Did
attacks on Muslims in Myanmar trigger Bodh Gaya blasts?
Are the serial blasts
in Bodh Gaya a reaction to the persecution of Muslim minorities in
Buddhist-majority Myanmar? Jihadists have been clamouring for
action for long. Even Delhi Police had clear intelligence on
it.
"The Indian government
is working in cahoots with Burmese government to wipe out Muslim
population of #Burma": Jama't ud Da'wah chief Hafiz Saeed, based in
Lahore, had tweeted on June 14.
There were five more
tweets by Saeed, whom India has accused of masterminding the 26/11
Mumbai terror attacks.
"The prevailing silence
of international community on the issue of #Burma is saddening to
say the least."
"It is also an
obligation on the whole Muslim ummah to defend the rights and honor
of #Rohingya Muslims in #Burma."
"It is a moral
responsibility on the newly elected government to take practical
measures for stopping this genocide of Muslims in #Burma."
"We will work for
consensus between all religious and political parties on #Burma
issue."
"Muslim rulers must
unite and raise their voice for the genocide of muslims in #Burma
at the security council."
Then on July 26,
according to report published in Paksiatni newspaper The Express
Tribune, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) threatened to "attack
Burmese interests" if the Pakistan did not cut off its diplomatic
relations with Myanmar.
The outfit also said it
"we will take revenge of your blood".
This came out in a
press release issued by Delhi Police's special cell on October 26
last year after the arrest of an IED trainer in the Pune blast
case.
"Sustained
interrogation of the accused arrested by us revealed that a person,
namely, Sayed Maqbool @ Zuber, S/o Syed Haji, R/o Samtam Nagar,
Near Madina Masjid, Dharmabad, Nanded, Maharashtra was in close
association with them and together they planned to commit fiyadeen
attacks on the Buddhist shrines in Bodh Gaya in Bihar as
retaliation to the alleged atrocities being committed upon Muslims
in Myanmar. Their plan had the approval and support of the Bhatkal
brothers. Sayed Maqbool was arrested after great deal of efforts on
23rd October 2012 from Hyderabad where he had been hiding to evade
his arrest.
Maqbool came in contact
with Imran through a common friend. The latter introduced Maqbool
to Asad and Irfan. Maqbool taught them how to make a bomb by
using urea, diesel and fire cracker powder at Asad's farmhouse in
Aurangabad. In April 2012, Imran introduced Maqbool to the Bhatkal
brothers. Before the Pune serial blasts of 1st August, Maqbool,
Irfan, Imran and Asad had discussed their plan of carrying out a
fidayeen attack on Buddhist shrines at Bodh Gaya, Bihar. Since
Bhatkals wanted to avenge the death of Qateel Siddiqui, they
decided to carry out bomb blasts at Pune first."
Despite police knowing
about it, the attacks did come, after nine months, a day after
Tibetan Buddhists celebrated the Dalai Lama's 78th
birthday.
At least 237 people
have been killed and about 150,000 people displaced in Myanmar in
clashes Buddhists and minority Muslims.
Most of the victims
were Muslim and the most deadly incidents happened in Rakhine
State, where about 800,000 Rohingya Muslims live, according to the
United Nations.
Muslims make up about 5
percent of the 60 million people in Buddhist-majority Myanmar.