This gets curiouser and curiouser…

A few days ago I wrote this semi-serious post wondering whether I had missed the riots following the Mumbai blasts, the attack on Akshardham and the blasts in Varanasi… 

The post was prompted by reports of rioting in Hyderabad following the Mecca Masjid blasts….It now turns out that there may not have been any riots at all. 

So, what is going on?

If there really were no riots, first of all, I would like to offer an unconditional and full apology to all my readers particularly Muslim readers whose sensibilities may have been hurt by my post…I pride myself on checking my facts and sources and it appears that I was amiss this time – or was I really? At least a few media sources did mention the riots and/or angry mobs (see here*  and here**)…

…and if it now turns out that the reports were wrong or inaccurate, it once again raises questions around the objectivity and quality of what passes as journalism these days…

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What do readers think? and does anyone have more information on this? any first-hand / eyewitness accounts?

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Excerpts from the two “starred” sources indicated above:

* “The bomb blast in Mecca Masjid sparked off angry protests by hundreds of youth in and around the mosque and Charminar. For nearly three hours, a tense situation prevailed in the area as the youth and the police clashed.

Groups of youth intermittently indulged in brick-batting at the police, who responded by resorting to lathi-charge, lobbing of teargas shells, use of water cannons and firing in the air. The police also fired at the unruly mobs at two places, resulting in injuries to four persons.

The mobs who gathered at different places in the Old City forced the closure of the shops and establishments. They attacked RTC buses, breaking their front screens and window panes or setting these vehicles afire. At some places, shops were ransacked and looted. At several places, black flags were hoisted at the road junctions.” 

** “Five persons were killed in the firing which the police described as an “act of self-defence” as the mob was trying to attack them.”