S.A. Basha and 34 other persons have been convicted for the conspiracy of bomb blasts in Coimbatore, India for a life term. There were 4 bomb blasts in Coimbatore on 14th February 1998. There were 12 blasts in which 54 innocent people died. One of the suicide bombers was to target L.K. Advani, however he did not activate the bomb which was aimed at L.K. Advani as Advani’s flight was delayed and had not reached the venue of the meeting on the fateful day. Basha was head of Al Umma, an extremist organization in Tamil Nadu formed in 1993, which had been accused of masterminding the bomb blasts. Till the eighties, there were hardly any extremist organizations in Tamil Nadu. However, after the demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992, Islamic extremism spread to Tamil Nadu and Al Umma was one such organization.

Al Umma targeted RSS headquarters on 8th August 1993 to take revenge for demolition of Babri Mosque on 6th December 1992 by the Sangh Parivar. Demolition of Babri Mosque has plunged even the South in a spiral of violence. In early nineties, several extremist organizations came into existence in Tamil Nadu, including Al Umma, Jihad Committee, and the IDF adopt and espouse violence, extensively using coercion, extortion and intimidation to achieve their goals. The goals of extremist organization generally includes “protecting” Islam and Muslims by retaliation against the Hindu extremists.

However, often the victims are innocent persons. An important aspect of Islamist fundamentalist mobilisation in Tamil Nadu is that it has often been directed more towards countering the activities of Hindu extremist organizations, and is not entirely impelled by an independent vision, or by the mischief of external agencies. Extravagant and aggressive celebrations of Vinayaka Chaturthi, direct verbal attacks on Islam and Muslims by the Hindu Munnani and Hindu Makkal Katchi leaders, contributed to a sense of insecurity among the Muslims. Every year the Vinayaka Chaturthi celebrations create large-scale disturbances within the local community. Every year there is tension during these festivals, especially with regard to securing permission for the procession. In recent times, the security agencies have become more conscious about such problems and provide maximum security during this period in order to avert the growing tension between the two communities.

Karunanidhi made it clear that the state government had not received any specific information from the central agency on involvement of Pakistani Inter Services Intelligence activists in the blasts.

Provocative speeches and conflicts over the passage of religious processions had aggravated the animosity, and the state government had to intervene on many occasions to prevent untoward incidents.

Even the white paper published by the Tamil Nadu Govt. admitted that the demolition of the Babri Masjid at Ayodhya in December 1992 had