September 25, 2002	Wednesday	Rajab 17, 1423

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ISLAMABAD, Sept 24: Pakistan condemned the attack on an Indian Hindu temple in Gujarat on Tuesday, and denied any role in the violence.

Information Minister Nisar A. Memon said the attack reflected the failure of Hindu nationalist leaders in India to build a tolerant society in the troubled state of Gujarat, where violence between Hindus and Muslims had flared this year.

“We condemn the attack on an Indian temple by whoever has done it,” he told Reuters. “This is the kind of society that the leadership of the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) has built in Gujarat.”

The BJP said the attack, which killed more than 30, was aimed at stoking communal tension and could have been carried out by the “Pakistan-supported terrorists”, frustrated by the success of elections in the disputed Kashmir.

“I think, the leadership of the BJP has developed Pakistan-phobia,” Mr Memon said. “Anything that goes wrong in their country, they blame Pakistan.”

He also rejected India’s claim that the elections in Jammu and Kashmir had been a success, and pointed to the low turnout in Srinagar on Tuesday.—Reuters