Intellectuals, religious leaders condemn blasts

INTELLECTUALS AND religious leaders of Varanasi have strongly condemned the incident of powerful blast of Tuesday which rocked the entire city and claimed several lives last night.

INTELLECTUALS AND religious leaders of Varanasi have strongly condemned the incident of powerful blast of Tuesday which rocked the entire city and claimed several lives last night.

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The eminent personalities of Varanasi were of the view that the blasts were an attempt of some anti-social elements to disturb the communal harmony of this city and have urged the city dwellers to maintain peace and harmony to avoid any further crisis.

Chief priest of Kashi Sumeru Peeth, Shankaracharya Swami Narendranand Saraswati, criticised the incident in strong words and said that this attack is being made to disturb the communal atmosphere of the city. “It’s an attack on the faith of 85 crore Sanatan Dharamavlambi of the country,” he said.

Swami Narendrananand alleged that this blast is a failure of the State government and district administration as the authorities of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) had already informed the Union Home Ministry about the possible attack in Kashi some time back.

“I talked to Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil who told me that the Union Home Ministry had informed the Uttar Pradesh Government that some anti-social elements could spread terror between Shivratri and Holi in Varanasi but the state government paid no attention towards the warning,” claimed Swami Narendrananand.

Mufti-e-Shehar, Maulana Abdul Batin Nomani also criticised the incident in strongest possible words and made an appeal to members of both the communities not to take law in their hands.