Guardian Unlimited
Diwali celebrations defy Delhi bombers
Staff and agencies Tuesday November 1, 2005
The sound of firecrackers greeted the dawn in Delhi today as the city began the Hindu festival of Diwali in the wake of bomb attacks at the weekend that killed 59 people.
Defiant shopkeepers decorated their stalls with glowing lights and shiny tinsel to mark the festival of lights - representing the triumph of good over evil - but security was tight as investigators continued their hunt for the bombers.
Police sifted through millions of mobile telephone call records, trying to uncover who had carried out the attacks, and checkpoints were set up around the city.
Article continues Anguished and weary relatives continued to look for loved ones among rows of bodies charred in the deadliest terrorist attack on the Indian capital.
The atmosphere was sombre. Sonia Gandhi, the head of India's ruling alliance, and the prime minister, Manmohan Singh, both cancelled celebrations.
Randeep Ramesh, Guardian correspondent in New Delhi, reported that the streets were much quieter than in previous years.
India remains on high alert. More than 2,500 police were drafted in to bolster the city's 70,000-strong force ahead of the holiday season, which begins with Diwali and ends with the Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr on Friday or Saturday, depending on the sighting of the moon.
Apart from the fear of more attacks, there are concerns the bombings, at such a sensitive religious time, could trigger communal violence.
In Mumbai, India's financial and entertainment capital, Reuters reported offices and houses illuminated and decorated with sweet-smelling garlands and traditional clay lamps. "The Delhi blasts have slightly dampened the spirits and people are scared of going into crowded areas," resident Rajesh Didwania told the news agency. "But one has to get on with life."
Three blasts, all within an hour, ripped through a bus and two crowded markets on Saturday in an attack claimed by a group called Islami Inqilabi Mahaz (Islamic Revolutionary Group).
Analysts said it had ties with or was a front for the Pakistan-based Lashkar-i-Taiba, an Islamic group fighting Indian rule in Kashmir. India blamed Lashkar for an attack on the country's parliament in December 2001 which left 15 dead, including five attackers.
India prepared for war after the 2001 attacks but relations between the two neighbours are now much improved. General Pervez Musharraf, the Pakistani president, yesterday condemned the bombings as a "dastardly terrorist attack" and said his country would cooperate in any investigation.
However, a spokesman for Mr Singh said the prime minister had told Mr Musharraf by telephone that he "continued to be disturbed and dismayed at indications of external linkages of terrorist groups with the October 29 bombing".
Two banned Pakistani militant groups today denied Mr Singh's claims that Pakistani-based insurgents had been behind the blasts. Spokesmen for Jaish-i-Mohammed and Jamiat-ul-Ansar both insisted that India-based militants had carried out the attacks.