A bomb exploded during an Inde-pendence Day parade in India's remote northeast yesterday, killing at least 15 people, mostly children, just an hour after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pledged to fight terrorism.
Meanwhile, 17 people -- again mostly children -- were injured in a rocket attack during a celebration at a school in Jammu-Kashmir state.
In northeastern Assam state, 15 people were killed in the blast at the local college grounds in Dhemaji, a town in northeastern Assam state where they had gathered to watch the parade, lawmaker Dilip Saikia said.
Khagen Sharma, the inspector general of police in Assam, blamed the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom for the attack in Dhemaji, about 1,625km northeast of New Delhi.
An hour before the blast, another explosion took place minutes before a parade started in the nearby town of Dhakuakhana, but Sharma said there were no casualties. He also blamed the attack on suspected separatist militants from ULFA, which has been fighting for a sovereign Assam since 1979.
In New Delhi earlier in the morning, Singh said his government would take a tough stand on terrorism.
"We will fight terrorism forcefully. Let there be no doubt about it. But if a group is ready to give up arms and talk to us, we are ready," Singh said from the Red Fort, a tradition followed by each prime minister since India gained independence from British colonial rule on Aug. 15, 1947.
Singh said cross-border terrorism is hindering the India-Pakistan peace process, but promised to continue efforts to end five decades of hostility between the two.
"It is our intention to carry forward with firm resolve and sincerity the composite dialogue process with Pakistan," Singh said in his speech broadcast live to the nation.
"This job is made more difficult by cross-border terrorism and bloodshed," he said.
The separatists have been fighting in Jammu-Kashmir state to break away from India and join Pakistan. More than 65,000 people have been killed in the conflict since 1989.
In yesterday rocket attack in Jammu-Kashmir, children had gathered to watch an Independence Day ceremony organized by the Indian army at a school in Dangiwachi village.
The 17 people wounded included two soldiers, police officer Riaz Ahmad said.
It wasn't clear who carried out the attack.
An umbrella group of separatist organizations, the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, called for a general protest strike in Kashmir yesterday, as they do each Independence Day, to express their rejection of Indian sovereignty.
Helicopters patrolled the skies while nearly 65,000 police and paramilitary troops were deployed on the ground to prevent a terrorist attack in the capital. Police blocked streets throughout central New Delhi and the airspace over the city was closed to aircraft for five hours. The premises of the Red Fort were covered in flowers and piles of sandbags.
RSS