caused the death of 20 people.  The district judge, P K Agarwal, said that the security levels have been raised in sensitive areas of the city and that in New Dehli the Union Minister has ordered the government in Uttar Pradesh to take all necessary measure to censure peace in Gorakhpur.

Lenin Raghuvanshi, Gwangju Prize for Human Rights 2007, spoke to AsiaNews.  “In my opinion the incident of serial bomb blast in Gorakhpur is nothing but the reaction of fascist forces which are trying to destabilise the newly form UP Government.  Mayawati- a Dalit  has been the successful to win the confidence of majority of the population of the state and form the Government-   As the people’s movement led by Dalit and others marginalized communities is getting strength and becoming more and more strong the fascist and other reactionary-castiest forces within the state creating more problems for the UP Government. As for as the involvement of Maoist is concern in this incident it is totally false propaganda of Aditya Nath Yogi who is a member of parliament of that area from BJP.  He was already upset because of the development in Nepal, in which the King of Nepal was thrown out of the power. After that the complete defeat of BJP in UP election was big blow for Yogi and his associates. In such a hopeless situation they are trying to create the communal politics for their own revival.”

Speaking to AsiaNews, Bishop of Gorakhpur, Dominic Kokkat said: “The Church condemns this violence in the Gorakhpur, it is tragic, that various elements are trying to destabilise peace and harmony in the state.  Since the beginning of this year, this place has been plagued by communal violence and the Catholic Church has been spearheading Peace and Dialogues initiatives in various residential areas of this Diocese.  We have set up neighbourhood where tolerance, harmony and dialogue are the core commitment. The primary task of the committee is to maintain cordial relations and broker peace. If rumours go around, they go around killing the rumours before the rumours can kill.  Our religious sisters are very active here. We are just a miniscule minority in this place, around 3,500 Catholic, but the Church is always at the service of people of all castes (a big consideration here) and faiths. Today there is a bandh. However, I will visit the victims in the hospitals to expresses the concern and solidarity of the Church in these sad and tragic events”.