New Delhi, July 9 The Bodh Gaya terror attack could have been aimed to "settle scores" for the targeting of Rohingya Muslims in Buddhist-majority Myanmar and the involvement of Lashkar-e-Taiba and other radical Islamist groups cannot be ruled out in "brainwashing" impressionable minds to carry out the bombing, say experts.

Former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal feels the Myanmar link to Sunday's serial bombings, in which two monks were injured, is "quite plausible", while former ambassador G. Parthasarathy feels that "circumstantial evidence" would seem to link the terror attack to the targeting of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.

According to Sibal, the Rohingya Muslims were being persecuted and killed in the restive Rakhine province of Myanmar and "therefore some extremist elements would want to settle scores".

He also feels that the targetting of Bodh Gaya temple complex, a World Heritage site where the Buddha is believed to have attained enlightenment, is reminiscent of the Taliban destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan.

Sibal also feels that reports of the LeT training the Rohingyas is "entirely possible".

"Symbolically, Buddhist holy places or Buddhist heritage is considered a target by extremist Muslim elements, therefore in the Indian subcontinent context, I see a connection between the Bamiyan Buddhas and the attempts here," Sibal told IANS.

Opposition BJP leader Sushma Swaraj had tweeted after the bombings that "India is the land of Buddha. We will not allow a Bamiyan here."

The Taliban had dynamited the Bamiyan Buddhas, the 6th century monumental statues of the Buddha hewn into the side of a cliff in Bamyan valley in central Afghanistan, in 2001 triggering worldwide outrage.

Parthasarathy said there are elements "stirring up the Muslim population" on the Rohingya issue.

Elaborating, the former envoy to Myanmar and Pakistan said that last year "there was a strange protest in Mumbai, a large protest by groups of Muslims who even vandalized a memorial to Indian soldiers defending the country".

He was referring to the protests by hundreds of Muslims, belonging to several Muslim organisations, in Azad Maidan last year in August against the Assam riots and the attacks on Muslims in Myanmar.

"So, quite obviously there are people stirring up the Muslim population on this issue," he said, and added that new groups in the subcontinent are getting involved.

"In Bangladesh, there has been most recently a group called the Hefazat-e-Islam which is calling for Shariat law, the blasphemy law and declaration of Bangladesh as an Islamic emirate, and they received large support in demonstrations in Kolkata strangely. The Hefazat have incidentally targeted Buddhist and Hindu minorities in Bangladesh and attacked their shrines… So, you see, there have been a series of developments in the neighbourhood."

On the links of the LeT to the blasts, Parthasarathy said that Let chief Hafiz Saeed has been saying that India should stop backing Myanmar and that it is India's backing that is encouraging Myanmar in the killings of Rohingyas.. "But he forgets conveniently that the strongest backing for Myanmar comes from China historically."

"So, obviously there is a move to stir up the population here, and I would not be surprised if some young impressionable people are taken in," he added.