Bomb blasts in India late last week have shook up the Indian community here. The expatriates are worried about their family and friends back home. The blasts in two major cities - Bangalore and Ahmedabad - claimed 46 lives and injured over 180 people. “My family left to Bangalore for vacation just a day before the blasts,” said Aslam Khan who works for a private firm in Dammam. “When I heard of the seven bomb blasts, I immediately called them and felt relieved only when I heard that they were safe.” Usman returned from India recently after enrolling his son in an engineering college in Ahmedabad. “I was really worried when I heard about the first bomb blast in Maninagar in Ahmedabad. I tried calling my son on his mobile but couldn't reach him as telephone lines were clogged,” he said. “I then called my brother who stays a bit far away and found out that my son was safe in the college hostel.” “Three blasts out of the 17 occurred in my home town Maninagar, which is Chief Minister Narendra Modi's constituency,” he added. Modi who is accused of deliberately failing to protect Muslims in the 2002 Gujarat riots.Ahmedabad is the capital of Gujarat state. Most Indians contacted by Saudi Gazette blamed the central government in New Delhi for not being able to prevent the attacks. Roy Gonsalves, a chief accountant who has been in the Kingdom for the past 15 years, said, “I first heard about the bomb blasts in my home town Bangalore and then the following day another series of blasts took place in Ahmedabad where my sister resides with her family.” “I sat glued to the television for over five hours, to see the areas where the blasts took place.” The Keralite community is also worried following media reports that Kerala may be targeted by the terrorists. A television channel allegedly received a call from Pakistan that on Sunday 7 P.M. bomb blasts would hit Kochi and Wynad. Nearly 80 percent of the Indian expatriate community in the Kingdom are from Kerala. “I called my family at least 10 times on Sunday,” said Sherif Kochi, a software consultant here and a social worker for Kerala Relief Wing (KRW) in India. No attacks have taken place so far but police were still finding and defusing bombs in Ahmebadad and other Indian cities on Tuesday. In Bangalore,state police inspected hotels and lodges and collected details of their guests. The sensitive places in Kerala include Kozhikode, which has a previous history of bomb blasts. All cities in India are on high alert and security has been stepped up to prevent any possible future attacks. __
