Hyderabad: Unguarded temples, mosques easy prey for terrorists

By Nikhila Henry

The nearly 200-year-old Ujjaini Mahankali temple in Secunderabad which opens its doors to thousands of visitors everyday doesn't have security personnel to do routine frisking, and the main entrance of the temple which opens into a courtyard, does not have metal detectors except for a few CCTV cameras.

In the wake of Thursday's twin blasts that has so far left 16 dead and 117 wounded, police said it had beefed up security in all places where denizens frequent in large numbers, but a tour of some of the popular places of worship in the twin cities showed only a bare minimum security.

Militant groups in India have always targeted mosques and temples as they are easy to hit and can cause maximum damage due to the presence of hundreds of devotees. The 2002 attack on the Sai Baba temple in Hyderabad, the failed bomb attack again on 2007 and the Mecca Masjid blasts in 2007 are all reasons why, temples and mosques, must be heavily guarded, experts on anti-terrorism say.

Terrorists in the past have also holed up inside the Golden Temple in Amritsar and Akshardham temple in Delhi easily.

The city police on Saturday deployed more policemen at three temples, including Ganesh temple in Secunderabad, Hanuman temple in Tarbund and the Skandagiri temple, Lalbahadurnagar, but scores of devotees were still seen entering freely without frisking. "The government is seriously considering of installating CCTVs in all 'A' category temples in the city which have a huge devotee turnout," said M G Gopal, principal secretary, endowments.

There are still no security measures in place in two dozen mosques in the city, despite Mecca Masjid being a terror target in 2007. Mosques including Masjid-e-Ujalay Shah, Saidabad, Badi Masjid, Mallepalli and Spanish Mosque, Begumpet, which have a high footfall does not have frisking or security personnel to keep guard. "Mecca Masjid is the only mosque in the city which has some security measures in place," said a senior religious leader.

Following the Dilsukhnagar terror attack, the religious custodians of the Spanish mosque which has over 1,000 devotees coming in for Friday prayers is planning to install CCTVs. "We already have some private security personnel in mufti monitoring the crowd. We hope to beef up our security since Spanish mosque is a prominent place of worship in the city," said Faiz Khan, mutawalli (religious custodian) of the mosque.

Another place of worship which has VIP presence throughout the year is St Mary's Church, Secunderabad. The church which has for its Sunday service presence of top bureaucrats and some legislators does not have security staff. "The only security present in the church would be the security personnel who come in with the VIPs for Sunday mass.

"Since the Church is located on a busy stretch, city police officials should take active measures to beef up security here," said an official of the church's parish committee. Other prominent churches in the city including Wesley's Church, Secunderabad and St George's Church, Abids, does not have any security measures. "We never felt any security threat till now. But we feel that it is necessary to consider setting up some security measures," said Sam Vadokkaran, a parish committee member of St George's church.

Source:  http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-02-25/hyderabad/37288332_1_ganesh-temple-spanish-mosque-golden-temple