[Reuters]

Published date: 15th February 1998

15 February 1998

The Washington Post

A30

Copyright 1998, The Washington Post Co. All Rights Reserved

The leader of India’s main opposition party said today he was the target of a series of car-bomb blasts that killed 32 people, wounded as many as 100 and triggered rioting and arson in the city of Coimbatore. The violence was the worst to date that has marred the campaign for national elections, to be held Feb. 16 through March 7. A curfew was imposed in the textile city in southern India’s Tamil Nadu state, and troops were sent in to quell rioting that broke out after the blasts. Authorities banned gatherings of more than five people, and police were ordered to shoot looters on sight. The 12 bombs went off around the time L.K. Advani, president of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was scheduled to speak at an election rally. Coimbatore is to vote in the second phase of the election on Feb. 22. “The first blast took place barely 200 feet from the stage. It is only because I reached Coimbatore late that 1 was not present at the spot,” Advani said in a statement. “Had the meeting started at the scheduled time, the consequences would have been unimaginable. “President K.R. Narayanan said the bombings clearly were meant to disrupt the election process. “Let the patrons and perpetrators of these malignant acts not underestimate the collective strength of our nation,” he said. Advani said, “In this hour of shock and grief, I reiterate the BJP’s commitment to create a riot-free and terrorism-free India. “The BJP, which went into India’s campaign a clear front-runner, has seen its strong lead in opinion polls eroded by its rival Congress party’s star campaigner, Sonia Gandhi. The BJP has sought to water down its perceived anti-Muslim bias by wooing the country’s biggest religious minority. “I especially asked my colleagues not to discriminate between Hindus and Muslims while organizing relief,” Advani said. The Press Trust of India said the Tamil Nadu government had banned two Muslim organizations, the Al-Umma and the Jihad Committee. “The situation is pretty bad. There is rioting and looting going on in some areas,” a police official who did not want to be identified said by telephone from Coimbatore. Eyewitnesses said at least six people died in the first blast in the city’s R.S. Puram district, where Advani was due to speak at about 3:45 p.m. Three nurses were killed in a second blast outside the Government Medical College hospital. More bombs exploded across the city, including at a bus terminal and a railroad station. Karuppanna Pillai, dean of the medical college, said that 22 bodies and 35 injured people had been brought to his hospital by 8:15 p.m. “The condition of 10 of the Injured is serious,” Pillai said. “They are suffering from multiple injuries and burns. We are trying our best, but the death toll may rise.” A transport company official in the city who asked not to be named said some shops were set on fire and several buses were damaged by stone-throwers.

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