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Sharat Pradhan in Lucknow
Alarmed by the simmering communal tension in the state, the Uttar Pradesh government has sounded an alert to check communal trouble that might follow military retaliation by American forces against last week's terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.
"The risk of a communal divide leading to clashes in certain pockets of the state cannot be ruled out," Principal Home Secretary Naresh Dayal said.
"Vested interests are trying to give twists and turns to the whole issue by expressing their reservations against America's declaration of war against Osama bin Laden and his supporters," he added.
Already, some fundamentalist Hindu groups are spreading canards about the state's Muslims supporting Laden and his anti-US campaign.
In Lucknow, some sections of the Muslim community have opposed India's offer of assistance to the US. "America would only use us...we should not play into their hands," Urdu journalist Hisam Siddiqui, who edits weekly Jadid Markaz, said.
Another senior journalist Haseeb Siddiqui wanted to know "when had the US sided with India in an Indo-Pakistan conflict?"
He said: "We must not forget that US will always go with Pakistan...we should not fall in this American trap."
Students Islamic Movement of India had hailed Osama bin Laden in one of its pamphlets distributed in certain parts of the state last year.
"We have received reports of certain fundamentalist organisations attempting to spread the word that the US is out to wage a war against Islam," the principal home secretary said.
Dayal was, however, confident that the authorities would not allow the situation to go out of control.
All district magistrates and district police chiefs have been instructed to keep a strict vigil on the situation and hold dialogues with representatives of both Hindu and Muslim organisations to ensure communal harmony.
Asked if he feared any trouble along the ISI-infested Indo-Nepal border, the principal home secretary said: "For the time being, any trouble from that side is unlikely."
UP shares a 700 km highly porous border with Nepal and the recent years have witnessed mushrooming of Islamic madarsas (Islamic schools) in this region.
The Attack on America: The Complete Coverage
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