Thursday, July 7 2005 14:30 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mankapur (UP): UPA (United Progressive Alliance) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi today (July 7, 2005) said the terrorist strike on the temple in Ayodhya was an attack on the secular fabric of the country.

Dubbing the terrorists as "enemies of the country", she appealed to people to openly combat such forces.

"What has happened in Ayodhya is not a political issue but a question of the country, and an issue of brotherhood. Incidents like these hurt the soul of the country. Perpetrators of this act are enemies of the country and the society. Everyone should come out in open for combating such incidents," Gandhi, who was here to inaugurate the GSM mobile phone equipment manufacturing facility of Indian Telephone Industries, said.

She also praised the security men for foiling the "evil design" of the terrorists without caring for their own lives and wished them speedy recovery.