Reuters AlertNet Lite - Muslims, Hindus riot in sensitive Indian town

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Muslims, Hindus riot in sensitive Indian town

31 Aug 2007 14:00:40 GMT
Source: Reuters

AHMEDABAD, India, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Hindus and Muslims attacked each other in the Indian town of Godhra on Friday, police and government officials said, in the same town in which the deadly month-long Gujarat riots began in 2002.

Friday's violence started as a classroom squabble between Muslim and Hindu boys.

The children from both sides later complained to their parents, who then took the fight to the streets. Soon angry mobs were torching vehicles, throwing stones, looting shops, and beating each other up.

"This was enough for both the sides to come out on the streets and attack each other," said Milind Torawane, a local government official. "We are trying to bring the situation under control."

About 20 people have been taken to hospital with injuries, he said.

In February 2002, 59 Hindu pilgrims were killed in a fire on the train at Godhra station.

A mob of Muslim men were blamed for starting the fire in retaliation for the destruction of a mosque by Hindu extremists and 87 Muslim men are still awaiting trial in connection with the incident.

Savage riots engulfed the Hindu-majority state in western India over the following month. More than 2,500 people were murdered, most of them Muslims, according to human rights groups, although officials put the death toll at about 1,000.

India's Supreme Court condemned Gujarat's Hindu-nationalist government -- still in power today -- as "modern-day Neros", who allowed Hindus to kill Muslims with impunity.

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Last updated:Fri Aug 31 14:01:14 2007