Holy places are fast turning out to be hottest target for terrorists. Miscreants take advantage of overcrowded places occupied by innumerable shops selling flowers, items required for religious occasions and beggars and destitutes and create havoc.

THE SERIAL bomb blasts have now reached the Pink City of Jaipur. The miscreants targeted the temples of Hanuman on Tuesday when devotees throng to offer prayers. Earlier there were similar blasts on Fridays when Muslims go to the mosques to offer prayers. Obviously, the men who perpetrate these crimes are least bothered about the religious leanings of innocents who fall prey and are either maimed for life or land up as unidentified corpses in mortuaries.

When the experts descend on the field to investigate and put together the available evidence to identify the culprits, the culprits flow away to another location to plot still more attacks.

They are fully aware of the limitations of our police forces that have thousands of other duties to perform. They are also aware of the weakness of us towards religion – we have places of worship in every conceivable nook and corner of the cities. God in his many forms is our saviour and we run to seek his blessings whenever the going gets tough for us – and this is quite frequently.

We believe that he only can deliver us from all our ills – whether it is for the daughter’s marriage or a job for the son or speedy recovery for the wife or a chance to grab the next promotion, we rely heavily on him and make it a point to meet him on a regular basis. This view is gaining acceptance courtesy the meaningless TV serials that show the complete family, dressed in all finery, assembled in front of a statue of the family God or Goddess to pray for His blessings that will make life happy once again. Our cities are incomplete without their share of places of worship - it is impossible to maintain vigil over all these vulnerable spots. This is our Achilles’ heel.

To add to the problems – innumerable shops selling flowers, sweets, and items required for religious occasions litter the lanes and by lanes that lead to the temple and beggars and destitutes occupy the adjoining pavements seeking alms. Miscreants take advantage of these weaknesses of ours and create havoc. It is impossible to foresee where they would strike next.

In the instance of Jaipur, several new bicycles were used – the bombs were strapped on to these bicycles and set to go off at regular intervals all across the city. Fortunately, one unexploded bomb was recovered based on which the experts arrived at their deductions.

Anyway, the police should formulate guidelines for all citizens to follow so that pre-emptive actions can be taken. For example – inform the police of suspicious looking characters in the neighborhood especially those who move around in groups, house owners should verify the antecedents of whosoever becomes their tenants, shopkeepers should keep a watch on persons who purchase nails or balls of bearings or other similar items that could be used as projectiles and even bicycles, doctors should be careful while treating injured persons and report immediately any unknown persons who come for such treatments.