TRIVANDRUM, India - Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on Monday defended his government's ban on the Muslim group Deendar Anjuman over its alleged harbouring of militants who bombed churches.
Addressing a public meeting before provincial elections in Trivandrum, capital of the southern state of Kerala, Vajpayee did not name Deendar Anjuman but said the purpose of the Pakistan-based sect was to foment inter-religious violence.
"It was clear that the aim was to engineer fighting between Christianity and other religions," Vajpayee said.
The Indian government last week banned Deendar Anjuman, saying it was responsible for a spate of bomb blasts in churches in the south of India last year.
Deendar Anjuman has termed the government decision "unilateral and unjust" and said it would challenge it "in an appropriate forum."
Police in Hyderabad sealed the main office of Deendar Anjuman in the southern Indian city after the ban was imposed.
Vajpayee's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party is accused by critics of links to right-wing Hindu organisations that preach against religious conversions by Christian missionaries.
The Vajpayee government denies charges of religious bias and says all minorities are treated equally.
Vajpayee said he wanted to assure minorities that they were safe under his coalition government.
12:31 05-07-01
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