Hindus and Muslims rush to help Jaipur blast victims

By Bappa Majumdar

JAIPUR, India (Reuters) - When Indian television news broadcasts appealed for blood donors on Wednesday, a day after 63 people were killed in bomb blasts in Jaipur city, Yaseef Khan rushed to help.

Khan insisted that someone check his blood type and use his blood to save a child, joining hundreds of volunteers in other hospitals in the historic city queuing to help the blast victims.

"How can I sit at home when people are crying for blood?" Khan said.

Both Muslims like Khan and Hindus united on Wednesday to help victims of the bomb blasts, offering the use of their mobile phones, and distributing food and fruit juices as relatives swarmed hospitals of Jaipur from the early hours of the morning.

Authorities say they do not know who planted the bombs but analysts and diplomats say Islamic militant groups in both Pakistan and Bangladesh seem intent on fanning hatred between Muslims and Hindus in India.

If true, it was an effort which failed on Wednesday and has been unsuccessful in recent years despite a series of attacks on mosques and Hindu temples.

"Bombs cannot divide the Hindus and Muslims, it never succeeded and people should know that it is not going to work," Sohail Illyas, a Muslim man who lives in the walled city, said after meeting his Hindu neighbour following the blasts.