Neighbouring country responsible for Hyderabad blasts: Advani

Mumbai, 23 Feb 2013 (IANS): Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani Saturday indirectly charged Pakistan of involvement in the Hyderabad blasts, saying the "neighbouring country" is solely responsible.

 

Advani said that the Hyderabad blasts should not be viewed as an isolated incident and that they are a part of a string of militant attacks on India planned by the neighbouring country.

 

Twin blasts in Hyderabad Thursday left 16 people dead and over 100 others injured.

 

Speaking on the sidelines of the golden jubilee celebrations of Swami Vivekananda College in eastern Mumbai at which he was invited as a chief guest, Advani, without naming Pakistan, maintained that the neighbouring country is the real hand behind terror groups like Indian Mujahideen.

 

"When the neighbouring country did not succeed in any of the wars, they decided they will not engage in a war with Indian soldiers. They decided they will harass India by means of proxy war. They have taken to terrorism by means of this proxy war," he told reporters here.

 

"The horrific incident in Hyderabad is a part of this very string of attacks. It is not a one off incident," he added.

 

Advani reiterated that he has no doubt that the the "neighbouring counrty" is involved Hyderabad blasts.

 

"If the neighbouring country things they can engage people of this country and have them work under the banner of Indian" Mujahideen, it cannot be absolved of its accountability," he said.

 

"When we (BJP) were in power, we had insisted that they close down the infrastructure that they have provided for terrorism and that nobody will trust them. That infrastructure is still thriving, even today," he said.

 

BJP president Rajnath Singh, who visited Hyderabad Friday, directly blamed Pakistan for the blasts and demanded India scale down Confidence-Building Measures (CBMs) with it.