Days after blasts, Varanasi maintains peace and calm

NOT SHAKEN OR STIRRED: Varanasi's streets are packed, its secular spirit unshaken.

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Keywords: Religion, Varanasi

Varanasi: It isn't one of the world's oldest cities for nothing. Two days after a terror attack killed nine people in a court complex, Varanasi is almost back to normal, no clashes have been reported, and no communities targeted.

“Terrorists have always targeted religious places but this is Lord Shiva’s city and they can’t succeed here,” says Ashok Pandey, a social activist.

Varanasi's streets are packed, its secular spirit unshaken.

"Banaras is a pacific ocean and these minor terror bubble will never become a tidal wave,” says Amitabh Majumdar, senior journalist.

Even when a bomb blast targeted the Sankat Mochan Hanuman temple last March, in what is one of the holiest Hindu places anywhere in the world, Varanasi did not erupt into religious conflict.

Residents of the town say everyone who lives here - Hindu, Muslim, or Jain, is a Banarsi first.

Bana rahe Banaras (Banaras shall remain): It is this resilience, which forms the DNA of this historic city.

Terrorists might attack the city, but they cannot attack the social fabric.

After all it's a city, which celebrates death.