September 29, 2002	Sunday	Rajab 21, 1423

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NEW DELHI, Sept 28: India, after promptly suggesting that Pakistan was somehow involved in the recent massacre of Hindu worshippers in Gujarat, pointed the finger on Saturday at the Lashkar-i-Taiba, apparently easing the pressure on Islamabad since the group was banned by President Pervez Musharraf in January, news reports and diplomats said.

“For the first time after the Gandhinagar temple attack, the government on Saturday publicly named a Pakistan-based terrorist group as being behind the attack,” Star News reported from Lucknow, quoting Deputy Prime Minister L. K. Advani.

Speaking to reporters in Lucknow, he said: “You can make out from people’s actions. Here the signature is clearly of the Lashkar-i-Taiba. They attacked with grenades, AK-47 and had dry fruits with them. This means they had planned to stay inside the temple for a while.”

Although Advani did not miss the opportunity to target Islamabad, he was quoted as saying that “already there is a war going on and Pakistan is using terrorism as a weapon. We have to now think of what kind of a response we should give.”

Diplomats said by laying the blame on LET, not in favour in Islamabad’s official circles since President Musharraf’s January 12 speech, Advani had left the door open for rowing back from India’s initial reaction that included remarks by at least one minister who spoke of war with Pakistan as a possibility not ruled out.

“The entire India-Pakistan range of issues is under a global watch. There is no point indulging in a blame game on matters that could backfire,” said one diplomat on condition of anonymity. “No one wants to put their credibility at stake although posturing is part of the accepted norm.”

Apparently responding to President Musharraf’s remarks that the Tuesday attack on the Swaminarayan temple was rooted in the recent anti-Muslim pogroms in Gujarat, Advani said: “Commitment to both secularism and social harmony in our society — we have a proud record of this, barring the sad episode of Gujarat. But this I assure you is an aberration.”

“What happened a few days back and the Gujarat Government’s ability to see that there is no reaction to the terrorist attack on the Swaminarayan temple in Gandhinagar, only shows that we are determined to prove that the happenings of February-March earlier this year were an aberration,” Advani was quoted as emphasizing.

“The intention of the two terrorists who attacked the Akshardham temple was not merely to kill devotees but to destroy the marvellous monument and provoke disturbances.”