The sketch of two suspected terrorists involved in the series bomb blasts in Varanasi, released by the police on Thursday. (PTI photo) Below: Chhote Lal Biskarma lost his son in one of the blasts. Security measures were increased throughout India in response to the bombings in Varanasi, a city holy to Hindus. (Photo Rajesh Kumar Singh/Associated Press)

Somini Sengupta reports in the New York Times:

At the normally bustling commercial strip called Bengali Tola, the shopkeepers, most all of them Muslims, had closed their shops and headed home Tuesday night as soon as the news of the blasts came. By the end of the night, they said they had resolved to take the day off. There was no telling, they said, what violence could flare up.

“We want that you should write we also regret this very deeply, we also feel the sorrow,” said Muhammad Yusha, 45, who makes his living as a polisher of Varanasi’s famous silk saris.

Never before, said a sari shop owner, Mumtaz Ahmed, 38, had he seen virtually every Muslim-owned shop closed for the day. “This kind of shutdown has never happened before,” he said. “But nor has this kind of attack.”

According to a Reuters report, also on the New York Times website: :

Police said they would continue to mount vigils to prevent any backlash against local Muslims although, they added, that appeared unlikely.

“Violence occurs when there is anger,'’ said Mahendra Tanna, a Varanasi businessman. “The blasts at the temple did not anger us but made us sad. Which is why there have been no riots.

“How can we associate all this with Muslims? All Muslims are not bad and all Hindus are not good,'’ said Tanna, a Hindu.