NEW DELHI, 7 July 2005 — Slogan-shouting activists of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its hard-core allies stormed an airport yesterday in nationwide protests over an attack they blamed on Muslim militants on a northern Indian shrine.

More than 200 activists of the Vishwa Hidu Parishad (VHP) broke past security officers to storm the domestic airport at Indore in Madhya Pradesh state, local administrator Vivek Agarwal said. The airport was shut briefly. Protest rallies were organized nationwide yesterday following the attack on Tuesday by six assailants on a makeshift shrine built on a site in Ayodhya and claimed by both Hindus and Muslims.

One attacker blew himself up in a jeep, tearing a hole in iron railings encircling the complex and allowing five other attackers to enter the complex, where they died in a gunfight with guards, police said. Three security guards were injured.

Police fired tear gas to disperse Hindu activists who blocked roads and closed shops in dozens of cities to protest the Ayodhya attack. Police nationwide went on alert to prevent violence and rioting during strike.

One of the bigger protests against the attack was in New Delhi — led by opposition BJP’s President L.K. Advani — where police fired tear gas and used water canon to disperse about one thousand Hindu activists.

Some activists were armed with tridents, which have religious symbolism in India, and wore saffron bandannas. Some held placards reading: “India won’t tolerate an attack on the birthplace of Ram” or “Attack on Ram is attack on country”.

BJP and Bajrang Dal activists protested at Jantar Mantar in the capital, while BJP leaders Advani, Sushma Swaraj and V.K. Malhotra courted arrest.

“The question is that how did the terrorists reach the temple complex. Now the government’s job is to find out how it happened,” said BJP leader and former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.

Advani said the Ayodhya attack had once again brought the Ayodhya movement to the forefront, and expressed optimism that a grand temple would soon be built at the site of the razed Babri Mosque — after a legal or out of court settlement.

“The Ram temple will be constructed at Ram Janmabhoomi (Ram birthplace). If the Supreme Court gives a favorable verdict, it is good. Otherwise, this will be done after talks (between the Hindus and Muslims),” he said.

Although no group claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s attack, Hindu groups blamed Muslim militants they said were supported by neighboring Pakistan. However, the identity of the attackers is yet to be established.

The attack in Ayodhya has raised fears of sectarian strife. Hindu groups demanded the centrist coalition of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh call off the peace talks with Islamabad, which on Tuesday condemned the attack.

Yesterday, Ayodhya was peaceful as it has largely been since the 1992 turmoil.

Similar protests also took place in other parts of the country, where workers of the BJP, VHP and Bajrang Dal took to the streets.

In Maharashtra, train services were disrupted in some parts as activists squatted on the tracks. Protests were also organized elsewhere in Uttar Pradesh and in Jharkhand, Orissa and Mizoram.