The threat to ISKCON temple in Vrindavan

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Only temples find place on NSG’s terror map

 

 

 

BHAVNA VIJ-AURORA

 

from latest Times of India Newsline.

 

 

 

NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 10: Are temples in the country more vulnerable to

terrorist attacks than mosques and churches? The government seems to think

so.

 

The National Security Guard, which has completed a survey of major temples

in the country, has concluded that nearly two dozen face a security threat

and need more protection. The NSG survey was undertaken on the directions of

Ministry of Home Affairs, following the terrorist attack on the Raghunath

temple in Jammu earlier this year.

 

The survey did not include mosques or churches. ‘‘There was no need to

include mosques or churches as there is no perceived threat to them,’’ a

senior official said.

 

Sources said the Intelligence Bureau carried out regular threat perception

surveys of various temples and other religious places. ‘‘The NSG was

specifically asked to conduct a detailed study of terrorist threat to

temples after a series of attacks, including the one on Akshardham in

Gandhinagar last year and two attacks on the Raghunath temple,” the official

said.

 

Moreover, he added, there have been no terrorist attack on a mosque or

church or any other religious place for that matter. ‘‘Security strategies

have to be formulated based on intelligence inputs and past experience,’’ he

said.

 

Minister of State for Home I.D. Swami told The Indian Express that most of

the vulnerable temples had been provided ‘‘ample security’’ which included

Central forces such as the CRPF and CISF, in addition to state police. He

denied religious considerations in gauging threat perception.

 

The temples under the vulnerable category include the Shankaracharya temple

in Srinagar, Kamakhya in Assam, Jagannath in Puri (Orissa), Vaishno Devi in

Jammu, Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh, Dilwara (Jain) in Mount Abu, Bodh Gaya in

Bihar, Somnath in Gujarat, Dwarkadhish Krishna and Iskcon temple in

Vrindavan and Hanuman and Birla Mandir in Delhi. It mentions also threats to

the Golden Temple in Amritsar.