Yesterday's terrorist attack in the holy city of Ayodhya in Northern India is an attack on Hindus and Hinduism generally, said Anil Bhanot, General Secretary of the Hindu Council UK (HCUK). The terrorists who carried out the assault on a disputed shrine were killed by Indian security forces after a 2-hour gun battle. No fatalities were reported among the Hindu pilgrims, and the religious structure itself remained undamaged, although two pilgrims and four policemen were wounded.

Although the assailants have yet to be identified, and no group has to date claimed responsibility, the attack bears the hallmarks of Islamist extremists. One member of the terrorist group was a suicide bomber who blew himself up next to a security fence, enabling the other gunmen to storm the religious site.

Ayodhya is sacred to the world's one billion Hindus, as much as Jerusalem and Mecca are to Jews and Muslims. It has been revered for millennia by all Hindus as the birthplace of Lord Rama, who is an incarnation of the Supreme Lord Himself. Hindus believe Lord Rama appeared on earth as the perfect divine ruler to establish the Kingdom of God, and His life and pastimes are recorded in India's famous epic scripture, the Ramayana.

Mr. Bhanot went on to point out the historical significance of Hindu-Muslim interaction in India: "When the founder of the Mughal dynasty Emperor Babar invaded India, he was advised that in order to rule over India's material wealth he must never cross its spiritual wealth and only when the last Mughal Emperor, Aurangzeb, did cross this threshold that he saw his inevitable downfall. One ignores history at one's peril."

The Hindu Council UK acts as a consultative body on Hindu affairs to the British government, and promotes good relations with other faith organisations and communities. One of its Directors, Dr. Narayan Rao, is the Vice Chair of the UK's Interfaith Network. He said: "An attack of this nature is deliberately aimed at harming inter-faith relations."

ABOUT THE HINDU COUNCIL UK

HCUK is the leading representative body uniting over half a million Hindus in the UK and incorporates all major umbrella bodies like the National Council of Hindu Temples, Arya Prithni Samaj Sabha, Federation of Shaiva Sri Lankan Temples, Jain Samaj Europe, Swami Narayan, Nirankari Sikh Mandal UK, and all Hindu cultural and educational organisations in the UK.

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