Diwali festival dimmer in wake of New Delhi violence

Indian potter Rajender sits at his roadside shop with a display of diyas (earthen lamps) in New Delhi yesterday on the day of the Hindu festival Diwali. The festival marks the homecoming of the Hindu god Lord Rama after killing the evil King Ravana, symbolizing the victory of good over evil and leading the people from darkness to light. PHOTO: AFP

A dispirited New Delhi prepared for the ordinarily joyous Hindu festival of lights yesterday, a day after India's prime minister said there were foreign links to the bombings at two of the capital's markets -- a veiled reference to Pakistan-based militants.

In the hours before the start of Diwali, markets normally crowded with families buying sweets and readying firecrackers for evening celebrations were largely empty, save for dejected shop owners and well-armed police.

"There is an ominous feeling around," said Arpita Chowdhary, a 28-year-old lawyer who was at New Delhi's retail hub, Connaught Place.

The bombs tore through two markets Saturday, killing 59 people and scaring many away from New Delhi's shopping districts during one of the busiest retail seasons of the year -- the period ahead of Diwali yesterday.

At the Bengali market, few people were around to buy Dinesh Gupta's chocolates, dried fruit and nuts, which he had laid on the pavement in front of his shop.

"There is an ominous feeling around."

Arpita Chowdhury, a 28-year-old New Delhi lawyer

"The bombs have made a huge difference. My sales are down by more than 50 to 60 percent," said the 46-year-old shopkeeper, glancing nervously at riot police patrolling nearby. "People are feeling very low. They don't want to celebrate Diwali they way they normally do."

During a phone call Monday, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reminded Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf of his country's promise to fight terrorism, said Sanjaya Baru, a spokesman for the Indian prime minister.

Musharraf had earlier in the day condemned terrorism and pledged full cooperation in the bombing investigation, which came three weeks after a mammoth quake that ripped through the Himalayan region, and helped draw India and Pakistan together.

He then called Singh to express his condolences, and the Indian leader told Musharraf that the investigation into Saturday's bombings indicated "external linkages of terrorist groups" with the attacks, Baru said.

But he refused to publicly single out Pakistan, even as Indian analysts and newspapers pointed the finger at Pakistani-based Islamic groups fighting to force India to give up its claim to divided Kashmir.

Investigators are tracking the scant leads that have emerged, officials and news reports said yesterday.

A shopkeeper who said he saw and overheard one of the bombers, and a bus passenger who argued with another alleged bomber, were being questioned by police, and sketches of the two suspects were being prepared, the Indian Express newspaper reported yesterday.

The shopkeeper heard the suspected bomber talk to a rickshaw driver who was taking him to the traffic-choked Paharganj market, one of the bombing sites. The newspaper said. The rickshaw driver was killed minutes later.

A little-known Kashmiri group, Islamic Inquilab Mahaz, took credit Sunday for the attack.

The attacks came at a particularly sensitive moment as India and Pakistan hashed out an unprecedented agreement to partially open the heavily militarized frontier that divides the disputed territory of Kashmir to speed relief to victims of the region's Oct. 8 earthquake.

Accusations of Pakistani involvement in a 2001 attack on parliament put the nuclear-armed rivals on the brink of their fourth war.

But they pulled back and both sides now appear intent on maintaining the momentum toward peace despite the latest attacks.